New Testingstan

I got my license at 25, once I got over my crippling fear of hurtling metal deathwagons, and I don't regret it at all.

I got it a few month ago (age 22) at the 6th try after 5 previously failed attempts

What's amazing about driving to me is the number of attempts on my life literally every day. I thought I had it bad as a pedestrian, but no, there are people who are willfully trying to kill me on the freeway, every day on the way to work.

I make a point not to fall into the trap of "I'm a better driver than everyone around me," but sometimes I allow that I might be more attentive, and it's morbidly fascinating.

people should be forced to take the bus.

and the bus should go everywhere.

so many buses

and trains. light rails. anything but personal vehicles, pretty much.

anybody who at any point in their life owned an Audi, BMW, Acura, or Lexus can pay double fare for special seats on the cow catcher

joviwan wrote:I make a point not to fall into the trap of "I'm a better driver than everyone around me," but sometimes I allow that I might be more attentive, and it's morbidly fascinating.

What's the trap in that, anyhow? Is it that you might feel tempted to try stunts or something?

the way I see it, if it does turn out that I'm somehow a better driver than most around me, it certainly won't be because I drove aggressively.

There comes a point when public transportations become counter-productive to their intended goal of pollution & energy consumption reduction.

Namely when vehicles transport less than a third of their maximum admissible capacity in people in the entirety of their course.

Oxymoron wrote:There comes a point when public transportations become counter-productive to their intended goal of pollution & energy consumption reduction.

Namely when vehicles transport less than a third of their maximum admissible capacity in people in the entirety of their course.

Of course. on the other hand there comes a point where they're completely overloaded (i.e. standing room only for the majority of their course) and i have no idea how they pass health and safety regs in that state

Plus, you have no idea how much it cost to maintain a fleet of vehicles in active service, everyday, all year round.

For having a little bit of experience in the field, having briefly worked in it (2 years in a maintenance shop, behind a desk to maintain the vehicle maintenance database), I can tell you public transportation will bleed you dry if you are not careful.

It won't if you aren't also maintaining a car or two.

and it'd get all these upper middle class lunatics safely contained in vehicles they have no control over so all they can do is seethe instead of seethe and try to run me off the road with their stupid cars or blind me with headlights that are just-barely-not-highbeams

RyanThunder wrote:

joviwan wrote:I make a point not to fall into the trap of "I'm a better driver than everyone around me," but sometimes I allow that I might be more attentive, and it's morbidly fascinating.

What's the trap in that, anyhow? Is it that you might feel tempted to try stunts or something?

the way I see it, if it does turn out that I'm somehow a better driver than most around me, it certainly won't be because I drove aggressively.

Assuming that I'm the better driver is dangerous because it might blind me to my own mistakes. If I assume I'm not a good driver, and thus there is always room for improvement, it's an easier place mentally to look at mistakes and go 'Oh, that was my fault, whoops'.

People that think they are better drivers than those around them routinely and constantly make mistakes that can put others in danger.

RyanThunder wrote:It won't if you aren't also maintaining a car or two.

I'm not sure I understand your logic.

When I say 'bleed you dry', I'm not talking about the end users, but the authorities putting in place the public transportation.

In the end the end users only cover around 15-20% of the PTS (public transportation service) costs through tickets' price - not even enough to cover fuel costs. The rest is taken in charge by the public authorities' funding. That's how costly public transportations is [already].

Now imagine how much it would cost if you systematically extended it...

joviwan wrote:Assuming that I'm the better driver is dangerous because it might blind me to my own mistakes. If I assume I'm not a good driver, and thus there is always room for improvement, it's an easier place mentally to look at mistakes and go 'Oh, that was my fault, whoops'.

People that think they are better drivers than those around them routinely and constantly make mistakes that can put others in danger.

Makes sense. I'm pretty critical of myself when I drive so, hopefully that's not a problem.

Oxymoron wrote:

RyanThunder wrote:It won't if you aren't also maintaining a car or two.

I'm not sure I understand your logic.

I'm pointing out that the average family maintaining 1+ vehicles is actually more expensive per person-kilometre from a material, energy, and environmental standpoint. If it's not more expensive from a wealth standpoint then that's a problem with how we value things, not a problem with the idea.

Straha wrote:And getting a License is a condition for my job, so I had to get it.

yea. i'm pondering becoming a volunteer fire fighter at some point so i might do the whole license thing then myself

but that's just in the pondering stage, something i've been thinking would be totally cool for quite a while now. idk if i'll ever actually do it.

I grew up in the City though so I know all sorts of people at all ages who have no license and no intention of getting one.

reminds me of i think a law and order episode where one of the witnesses was like "who owns a car in New York????" and the tv says you couldn't find a place to park it anyway

but i'm up in watertown, and in high school virtually everyone was doing the license preparation thing at 15. all my brothers and sisters have their things too and my friends keep telling me i should get it just so i have it if something comes up and i have to drive or have it just in case i want one of those jobs that require it

but meh. if liek the medical emergency scenario actually comes up, i have driven twice before and it wasn't exactly rocket science so if that situation came up i'm pretty sure i could do it anyway

joviwan wrote:I make a point not to fall into the trap of "I'm a better driver than everyone around me," but sometimes I allow that I might be more attentive, and it's morbidly fascinating.

I'm convinced that around a third of all drivers should be permanently banned from operating any kind of motor vehicle ever again. Around a third should be rigorously retrained and retested and then monitored for a year or five to make sure it stuck. The other third is probably okay most of the time.

Today some jackass on a crotch rocket turned into my lane as I was coming up to a stop sign. Good thing I had the brakes done recently, or he'd be fucking dead.

I got my license at 26, and haven't looked back.

I mostly just use it for late nights at work, but it's good to have the option.

See, I got mine when I turned 16. I used it throughout most of the rest of high school. I absolutely needed to go to college. Needed after I went back to college. Needed it after graduation to get to work. Need it now to and from work.

I used to enjoy driving.

Over the past few years that went away.

I still haven't got my licence, but I do have my learners. So bear with me, I'm sure I will be on my P's by the end of the decade.

Look out for the expiry date on Ls.

My first one expired, and I couldn't get into places. On the upside, the club spotted me a taxi ride home as it was a few days after the expiry and they felt it was a bullshit rule.

I got my license at 16 and my CDL at 19. Just need my motorcycle licence and I'm able to drive everything on the road.

What's the upper limit in weight of the vehicles you are licensed to drive ?

Depends on the axles. I think without needing a long combination vehicle (LCV) ticket, just under 70 metric tonnes?

That almost put you into super-heavy territories...