The Friday Five for 30 May 2014...
Originally posted by ariestess at The Friday Five for 30 May 2014...
Cars
1) My mom had a talking car! It was a Chrysler LeBaron, and it had the Chrysler Electronic Voice Alert system. It said things like "a door is ajar" and "please fasten your safety belts." It even thanked us for buckling up! Sometimes it would freak us out by saying something unexpected, but for the most part it was just entertaining/helpful. Later, Mom got a Ford Taurus, which eventually became my sister's, followed by a '91 Mustang. Great car. Dad mostly stuck with Toyotas, and Michael had SUVs.
2) I never inherited a car, though like I said, my sister got the Taurus. I learned to drive on the Mustang. My parents got me a 1987 Nissan 200sx, like this, for $500 plus a couple hundred in repairs. It had some quirks -- nothing on the right side of the car worked very well, poor thing -- but it served me very well.
3) The one accident I've been in as a driver was at 3 AM, in Slidell, LA, in my stepfather's new truck. Noooot good. We were on our way from Tampa to Austin for Christmas. I'd been driving in the rain for 3 hours, really actually enjoying myself. But when we got off the interstate to change drivers, I started to make a left into a gas station, and suddenly there was a car between me and where I wanted to go. I didn't see her. I think I'd made the assumption that because I hadn't seen any cars, no one was around. I've never been sure if she had her headlights on or not. The accident was definitely my fault, though -- I'm pretty sure I never looked to see if someone was there, and clearly I wasn't in the correct lane to turn left.
I have also been in an accident as a passenger. I was super young, not even in kindergarden yet, I think. We had a car full of kids -- can't remember if we'd picked up the high schoolers yet or not. I was in the backseat. Don't remember the accident itself, but I have a couple of mental snapshots: seeing glass in the backseat when I was taken out of the car, being taken to the ambulance (I wasn't badly hurt or anything), being in the hospital (I assume the ER) with Mom there and her friend Carla -- who was a nurse -- coming to my bed. I think I had a goose-egg on my head, but nothing else major.
4) I don't like merging onto a busy interstate -- too nerve-wracking. Not a huge fan of backing up, either, because I can never keep a straight line.
5) I'd make it mandatory in every state to have your headlights on when it's raining. It's a law in some states, including Florida where I learned to drive, and I hate it when I'm somewhere else and people drive around in the rain without their lights on. Don't they realize that other drivers need to be able to see them? Argh!
Cars
- When you were a kid, what car(s) did your parents have?
- When you were old enough to drive, did you inherit any of your parents' old cars, share your parents' car(s), get a secondhand one by yourself, other?
- Have you ever been in an accident in a private vehicle when driving? When a passenger?
- What's your least-favourite driving manouvre? (eg reverse-parking)
- If you could change or make one road rule, what would it be? What penalty would you impose for non-compliance?
(sic)
1) My mom had a talking car! It was a Chrysler LeBaron, and it had the Chrysler Electronic Voice Alert system. It said things like "a door is ajar" and "please fasten your safety belts." It even thanked us for buckling up! Sometimes it would freak us out by saying something unexpected, but for the most part it was just entertaining/helpful. Later, Mom got a Ford Taurus, which eventually became my sister's, followed by a '91 Mustang. Great car. Dad mostly stuck with Toyotas, and Michael had SUVs.
2) I never inherited a car, though like I said, my sister got the Taurus. I learned to drive on the Mustang. My parents got me a 1987 Nissan 200sx, like this, for $500 plus a couple hundred in repairs. It had some quirks -- nothing on the right side of the car worked very well, poor thing -- but it served me very well.
3) The one accident I've been in as a driver was at 3 AM, in Slidell, LA, in my stepfather's new truck. Noooot good. We were on our way from Tampa to Austin for Christmas. I'd been driving in the rain for 3 hours, really actually enjoying myself. But when we got off the interstate to change drivers, I started to make a left into a gas station, and suddenly there was a car between me and where I wanted to go. I didn't see her. I think I'd made the assumption that because I hadn't seen any cars, no one was around. I've never been sure if she had her headlights on or not. The accident was definitely my fault, though -- I'm pretty sure I never looked to see if someone was there, and clearly I wasn't in the correct lane to turn left.
I have also been in an accident as a passenger. I was super young, not even in kindergarden yet, I think. We had a car full of kids -- can't remember if we'd picked up the high schoolers yet or not. I was in the backseat. Don't remember the accident itself, but I have a couple of mental snapshots: seeing glass in the backseat when I was taken out of the car, being taken to the ambulance (I wasn't badly hurt or anything), being in the hospital (I assume the ER) with Mom there and her friend Carla -- who was a nurse -- coming to my bed. I think I had a goose-egg on my head, but nothing else major.
4) I don't like merging onto a busy interstate -- too nerve-wracking. Not a huge fan of backing up, either, because I can never keep a straight line.
5) I'd make it mandatory in every state to have your headlights on when it's raining. It's a law in some states, including Florida where I learned to drive, and I hate it when I'm somewhere else and people drive around in the rain without their lights on. Don't they realize that other drivers need to be able to see them? Argh!