Uncomfortable Driving
 

I made biking my primary means of transportation a few months back, and have been continuously limiting my use of a car. So I drove today for the first time in about a month, and was uncomfortable the whole time. I noticed a high percentage of drivers were texting, eating, on the phone, or/and yelling at kids instead of paying attention, all the while going well over the speed limit. Something about this made me nervous, and it was the first time since learning to drive 13 years ago that I've been so. I think it was being trapped in a vehicle, and unable to escape if someone drifted or failed to stop or any other crazy event.

Anybody else have trouble when they are forced to drive instead of bike?

Not really but not having a car and cycling everywhere has made me a better driver.

+1

I also have to add that being in a car makes me feel uncomfortable and trapped and I do not care about getting to places fast as hell... I will get there on my bicycle and enjoy my day for than the person that is stuck in their little AC box.

I sometimes have to remind myself that I can't fit between the line of parked cars and the car coming the other way, and get mildly annoyed when there's a MUP bypassing the red light I'm stuck at :P

I am a part time bus driver, I see people doing some pretty outrageous stuff behind the wheel of their cars.

If you think rationally about it; would you rather be on a car with seat belts when one of the unattentive yahoos decides to invade your lane? As far as being trapped; anything that hits you hard enough to bend your car around you can't be any better on a bike...

MUP ??? Pardon my noobnes and DONT TAZE ME BRO !

That's kind of common. Motorcyclists refer to a car as a cage for the reasons you mentioned.

Yup, I feel the same way. I recently got my driver's license again, I let it lapse a couple of years back. Almost everyone is speeding. I don't even like being a passenger in a car because the driver will be speeding, talking on the phone, etc.. I also notice everyone is driving too close to the car in front of them. I didn't notice this when I only biked or before I gave up my license.

When I drive now, I never go above the speed limit. Cars behind me will start to tailgate. It doesn't matter what the weather is like. It could be raining, foggy and everyone is going faster than the speed limit or tailgating me. I hate driving. It does make me nervous to drive now.

I think my experience today would indicate I'd rather be on a bike. My brain, right or wrong, has decided that you can't avoid an accident in a steel cage, but can on a bike that's only my body width.

My commute is 21 miles each way, and counting errands its 45 miles a day that I've been biking. So far, I haven't run into any problems more than a very small handful of impatient people. And besides having a great view of my surroundings, my ears have been amazing at helping identify where the cars are around me.

Got in the Jeep today and I couldn't hear anything. I def realized how limited my spacial awareness is while driving. Its interesting, for years I used a motorcycle for transportation several days a week and I loved it, but I never really hated driving a car. Then again, I had never gone this long without driving.

Man I like riding a bike!

I've noticed definite uncomfortableness while driving too, though a lot of that is just noticing how poorly fit my car's driver seat is to my body size. I've spent a good deal of time tweaking my bike's fit, but there's just not a lot of adjustments in my car... and i don't feel as comfortable emptying all of my pockets into a little bag on the steering wheel so I'm also getting poked more in the car. stupid car...

As a matter of fact my drivers license is suspended but that does not phase, I do not have a car =)

I drove a car for the first time in months, started to stress me out. Stop, go, stop, go, goofy drivers. I also noticed that I drove slower than I would have before. I do not miss driving at all.

Don't get me wrong, I rather ride my bike than the car any day. I'm just saying that in this case perception and reality are two different things. You my feel unsafe on the car, but trust me, you are waaaaaay safer.

Just think about your garden variety fender bender. On a car is nothing more than a hassle. Now imagine a car fender bending you... It doesn't matter how much more nimble you are on a bike if you don't see the car coming.

I love my car as much as my bike, Large car that is with a 475 Cat

I go six months or more sometimes without driving a car but it never seems to bother me if I have to drive again for some reason. Usually it is when I travel for work and the bicycle or public transportation isn't an option. Doesn't bother me but it doesn't make me want to drive more either. I am however looking into getting an electric motorcycle. I've never cared for motorcycles very much because of the noise and fumes but I've got a reservation on one of these. They should be available next summer. I'll power it with my PV system. I think the motorcycle will be useful for when I need to get somewhere faster than I can bicycle or when it isn't practical to show up all sweaty. I don't think it will cut into my bicycling but we shall see. I'm not sure why people see their choice as between a car and a bicycle when motorcycles are another alternative.

I too consider myself a better driver because of all the kms I've cycled in city traffic. I think one week of city commuting by bike should be an integral part of getting a DL. It would give a very welcome perspective to driving a car. Not going to happen of course, not even here with our fairly extensive driver's ed courses, but one can dream... :D

As I don't own a car, but I'm a member in a car share system, and I also rent if needed. So every car I drive is different. That means I always take a couple of minutes to familiarize myself with the controls before I drive off. I even RTFM (mainly because I like to follow fuel consumption and most car computers' UIs vary from non existant to criminally misleading).

