Transient Me

I read an interesting article at MSN.com today. It’s a survey of bad drivers and their bad driving practices. I, for one, am not claiming to be a good driver all the time. I do make mistakes when it comes to road rules. Not deliberately, though.

I just forget. Not the big-ones-that-get-cops-on-you-kind-of-RULES, by the way. But the small things like stopping a little way over the crosswalk line, not staying on an intersection stop long enough, not letting pedestrians go first, or making a turn on a red light. These sort of stuffs. But as the hubby said, I’ll remember them automatically as I drive more and more. “You simply can’t commit these sort of things to just memory. You have to practice them via actual driving,” he said.

I strive to be a safe driver, though (well, as safe as possible depending on the car and road conditions, and the number of bad drivers around). Sometimes to the point of paranoia. One old lady even honked at me for taking too long to cross the intersection because I was trying to look at both ways and the pedestrian crossing in front. I know I’ve done nothing wrong, I was just being safe. Probably grandma needed to change her adult diaper quick, that’s why she was in a friggin’ hurry. Hehe.

Anyway, here’s the article I lifted from the site along with my side snickers, umm…parenthetical comments. The survey results are grossly true. Enjoy!

Are you a dangerous driver? 10 ways to tell
By Insure.com
(from: MSN Moneycentral)

Bad habits range from road rage to eating while driving. Compare yourself with these accident magnets from Boston. Do you see yourself here?

Surely you’ve seen them on the road: They’re swerving in and out of lanes, ignoring rules of the road, and engaging in other rude — and dangerous — behavior. Or maybe you are that bad driver?

Compare yourself with a focus group of 30 drivers from Boston who have collectively been involved in 84 accidents over the past three years and received 49 speeding tickets, 39 moving violations and 92 parking tickets. Take a look at these questions to find out if you fit the profile.

When you reach a stop sign and no one is coming from another direction, do you roll through instead of stopping? An overwhelming majority (87%) of the bad drivers say they should be able to speed, go through stop signs, and break other driving rules and regulations as long as no one gets hurt.

(When I was learning how to drive, I tend to miss the stop sign - not the stop light, mind you. But a red sign that has a STOP word written on it that’s erected by the side of the road (sometimes in plain view, sometimes not) or sometimes written on the road itself in bold white paint. Good thing my husband is a very good teacher, he always reminded me to make a full stop on these signs even when there was nobody or no cars around. I always got mild scoldings from him whenever I forget during our practice drives, so now I developed that habit to make a full stop on these signs eventhough there was no pedestrians or cars around. Although I do have the Heckel and Jeckel tendencies: “Oh there’s Mr. or Ms. Pedestrian, I should give way. Nahhh, run fools before I run your butts over. Nyahahaha!”)

Do you talk on the cell phone while driving instead of pulling off and stopping to talk? A total of 77% of bad drivers say they do this either frequently or occasionally. Only 13% say they never talk on a cell phone while driving.

(Of course not. What an abomination! I text with one hand…AHAHAHA. Nah, just kidding. Besides, I don’t got any text mates here. People here tend to be lazy texters. They call you instead. Mga panis! I don’t text my friends back in the Philippines because I’m wary of the wireless company’s hidden international charges. It also saves my friends from the unjustly high international texting fee. *Sigh* gone were the days you could text to your heart’s content for free in the Philippines, the texting capital of the wireless world.)

Do you take your coffee and muffin or other food and drink on the road with you, driving with one hand while using the other to eat? Some 60% of those in the study say they either frequently or occasionally eat while they’re driving. In fact, several of the participants say they have spilled drinks and attempted to clean up the spill while driving.

(No, I’m on an ATKIN’s diet. Hehe. Seriously, I simply have to have my two hands on the steering wheel all the time. So when I want to turn on the radio or adjust the heat or A/C, I always tell it to the passenger beside me, which is always the hubby (now if I’m driving alone, I do these things before I go on the road.)

It would be cooler if it has an automatic passenger ejection system, so if you get pissed off with someone who’s riding with you - like a noisy stranger on a carpool, a talkative, self-centered co-worker, or an obnoxious relative - you can simply tell the car: “Dirtbag at my 3 o’clock, launch!” Of course, you should say your commands to the car in codes lest the intended party to be ejected got word of your intention and hijack the car away from you. Baaaadddd yon!!! Hehe.)

If you’re out shopping in a crowded area and are looking for a parking space, do you become so focused on your search that you lose sight of the cars and pedestrians around you? More than half of the participants say that when they’re trying to find a parking space in a crowded area, they can become so focused that they become oblivious to other drivers and pedestrians and often get into accidents, whether on the street or in a parking lot.

(If in SF, you mean? What parking? There’s no such thing as parking in SF, just side streets you could leave your car in a few minutes or else you get a parking ticket. Pfffttt! Good thing in San Jose, that’s not a problem. But shopping? What shopping??? I don’t have the friggin’ time to shop anymore! Waaaaah. =(

Do you hate driving behind SUVs or other large vehicles that obstruct your view? More than 60% of bad drivers say they are frustrated driving behind SUVs because they are wide and tall and block their vision. In fact, more than 70% believe SUVs should be required to drive in a separate lane on the highway.

(Hell yeah! Especially, when they are deliberately being a pain - either as tailgaters, nasty zoomers, or deliberate slow pokes. If it can be helped, I don’t drive on the same lane they are on. They are simply to honking huge for comfort and safety since they can block one’s vision and blindspots.)

Does your driving change when you go into areas with higher police presence? Nearly all of the participants strongly agree with the statement that they drive more carefully when they know police are in the area. In addition, most participants say they check their rearview mirrors regularly for police cars.

(Aye! I don’t want to have a run in with the cops now do I? But from what I’ve so far observed, this activity is actually a pack mentality among cars. When several cars see a police car ahead, the drivers instinctively drop their speeds from 90-100mph to 65-70mph all of a sudden.

Even those in the farthest lane reserved for fast moving cars slow down. Soon everyone behind them are reducing their speeds, too. And there will be a convoy of some sort where all the cars are running on the same speed. What an amazing sight! It’s like one is looking at synchronized elephants in a circus act. Nobody even dares to go past the police car and zoom. Although I have the feeling that the zoomers are praying the police car gets out of the freeway soon so they can go on their merry-fast-way. It’s true because as soon as the cops are out of sight like enter the next on-ramp, the cars go at it at top speeds again.)

Does listening to music while you drive sometimes leave you oblivious to all but the music? Some 93% of participants say they listen to the radio while driving, and 73% of them listen to music. Most say listening to the radio has often caused them to become distracted and in some cases they say listening to loud music has caused them to be more aggressive on the highway.

(Hmmm…I guess music has that effect on any activity you do. When I was jogging in a parking lot near my former office building back in the Philippines, I always carried a walkman with me and in it was a No Doubt’s “Tragic Kingdom” tape and boy, did it get me going faster than I wanted to. In fact, I played the chorus of “Just a Girl” every time I do short sprints! And I felt like I was being chased by rabid dogs in the neighborhood. Hehe.)

Do you find yourself in confrontations on the road, either through verbal arguments or hand gestures, because of either your own driving habits or the habits of others? While 87% of the bad drivers consider themselves at least somewhat courteous drivers if not very courteous, at least half also admit making obscene or rude gestures or comments to other drivers, particularly those who cut in front of them on the highway. Participants also say, however, that they appreciate a thank-you gesture for letting another driver into their lane, and often give a wave of thanks themselves when they cut into traffic.

(I don’t experience road rage, instead I get road stressed. Remember my previous blog about “Cwazzeee motorists!”? That’s me expressing my road stress in writing. I do get relief silently cursing at the perpetrators. #$%^&*@! Too bad they can’t hear me because of the traffic noise. Hehe. I do try to avoid such pests and for my part, I try not to be a pest too. I know I could be part of the problem sometimes. So I try to be more aware, safe and considerate of fellow motorists.

Like when I wanted to change lanes on a two-lane street to get to a left turn I needed to do or enter an on-ramp, and there’s a lot of traffic - there were times people are considerate enough to let you sneak in and there were times they absolutely refuse to give you the space by zooming at the same speed as you do. In short, the #$%^&! don’t let you cut in! Selfish louse! GRRRR.)

