Quote:
Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague
On the subject of the whole "people in large vehicles are menaces" thing, I had a weird perspective shift today - I brought my car into the shop for some bodywork (bumper needs replacing among other things) and got a rental. The rental they gave me is an absolutely gigantic SUV. It's a tank. It might fit in my garage but there'd be no room around it. I do not understand how people daily drive these things... you'd think you'd feel safer being up above everything and secure in the knowledge that in any severe accident you'd be totally fine even if everyone else involved is roadkill, but it actually makes me more nervous because I feel large and clumsy and constantly like I'm close to everything and unable to adjust. And I say this as a reasonably attentive, engaged driver because I generally enjoy the experience of driving... I cannot imagine how much worse it would be if I were distracted or just cruising along paying a moderate amount of attention like a lot of people do.
It's objectively a nice, comfortable vehicle that certainly has plenty of room for stuff and for people, but... yeah. Should there be a separate class of license you have to get to drive these things?
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What did they give you?
It didn't take me very long to get used to the RRS as I've had SUVs in the past (though this was my first one since 2008), but switching between it and my car is definitely a huge shift. From "I can see damn near everything" to "welp, I can see under the bumper of that car at least".
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fuzz
Even more fun if you show up jet lagged in the UK, and they all drive on the wrong side of the road.  |
Oooh, that was me! I got a right-hand drive Ford Mondeo manual (UK's Ford Fusion).
It was my first time:
- Driving a RHD car
- Driving on the left-hand side of the road
- Driving in Reading, UK
Trying to place the car within the lane while in roundabouts was the tricky bit. Placing the car in a straight line is easy. Shifting with my left hand I also found rather easy.
Also my phone battery being at sub-5% when I still hadn't found my hotel in Reading yet, that was just friggin' swell. So I was in a race against my phone's dismal battery life to find my hotel in an unfamiliar place in a car on the wrong side of the street.