I think driving a "fresh" (for me) car all the time makes me concentrate more on actual driving. Do I feel unsafe due to other traffic? No, or at least not more compared to cycling. But I notice I keep scanning my surroundings as if I were on a bike, trying to predict what other people are going to do next and judging my best options in relation to that.

--J

I definitely am more aware of what other drivers are doing now... it doesn't change how I drive, but I find myself driving without the radio on more often.

I agree -- my discomfort has nothing to do with perceived safety and everything to do with annoyance at being physically uncomfortable. Sad that I can fairly easily and inexpensively purchase a bicycle large enough for my 6'5" self, but I'd have to order custom to find a seat for my car that fits.

Let me get this straight: You drive a car, but the 'fumes' of a motorcycle bother you? Given that most modern bikes are constructed to reasonably similar emissions standards as cars, this seems more than a bit irrational. The noise issue is specific to certain bikes (listen to a BMW K-series bike next to many cars... it isn't louder).

As to OP: There have been several times in my life when I have, because of circumstances (limited access to cars, mostly), been forced to limit my driving of cars for some period. For about 8 months during college, the only things I drove were my bike and a 35 foot long transit bus. My first trip driving a regular passenger car was a bit disconcerting -- I felt really short and nimble compared to the bus. For about 6 months, I had only a motorcycle, and the return to the car that time was okay. My worst transition by far, though, did not involve 'not driving' but involved driving in a completely different setting -- Haiti. There were no observed rules of the road, incredible congestion in Port au Prince, and enormous numbers of distractions (for me, at least). My return to civilization was pretty weird -- having to remember to obey lane markings, stay on 'my side' of the street, not just make a hole wherever I could... Quite an adjustment.

If you're really worried about it, though, drive more -- you'll get more used to the behavior of others. You might not like it any better, but at least you'll be more 'comfortable' with it -- for good or ill.

I will say that as a recent returnee to cycling, it has made me a much more observant and courteous driver, in part because I notice stuff while I'm on the bikes that I almost never noticed while in my cages.

Way back when I was driving a big truck, it took a lot of adjustment to drive my car, but I was in that truck all day almost every day and seldom in the car. I don't have much trouble going from bike to car now even though I don't drive much, riding and driving are so different that there's no confusion of how to do it.

I never noticed fumes on a motorcycle, but most of them are obnoxiously loud. Two days ago while cycling, I was passed by a really loud one and my ears actually hurt for the next minute.

+1 - I wish all motorcycles were made to be as quiet as the BMW CptJohnC rides, but we all know that's the exception rather than the rule on motorcycles. In general, people who ride their motorcycles want to be heard loud and clear (maybe that's a safety advantage given their speed?) The noise still rests as very annoying for us bicyclists and pedestrians.

Correction -- RODE. I sold it several years ago, and haven't replaced it for lack of funds. Yes, many motorcycles are VERY loud, but that's because the owners choose to make them that way (much like the owners of so many small, usually Japanese, cars in my area with aftermarket exhausts) -- I find them just as annoying and more plentiful. But conventional motorcycles do not NEED to be loud. Don't, however, get bikers started on the 'loud pipes save lives' myth -- second only to helmet discussions for contentiousness and petty argument, in my experience.

My point was that noise and 'fumes' should not be direct impediments to riding motorcycles (esp. if you live in a rider's paradise like Hawaii, as the poster to whom I was responding apparently does). But I will more than concede that an electric motorcycle would be cool -- I've considered one of them myself, for when the time comes.

I see as many inattentive drivers whether I am riding or driving. Although riding has made me a safer driver.

I like driving out of town: highways and rural roads, no traffic, calmer drivers. But I despise driving in the city traffic, drives me nuts and I always end up mad and wishing I rode a bike instead. That's why I built two trailers so I can do a lot by a bicycle now.

I find the car handy for weekend getaways. Since my wife never got into bike touring, and looks like she never will, we do car-camping now and then and sometimes we drive out of the city so we can ride our bikes in some nice place or go for a hike in the mountains. It's just so much faster and easier to get to those places by car on a weekend morning than by any form of mass transit. ZipCar isn't widely available in my parts of Queens either.

But if we don't get up early enough on weekend to avoid the traffic, we stay home usually. The difference can be 20 minutes at 7AM versus 1h30m after 10AM just to get out of the city borders. And we purposely return late, because driving back home in traffic can negate all the mental benefits of a day spent cycling or hiking.

I'm quite car-lite: 48k miles after more than 6 years.