I'm about 77,000 miles behind average. You?

I love to drive.

I never think of it of something I have to concentrate on. I'll be thinking, or listening to an audio book, and it all just comes naturally. The looking ahead at what the situation is coming up, calculating my speed compared to the environment to see if I'm going to need to slow down, get in another lane etc. Watching out for the driver who is not confident and is probably concentration too much.


It's like a dance, and everyone else is my partner.

That made me smile. Thinking of some of the drivers here, we're off to some
rough salsa dancing!

More like slam dancing at a hardcore mosh pit.

My car is 18 years old and still hasn't yet hit the 50,000 mark. I think I'm about 1,700 miles short of that milestone.

I love to drive, just haven't been on many long road trips lately. If I had not towed my car behind the Uhaul when I moved to NM, there'd be an added 3,000 miles on it.

I used to drive around 12,000 miles per annum, until i began driving to Canadia--then it more than doubled (it was almost 1,000 miles for a round trip between t.o. and Ohio). I enjoy driving, but i talk to the other drivers out there, which bugs the hell out of some people, and has absolutely no effect on others. I enjoy driving enough that taking a drive in the country is relaxation for me, which goes back to my childhood before i even imagined driving myself. Long road trips i don't mind, but wouldn't choose them if there were an alternative.

I currently put about 15,000 miles a year on my car. I use to enjoy driving until Morgan and I took the trip to Saint George Island. Four hour drive that took seven hours. I am now considering getting a bus pass.

We've put 6 000 km on the car in one week, will double that by the time we get home. Two weeks before that we put another 3000 km on it driving it to B.C and back.
My husband has had his new vehicle for 4 months, he's already over the yearly norm of abour 20,000 km per year.
I don't do miles... lol

I dislike driving long distances, don't mind at all just driving in general. My car is definitely on the low end of mileage too, we bought it used though so it already had a lot of miles on it. It's about 13 years old.

The deaf thing has a lot to do with my dislike of endurance driving -- I can't talk to anyone while driving, and I can't listen to music or audiobooks or anything.

I don't mind being a passenger as much, if I don't have to talk. I like looking out the window, reading, etc.

One great recent drive was out to the Ohio Caverns, about an hour?, beautiful countryside.

Surroundings make a big difference.

I like the feeling of getting on the freeway and taking off, if I'm by myself -- freedom of the open road, all that. But two hours seems to be my upper limit for enjoyment. Beyond that it's a slog.

Oh, I did say I love driving, but as far as actual miles driven, I restrict them as much as I can because of gas prices, the environment, etc.

I'd say I put 7500 miles a year on my car for necessary driving.
In the Spring, we did go on a road trip to SD. That alone put 3000 miles on it.

We loved every minute of it.

Love driving. Love being driven. Love road trips with Mr.Irish. He never fusses no matter how often I want to stop and enjoy the view, take photos, stretch, etc. He keeps track of all the car/mileage stuff...even keeps my tank full

Ok, something I’d like to mention.
I’m not saying this is what people meant when they say concentrating on their driving, but from what I’ve personally observed concentration may be overrated.

Of course you’ve got to pay attention to the road, what’s going on around you, etc. But the only time I feel like I’m “concentrating” on my driving is when I’m looking for a specific address, and need to be looking for that, plus drive carefully, or when I’m in an unfamiliar area, and need to be looking for a specific exit coming up, or like if an unfamiliar road is curvy, sight is limited, and I don’t know what’s around the next bend.

Then I’ll turn off the radio, even say to the person next to me “hold on, I’m looking for something” or “This road’s curvy, I need to pay attention”

I see people doing things all the time where I believe they think they are concentrating, and the result in indecisiveness, hesitation and even putting themselves in undesirable conditions. My personal style of driving is that I clearly make my intention known, and then execute it in a confident and timely manner. Not herky jerky fiddle farting around, or unexpected lane changes, but deciding what you want to do is safe at that moment, and doing it.

Something that always happens around here springs to mind.
There is a particular entrance ramp onto the highway that I travel home on every day. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that well over 95% of the people on that road at that time travel this road every day too.
Yet every day, the same thing, done by drivers who are obviously concentrating very hard. Getting on the 3 lane highway from the entrance ramp, there is ¾’s of a mile worth of a 4th lane for people to merge into traffic. Yes, every day the same people stop dead at the entrance, totally ignoring this totally open road spread out in front of them, where they can gather a little speed, signal they intend to merge, and join the party. People see you signaling, and ease up to let you in.
If absolutely no one will be a mensch and let you in, you can do your stopping in ¾’s of a mile.

Yesterday, I stayed on this highway well past where I usually get off, because I had to run some errands further south.

