Driver's Ed
Saturday, February 4th, 2006Due to my recent condition, I've been forced to approach driving with a new angle, namely, left-footed pedal operation. When I tell people this, I get an aghast look, followed by "Oh my god, isn't that difficult?" The truth is, it's no more difficult than driving right-footed, provided you've had a little practice. When the notion first popped into my head, my first thought was "l'll be able to go get beer on my own!" My second thought was, "I better do a little practicing, so I don't end up breaking other parts of my body."
So, at 10 pm one evening, I snuck off to the department store parking lot down the block. Here, I ran through the usual litany of tests they throw at you during the driving portion of your driver's license test: driving in a straight line, turning left, turning right, flipping people off, y-turns, parallel parking, and juggling a cellphone, quarter-pounder, and a medium Coke™ while accelerating to 88mph. I also spent a little time seeing how quickly I could move my foot from the gas to the brake and back again, in anticipation of rush hour traffic.
At this point, it was my fervent hope that none of our local boys in blue happened to be cruising by. A lone car rapidly accelerating and braking in an empty parking lot just doesn't look good, no matter what your excuse.
Alas, I conquered the technique, and discovered in the weeks to follow that it's no big deal. In fact, I became better with my left foot than most drivers are with their right. Why? Let me spell out the reasons...
So, at 10 pm one evening, I snuck off to the department store parking lot down the block. Here, I ran through the usual litany of tests they throw at you during the driving portion of your driver's license test: driving in a straight line, turning left, turning right, flipping people off, y-turns, parallel parking, and juggling a cellphone, quarter-pounder, and a medium Coke™ while accelerating to 88mph. I also spent a little time seeing how quickly I could move my foot from the gas to the brake and back again, in anticipation of rush hour traffic.
At this point, it was my fervent hope that none of our local boys in blue happened to be cruising by. A lone car rapidly accelerating and braking in an empty parking lot just doesn't look good, no matter what your excuse.
Alas, I conquered the technique, and discovered in the weeks to follow that it's no big deal. In fact, I became better with my left foot than most drivers are with their right. Why? Let me spell out the reasons...
- I use my flippin' TURN SIGNALS to indicate a turn or lane change.
- I don't veer LEFT just before turning RIGHT. (And vice-versa)
- I don't noodle along in the left lane at exactly the speed limit - or less.
- When I brake, it's always for a reason other than "hallucinations".
- I leave significantly more than 15 inches between my front bumper and the rear of the car ahead of me when driving on the freeway.
- I don't cut people off to make my turn - I actually plan for it in advance.
tags:
Comments:
handicap tag is cool, think about the faces of all the people when you park right in front of the store instead in chicago to go to walmart in Milwaukee... ;)
posted by Mirko : : Saturday, February 4th, 2006
Post a comment: