RiverBender Blog: I'm a Bad Driver
I recently backed into a fence with my car.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
If you’re a faithful reader, you might be thinking, “But wait, didn’t you also hit a deer not too long ago?”
Short answer, yes, that also happened. I’d like to remind you that THE DEER HIT ME, but technically I also had a run-in with a deer. And now a fence.
One of the things you need to know about me is that I am a bad driver. I get where I’m going and I get home — thank God — but the in-between time is not that seamless.
My own insecurities are my greatest downfall. A few weeks ago, I honked at an Amazon driver that was backing into the road because they almost hit me. I was just trying to alert them that I was there, and it worked: The driver pulled forward and I was able to squeeze by.
But immediately, I felt terrible. I tried to justify it in my head. I didn’t want to get hit, and I did what I had to do to avoid that. It was better for both me and the driver, who probably would also like to avoid a collision. No big deal.
But the guilt! I wish I had a sign on my windshield that I could flash intermittently as I drive, something in big letters that just says “SORRY.”
Alas, they haven’t invented that yet for nervous drivers like me.
Believe it or not, all of this is actually an improvement from the kind of driver I was a few years ago. I used to be way too amped up behind the wheel, terrified of making a mistake or inconveniencing anybody.
As a result, I drove slower — like, the bad kind of slow, the kind that actually does inconvenience everybody and cause accidents — and braked continuously, sometimes unnecessarily. I rode the brakes, in summation. I caused problems. I was a moving roadblock.
These days, I’m a lot more chill. If “panicked” used to be my baseline, now my go-to emotion behind the wheel is simply “anxious.” So much so that instead of bursting into tears when I ran into the fence, I simply cringed very hard, inspected the damage (there was none, thankfully), and shakily got back behind the wheel to continue my drive home. I blame the RiverBender.com parking lot, for what it’s worth.
How’d I get better? Practice, 100%. A few years ago, I went on a six-hour solo road trip up to Indiana. A few months later, I white-knuckled it through downtown Chicago. Both experiences kind of sucked, but they also taught me that I can totally handle it. I lived to tell the tale, and I’m proud of myself for managing these moments.
While driving is still not my strong suit, I’m definitely a much better driver than I used to be, and way improved over my 16-year-old self, who avoided driving as much as possible. Now, I can slide behind the wheel with minimal concerns, navigate through traffic and even manage, every now and then, to let out a little honk and advocate for myself when necessary.
Do I still back into fences? Apparently, yes. But every day is a chance to improve. In the meantime, if you see me on the road, just imagine me hitting my “SORRY” button as we pass one another. Apologies to the deer, the fence, the Amazon driver, and everyone else I encounter.
More like this:
- Most Popular
- Top Stories
- Most Recent
