Miscellaneous Stuff that doesn't Belong Anywhere Else.

[1960Pats]

My son's first accident was at the parking garage at his college. He had someone behind him who was riding up on him, and while trying to hurry and get out of their way, he cut the turn into the parking space too close and didn't have the angle, and the front bumper scraped along the car that was parked in the spot next to where he was trying to get into.

Meanwhile, the other car went on its merry way, while he ended up calling me and I had him call campus police to report it, and then we obviously had to file an insurance report for both his car and the one he hit (he left a note).

My advice to him was from now on, ignore the people behind you and do what you need to regardless of them riding up, honking, flashing, etc. Because they don't care. You'll end up in an accident trying to get out of their way and they'll just continue their day and get wherever they're going 5 seconds faster.

Your son went much further than our oldest. Our youngest, otoh, had no interest in driving until he was 22. The T got him where he was going most of the time.

I have a friend who gets all bent out of shape when he turns onto a street and sees the car behind is too close for his comfort. He then spends too much time looking in his rear view and yelling as he makes the turn.

 

[1960Pats]

Reminds me of being a new driver and visiting a friend in northeast NJ, leaving during the morning rush. I ended up in a long line at a traffic circle. When I got to the head of the line the problem became obvious. People entering the traffic circle had to yield to those in the circle, and those people were steadily screaming past at a high rate of speed so there was no chance to enter. Even worse than being a new driver, I was driving a car with no balls and I knew it. People behind me were honking, probably just because they were assholes. They had to be locals familiar with the problem, but they had no sympathy. So, as above, eventually I just had to take my chances and floor it and hope for the best. Thankfully it worked out, but man, it was a real butt clincher.

Yup, that's what I used to do too. I remember those days on numerous traffic circles in the old days. Luckily, I worked 20 years out of the city bordering us on the south and the next 20 at the town bordering on our north. The only time I ran into traffic was when I went to Boston or to a golf course at the wrong time.