Does your “work hard, play hard” lifestyle leave you sleepy behind the wheel at times? About 50% of those in the study say they have almost fallen asleep while driving and an additional 10% say they have wanted to shut their eyes while driving and almost did. The study found that most participants lead a busy lifestyle that sometimes leaves them sleep-deprived.

(With work hours at 3pm to 12 midnight. Of course, I’m sleep-deprived. But then, the hubby takes over the wheel at night. So I get to relax and snooze a bit on the way home. Teehee.)

When you’re driving with passengers, do you turn around to talk, taking your eyes and mind off the road? Nearly all group members acknowledged that they are distracted when they have passengers in their vehicles, and most say during conversations they’ll turn their heads and stop paying attention to the road. This held true especially for drivers with small children.

(I remember on my first days of driving on the freeway to SF, I absolutely banned the hubby from talking to me or turning on the radio or pointing at wildlife he sees like cows or birds. My mindset then was: “I need to focus on my driving so I don’t want any distraction.” The only interruption allowed was when hubby would give me directions where to turn or when he would warn me of police cars on the road or when I could safely change lanes. That’s it. Small talk was next to impossible.

But as I grew more confident, we are able to have conversations while I drive, although nowadays hubby gets busy with games on his mobile phones and not pay attention to my driving too much, which is good. It means that he now thinks I’m a good driver. Hehe. Now I can appreciate the views and see the wildlife without getting my eyes off the road. Impossible, you say? Not really. I got four eyes…hmmm…six I guess if you count my eyeglasses. Hehe. So four in front, two at the back. Oh it would be seven if I got my third eye opened. )

If your answers agree with the answers from the focus group, it’s likely you tend to be a more aggressive driver than average. Like members of the study, you may also pay more for your auto insurance. Within the study group, 53% pay a surcharge on their auto insurance because of their driving records.

Outgoing, confident, and a menace

These bad drivers have other characteristics that you may recognize in your own life. Most say they lead very stressful lives without enough time to accomplish all their activities in a day. They all consider themselves either somewhat or very outgoing, and all have a fair to great amount of confidence in the way they behave. And 90% say they’ve told a “little white lie” to protect someone’s feelings.

The group was broken down into three age groups, from 18 to 25 years old, 26 to 45 years old, and 46 to 59 years old. There were 19 men and 11 women in the study, commissioned by RightFind Technology, a company developing new products to help insurers make better decisions on auto insurance rates for specific drivers.

While the study is based on a small group and should be considered a hypothesis rather than a conclusion, “our study identified several personality attributes that seem clearly linked to accident involvement,” says Donald Bashline, one of the owners of RightFind. “Witnessing these focus groups was a revelation.”

(You said it.)

My very first entry for the holiday month. And I give you our former Christmas Tree. Hehe. What I mean is, this here tree was our last year’s Christmas Tree. Ain’t she a beaut? (hmm…I sound suspiciously familiar…hmm…like that Australian crocodile guy!) Sadly, we had to bring her down after the festivities were over.

Yes, folks. It was a real, “live” pine tree. The first one I’ve decorated after years of plastic imitation pine trees back in the homeland. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the plastic ones, too, when I was a kid. We even had a white version of it one time and it was really cool. It looked as if we had snow inside the house eventhough we lived in a very tropical country. Now, how’s that for imitation ambience eh?

Anyway, this tree holds a special place in my heart (that’s why it got so many shots from both our digital camera and the point-and-shoot one) because it was the first tree hubby and I had during our first Christmas together here in the US. He had been spending Christmas back in the Philippines with me for a couple of years, but it was nice spending it together with a delightfully decorated Christmas tree in our own humble abode.

Another reason is that I have a fond but funny memory about this tree. You see, we bought the tree only a week after I arrived from the homeland. And I was still getting used to the chilly winter weather. It was so damn cold, I tell you.

Well, it was too cold for me, who grew up in humid weather that makes you really sweat like a pig during summer and mildly refreshed when it’s the rainy season. The only winter-cold imitation I had a chance to experience back home was an air-conditioned office, air-conditioned malls and hotels, oh yeah, and the artificial ice-skating rink down at the basement of SM Megamall.