At another busy section of highway, there is another 4th merging lane that goes on for an entire mile. Traffic was moving along pretty good for rush hour, I’d say around 40-45. This vehicle to my right, in that mile long merge lane, was signaling from the moment they got on that they wanted to get over. I take my foot off the gas and increase the distance between me and the car in front of me to about 4 car lengths so they could get it. The vehicle would not move over. Instead they kept the signal on, kept braking, turning their head to look at my vehicle hanging back there. I increase the distance to 5 car lengths. Still no move to get over. I see ahead traffic is about to stop. I ease to a stop leaving like 6 car lengths to the driver could get into traffic. They stopped dead in the middle of the gap, and just sat there signaling. I can see the driver’s eyes in the side mirror, looking at me, standing still. I do the “palms held out at arms length things to say “go ahead” No movement. I look at the car she’s holding up behind her (there’s about 10 behind her now), and HE’s even giving her the “go ahead” Finally, she starts to move forward, but not into the lane. She pulls up right behind and to the right of the car 6 car lengths in front of me, and sit’s there, signal still going. Traffic starts to move, and she frantically starts waving at me to let her in.
I have the feeling she was concentrating very hard on her driving. Seriously.


I'm not going to jump on your case, I promise. But if any of you out there do the first example, stopping and waiting to merge when you've got wide open spaces in front of you to do so, could you please tell me what your rationale is?

I know some of you do that. I see people do it every day. I know someone here is one of the.

Why?

I LOVE to drive- especially when I'm setting out on a trip somewhere I haven't been before.
I have had several people tell me I should have been a long distance truck driver and I have to say, I think I could do it, as long as I didn't have to do the same route over and over again, although I do love my trip to work in the morning to the point I look forward to it.
It's forty miles one way and through some of the most beautiful countryside you can imagine.
Here's what I pass on the way to work:



I just listen to music and drink in the scenery. This morning the moon hadn't set yet when I started out and there was this ghostly full moon above the misty valley. It's enchanting.

I think I'd hate driving to and from work if it wasn't beautiful. In fact, I don't even enjoy the same drive in the evening on the way home because I'm facing the other way and it's not as spectacular.
I HATE driving in traffic to the point that I sit and tap the steering wheel in frustration, sighing loudly and thinking things like, 'Oh well - there goes my walk this evening.'
That's why I could never live and work in a city.

I drive between four and five hundred miles a week so over 20,000 miles a year and that doesn't really include trips - which I take a lot of.

But yeah - I was thinking about what non-human 'things' I would have the most trouble doing without in my life and my top five would be: my camera, my ipod, my dog, my bathtub and my car. I use and depend upon those every day as a means of preserving my mental health through comfort, stimulation and enjoyment.

If I couldn't drive - I'd feel trapped, constricted, and just generally stuck.

That about says it for me.
Even if I'm not going somewhere at the moment, I know I can get to wherever I want to go, on my own terms.

What 99.5% of Americans say as their vehicle goes into a slide, headin' for the ditch:

Ooooooh ****!

What a Montanan says:

Hold my beer. Now watch this!

I was looking for a picture of David E. Davis, the founder and former editor of Automobile Magazine. I didn't realized I miss driving as well as reading about cars so much.

I stopped subscribing to Automobile Magazine because it was too depressing seeing all of those expensive sports cars that I will never be able to drive. Trying to fight off the urge to resubscribe to it to spite the fact I can't afford to buy and keep even a used car in NYC.

Is this kind of automobile porn a healthy and cathartic cure to no driving at all?

Too late. I just resubscribed. Couldn't help myself. 24 issues at $18. Far too cheap to let pass.

I've always loved driving, even when I was a kid and didn't know how; that is, I loved going on trips. I remember my father teaching me to drive, in our old dodge dart, moving around an empty parking lot in the San Fernando Valley. A year or two later, in an apparent attempt to introduce me to the world and keep me out of the convent, my very religious parents let me be "the script girl" on a three week shoot for an industrial picture, that took me and four guys (including my father) all around the midwest.
So.. I had four guys giving me driving improvement suggestions, including a racy corvette driver. Loved getting to do my part of the driving, and, besides that, the trip worked. I also learned to play billards in Omaha..

I have had an eye problemo all my life that means I don't drive in the dark, and avoid twilight driving for practical reasons like sharp low sun and traffic jams. But in the daytime I used to be hell on wheels. Well, I've always been a rule abider in city driving, but get me on the highway, and the car floats through space. (I once had a thread on driving 101, meaning the california highway. Such a pleasure.)

Now I've a bad eye and a good eye, and am correspondingly careful. Being constantly watchful is a strain, so I've lost my personal driving joy. But I still like being a passenger.

Last long drive was from Humboldt County in CA to New Mexico, and the skill height of that was piercing the core of the LA freeway interchanges on an early sunday morning when the cars on the road then were all going about 20 miles over speed. Did it!

So, my mileage has varied. Driving up and down California many times over the years, and fairly far away for design jobs, I racked up miles. Now, very few in comparison.

I can't legally drive at the moment.

it's not killing me...

I once put 75,000 on a truck in a 9 month season. not counting personal miles.

the roads have become heavily populated by idjits with cell phones.


(tsar, the last time I paged through an automobile, I could not find the articles for the ads...)

I've put 97,000 miles on my 3.5 year old car. So, I drive around 27,000 miles a year.

What? You're commuting to Kansas?

Well, no ... my daily commute is 25 miles each way. That accounts for half of my annual miles.