Having lived in a city of 10,000,000 people for the last year, I have learned all kinds of new things about driving that I never knew nor would have ever become acquainted with in the comfortable confines of Midwestern towns. I was thinking about a few of these rules tonight as I was weaving among the pedestrians, cars, scooters, and other obstacles as I was driving home. So, for your education, I thought I would string together a few of these pearls for you. They are not necessarily in order of importance nor in which they were learned.
1. Side mirrors can do more than just show you how close the cars behind you are. They are an EXCELLENT measuring stick for helping to determine how close the car, building, bicycle, or school girl is to the side of your car. When you make contact, you're too close. Quite simple really.
2. You can actually stop much more quickly than you realize, if the need should arise. Consequently, you can drive much more quickly in congested areas than you realize.
3. Checking your blind spot is for sissies.
4. 30 - 45 minutes is actually a short drive.
5. 30 - 45 minutes is an even shorter distance.
6. Always use the shortest imaginable car when trying to stay two car lengths back from the car your are following.
7. If you do stay two car lengths back from the car you are following, it will soon become 4, then 6, then 8...you get the point.
8. 3 flashes of your hazard lights="Thank you." 4 flashes of your hazard lights="I'm sorry." You have much more opportunity to use the latter of these two.
9. There is nothing wrong with double parking, especially in a parking garage. Just leave your car in neutral and make sure you are on flat ground.
10. You never know if the other car will stop until you try, so always try.
Because posting 11 things is an uncomfortable number for me, here is the last one by itself. It is, however, probably the most important of them all.
Who says that pedestrians have the right of way?
Hopefully this has all been excellent training for moving to New York this fall. I'm sure New Yorkers are not nearly as forgiving as Koreans.
Seoul is ranked number 5 in the world for "Most Congested City". You can access the article here.
1 comment:
Oh my gosh! This is SO funny, even the second time I read it!! My favorite is the last: pedestrian's definitely do not have the right of way; however, that does not stop them from trying to stop your car with a raised hand. Or, better yet, safety in numbers, that is the more pedestrians there are, the more comfortable they feel clogging an entire street.
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