But I had felt real cold weather (one that will give you hyphothermia!) outdoors when I go mountain-climbing. Of course, the higher one goes up the mountain, the thinner and colder the air gets. And I tried it during rainy seasons as well. You start off in the jump-off point with the sun beating like a hot rod on you, then when you are in the middle of the climb, rain pours down on you like cold, runny soup, and then when you near the summit, the weather drastically changes from cold soup to dry-ice wind, biting at your face. It’s amazing how my fellow climbers and I didn’t get sick everytime we did that kind of trip.

So I knew what damn cold feels like. But that’s up in the mountains. And not down in the city! When I got into the SF airport, I thought the A/C was turned full blast. ‘Geez, don’t these people feel the cold. It’s even raining outside,’ I naively thought. Alas, when I stepped out of the door, the “real winter-weather” greeted me like a sudden slap in the face. The cold seeped through my thick jacket, passed my clothes and skin, and into my bones. Brrrr!

We bought our would-be Christmas tree in the same “slapping” cold and wet weather. I remember it was the morning of December 22. We got the heater on in the house and I was feeling comfortably warm and toasty. You know, the kind when you don’t want to get up, but just sit there (maybe have a mug of hot chocolate in your hands) and do nothing all day.

And hubby said, rather excitedly: “C’mon let’s get our Christmas tree.” I replied back with a groan: “Right now? I thought we’re not going to have a tree since Christmas is just three days away.”

“Naw, it would be cool to have a tree. And by this time, the store would be selling them trees at cheaper prices,” he said, still excited.

I looked out the window and saw only blurring rain on a dreary morning and said: “But it’s cold out there!” I bristled while retreating to the comfort of my warm blanket by the sofa. No way I was going to go out there. Na-ah. I haven’t acclimatized yet. Bah, humbug!

“But it would be nice to have a Christmas tree this year. It’s our first Christmas here in the States together,” the hubby said, looking crest-fallen. We’ve been talking about getting a tree that year. Plus, he even got mum-in-law to bring Christmas ornaments and decorations from LA just for the tree we would get.

Argh! You guessed it right, I did get out of my comfy and warm cocoon and out into the harsh cold of the outdoors that day. I couldn’t bear hubby’s sad look, you see. And I’m just as sentimental as he is about the whole thing. Yeah, yeah, we’re a bunch of sentimental schmucks, alright. Deal with it! Hehe.

So we drove off to a big car lot where there was still a lot of pine trees of different sizes on sale. They were lined up in the open lot (which, by the way, had no roof…it’s just the cashier section that has a tarp roof for cover against the wind and the rain), where people could look them over and pick the best one they want.

We were the only tree-buyers there since most likely the other people (these would be the early birds who bought trees as early as November) were already enjoying their trees, sitting nice and warm in their house and admiring it by their lighted fireplace. *Sigh*

While I would have loved to just sit in the car with the heater on, I felt enormously guilty not being out there helping the hubby pick a tree. So I did my wifely duty of accompanying him in the open lot to help choose our tree. In the cold, friggin’ rain, mind you! And to think, we went without an umbrella! So there I was with only a pillbox hat and a leather jacket for warmth and rain protection, trying not to shiver so much, while hubby was having a grand time going from tree to tree, inspecting each one carefully.

When he finally pointed to a really tall one, I quickly nodded in approval and called the attendant. At that point, I would have agreed to any blasted tree or bush, I just wanted to get out of the rain and the damn cold! We paid for the tree and the store owner gave us a free door wreath with a mistletoe on it. The attendant strapped the tree on top of our car and we drove home.

Now getting the 6 feet tall pine tree in the house was tricky. But we’ve managed to get it in our low-ceilinged abode quite alright. Thanks to a little bit of shoving and pushing. We parked it right by the window and began decorating the tree to our heart’s content until the wee hours of the morning the next day. We were trying to hurry decorating so we can make it in time for Christmas eve. Hehe. No sense having a Christmas tree by not having it ready by Christmas, right?

And the end result of all that hard work is what you see now. The memory of Christmas Tree, the First. Wait ’til we have Christmas Tree, the Second. I’ll post its picture here in my bloggy. Hopefully this time, we’ll buy that one before December 22. But I’m keeping my fingers crossed.