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posts about #drivemycar more →
On Gender, Feminism, And Driving
"Driving Means Someone Is Brave": Women Return To Iraqi Roads


11/25/09
Watch Death Proof.
11/25/09
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11/25/09
I choose to let men drive me around when I drink since my tolerance is so amusingly low that I feel I shouldn't get behind the wheel after more than 1 drink, which pretty much kills a night out in LA.
That being said if I was dating a guy with a ridiculously fast, expensive car...I'd make him let me drive it. Passenger seat is no fun.
11/25/09
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11/25/09
On a road trip, while driving through PA, he was cruising SLOOOW in the left lane on the interstate and lo and behold got pulled over by a trooper for not pulling into the right lane and driving too slow.
It was great to get the trooper to tell him exactly what I had been saying all along...
11/25/09
I think the only reason I date boys is to have a DD.
(side note - i just peeled a dozen potatoes with a regular knife and my friend just found her potato peeler - argh).
11/25/09
I also blew a tire out "Seeing how fast my car could go" on I80 through Nevada. Fortunately for me a trooper found me and changed my tire. [I discovered I didn't have a tire iron for the jack.]
-Oh and I'm totally with you about the DD thing.
11/27/09
My father gave me a really good set of jumper cables for in the trunk, which is still with me all these years later. I've never needed them, but there are a lot of people who don't carry them and don't take decent care of their vehicles and are therefore stranded without the tools to take care of themselves!!
Knowing HOW to do these things should be mandatory for every driver before they get a license, even if we never have to actually do it ourselves!!
11/27/09
I know how to check fluid levels [my car leaks fluids!] and could probably change a tire and the oil but trying to wing it or learn without a teacher isn't quite the same as having a willing mentor to show you how things should look and be done.
Not excusing my stupidity for not having a tire iron, but it was also something that would NEVER have occurred to me at the time.
I wish I would have had someone that wanted to teach me about cars, everything I've learned has been from my car breaking down.
Consider yourself lucky.
11/25/09
She always told me driving was one of the keys to freedom as a woman and that often women are just as good if not better at driving than men, just in different ways.
Me? I can't drive aged 31. I've tried because everyone said I should, but I'm atrocious at it. Not because I'm a woman, but because I hate driving. I'd rather eat decomposing worms than wait to park. I hate driving so much I gave up the chance to study for a year in the US because I would have had to drive when I was there.
I will happily take buses or trains forever, please don't take my feminist card, evn though my mum swears I can't be a proper woman unless I drive! I just hate cars and cars=driving...
11/25/09
I like driving, except for the 3 years I had to drive from Northern VA to the District every morning. KILL ME.
11/25/09
I have a lot less road rage issues than my boy as well. He's been known (in his younger, more angsty days) to get into physical altercations with other drivers that may or may not have involved the punching of side-view mirrors.
11/25/09
I will admit to yelling more at female drivers when I'm behind the wheel -- but in all fairness, I do most of my driving in the suburbs during the day. Being trapped between 10 soccer moms going 15mph under the limit and gabbing on their phones while late to pick up little Channing or Finleigh from Montessori is MADDENING. I absolutely treat idiot men the same way. I just don't encounter them on the road as much. (ya know, "gender roles" and stay-at-home moms and whatnot...I don't live in a very progressive area)
11/25/09
I can zip around all the traffic [I live in LA, king of shitty traffic] drive fast everywhere and go around pretty much anyone driving stupid.
Lane splitting is legal here, making 2 wheels so much better than 4.
Now when I get behind the wheel of my car its oh so frustrating.
11/25/09
Not the volume of traffic, but the sheer stupidity and inattention of drivers. Give me Los Angeles drivers over anyone in the Western states. Why? Skill and attentiveness. Awareness of the common goal: Arrive. Awareness of the limits of their vehicle.
I've driven hundreds of thousands of miles in my life and see no reason to believe that women are any more egregious than men at shitty driving.
11/25/09
At least with lane splitting...I love driving in LA now.
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11/27/09
11/25/09
I love driving, and I love, love, love my car.
11/25/09
How does one get into this?
I checked out their page but the New To SCCA page doesn't really give any info.
Holy shit that sounds fun.
Tell me more!
11/26/09
Go to the main scca.org page and figure out what region you're in. From there, navigate to your region's page and check out the season schedule (which, depending on your region, might not be posted until early next year, after elections are held). Find first event. Write on calendar.
On the day of the first Solo II event, show up. You'll want to have a clean, empty car, a full tank of gas, a lunch, a lot of sunscreen and a collapsible chair and your entry fee. (The chair is optional, but I recommend it.)
There will be many, many people milling about at the event site. Ask one of them where the novice director is. The novice director (which could be me!) will be the one to walk you through tech inspections, find a loaner helmet for you and walk you through the course. They'll also ride with you, giving tips on how to go faster.
You'll also be expected to help run the event -- you might be standing on a corner, setting up any cones that are hit, or helping with timing and scoring.
At the end of the day, if you're like me, you'll be a shaky mass of adrenaline and nerves. Driving home will seem incredibly dull and you may wonder why you didn't get into this years before.