Casual Driving

Not sure how well I've conveyed this through these posts, but on the whole, I am a very laid back individual. I have my moments of intensity, sure, but when it comes down to basic, everyday personality, I take it easy. This translates into my driving style as well.

A lot of people, once they get behind the wheel of a car, change into someone altogether different. The happy granny becomes a road raging maniac when caught behind someone going 5 under the speed limit and that sort of thing. From a general perspective, those things don't bother me. I'd rather people actually cruise along at a reasonable speed, but I also take it fairly easy myself on the road.

My angle when I'm driving is that wherever I'm going, I won't get there much quicker by gunning my engine and zipping around everyone else. In addition, driving in that manner increases your stress level quite a bit since driving takes a lot more out of you, energy-wise, than people give it credit for. When speeding down the expressway, you're constantly looking over your shoulder for the cop to bust you for speeding and trying to get around someone who might or might not try merging in front of you.

I'm the opposite. I tend to set the cruise control for the speed limit and lay back and watch the scenery go by. I look at every other driver on the road as someone who wants to destroy me for absolutely no reason, and as such, I give everyone a pretty wide girth. I assume everyone on every side street wants to pull out in front of me, and I never just gun it off at a light lest someone should run the fresh red the other direction (which has happened more than once). I also figure that since people love to turn right on red, they'll probably do so right in front of me.

It seems a touch paranoid, perhaps, but the last speeding ticket I got was in car without a speedometer right after I exited a highway after driving for two hours straight, and I've been in one accident that was considered my fault ... in 1993 ... on ice. I've actually detailed my accidents here recently, so no need to go into them again.

In addition, driving is not stressful for me. I just chill when I'm behind the wheel, and life is good. If I'm stuck in traffic, then oh well. I'm not going to get there any quicker by worrying about it. If I'm in construction, I generally don't like it because of the inherent danger in driving in those conditions (so I like to avoid it entirely), but I also am not concerned about the time it takes. I try not to leave too late for something so I can just relax on a drive.

It doesn't always happen, of course, but I'm also describing my ideal situation here. That's just me, though. Mr. Cruise Control. If you're behind me, then just go around. I'm probably not going to go any faster, cause I'm in no hurry. It's relaxing.