More rambles

[khall]

So it occurs to me that driving is mostly 'management'. If you think of yourself as an old-fashioned sonar/radar screen, where the line goes around and 'blips' whatever it detects...each 'detect' (in our brains) encodes estimated speed, direction of travel, mass (inspecifically like 'that's a big truck' or 'that's a bicycle'), to some extent

Comments

[redhotlips]

Driving for me is data overload in the extreme, then add in a dyslexic brain and then the data is flipped or backwards too. I struggle mightily with using mirrors and as a result everything about driving is a count for me, otherwise my brain focuses too long on trying to make sense of all the movement and the backwards world. Count to three at the stop sign. Count to two anytime my eyes leave the road ahead, so I don't watch the mirror too long, count the seconds between opposing traffic to try and guess when to turn. Count the darting kids to make sure they're all accounted for and not under my wheels. Count the number of turns of the steering wheel to figure out where the wheels are. Numbers for speed, numbers for road names.

Being behind the wheel is like only ever being allowed to drink from a fire hose on full blast. Painful, frustrating, unsatisfying, overwhelming, and still vastly more negative than positive.

[khall]

Yup, was that way for me too. Makes me a hyper alert driver. I almost never use mirrors. And I never trust them. Ever. The data they provide is...additional, supplementary, even. If I can't 'see' it, it's a danger area. The one real exception to this is when you have to, like backing down a narrow driveway or pulling out of a 'car alley' in a parking lot where you can't see behind you until the moving object in question passes into the narrow field of view of your back window. But for lane changes and all other driving, I check my mirrors first, because that makes it obvious if there's a huge SUV there or something, or something bright or out of place, then I physically look over my shoulder. I never drive cars with a blind spot, for that reason. You will eventually be able to neural pathway group actions so that the data flow becomes manageable. It's really, really awesome that you got your license. That's big compared to how you were about it when I first met you and we talked about it. <3

K.

[redhotlips]

I'm still technically driving with a learner's permit, but I have all the required training and driving time under my belt now. I'm just not confident at all, and have not done highway driving yet. *sigh*