Driving behind a slow car

digitalfirehose (58)in #life • 6 years ago

Yesterday, as I was driving to work, I found myself driving alongside a really zippy Subaru. It was one of the fast ones, a WRX STI, all decked out in a nice blue color, big tailpipes, body trim and it had a huge fin in back. I was just holding a steady speed in the right lane, and the driver of the Subaru changed lanes many times, often getting stuck behind a longer line of cars than I at the next light.

I was that kind of driver once. Fast, fast, fast! Go, go, go, goo, goo, goo, gah, gah, gah! I used to have a lead foot all the time. I got my share of tickets, and paid dearly for insurance. I saw the old me in that Subaru driver. I have tasted that excitement and know what it is about.

Now I'm a middle aged old fart and I have found something else in my daily commute. Slowing down lets me observe everyone else more carefully. I love to be on time, so I leave early and give myself time to get there in peace. But there is something else that I found.

I also found that by leaving early and going slower, I'm much more efficient. I feather the pedal. I get to know the signals on the road. I get to know the traffic patterns well. I find greater patience with slower drivers. I know all too well, the futility of changing lanes just to get ahead of one. Slow. Car. Ahead of what? Where are we going?

So I take my time on surface streets. Most of my commute is on surface streets, so I can avoid the freeways, and I don't miss them. Freeways are great when they're empty, but once they gum up, I often find myself playing "whack-a-lane" where I try to get in the fastest lane while passing everyone else. I don't do that so much anymore, but I used to.

I had a turning point one day in stop and go traffic. I was on the 405 heading northbound in Los Angeles, in the morning commute. I was driving from Orange County to LA County, and it went from wide open and clear to a slowly moving parking lot. I would read the traffic and change lanes out boredom.

But then, I found myself stuck in a lane that had stopped. I watched as some 30 or 40 cars on each side of me, pass me by. and I was furious. And a little voice called to me and said, "This isn't working."

So I regrouped, relaxed and said to myself, "I accept everything exactly as it is, right now, without reservation". I chanted that to myself. I kept chanting until I forgot what it was that I was angry about, and went to work. Acceptance is a highly effective antidote for frustration. For no longer did I need to change the world to be happy. I only needed to change the way I was thinking.

Now, every so often, I encounter a slower car on the road. I used to automatically change lanes, pass, and return to the same lane as before. "That'll show him!", right? But now, I just consider the possibility that the Universe had something in mind for me, right there and then. So I allow myself to follow the car for as long as it takes for me to get to my destination (I don't follow that driver to his destination - I'm not crazy).

I watch the other cars go by, then I go by them again when they are stopped in a line at the next signal. I am also fascinated by the experience of noticing a slower car, driving for a time, and then noticing that the slower car has gone and I didn't even remember when its course diverged from mine. It is all so temporary and transient.

And then there is this strange idea of "territory" on a public road. I was like that once, too. "This is my spot, and don't think you can cut in front of me!" I was like that. But age and experience has brought a new desire for peace while driving. It is not a competition. If I had wanted a race, I would have signed up for a race at the track. But here I am, on a public road, going to work.

I have a family and I think very differently with other people in the car than when I'm alone. No longer am I a "road warrior", and I have to wonder what I was fighting for now that I think about it. Alone, I listen to music, read the traffic, and get to work. I love to read traffic.

But with my family, I engage everyone in the car. We talk. We laugh. I listen to the kids talk to each other. I am mindful.

Now that I think about it some more, I'm a mindful driver. I err on the side of peace while I'm on the road. I give a very wide berth to trucks when I see them. They might be hauling something I might buy someday, so in own small way, I reduce my costs by letting trucks into my lane, or just stay out of their way.

I try to go with the flow in traffic. I let them in when they need to get in. I let them pass. I change lanes when I see that it would improve the traffic and still get me to where I'm going. I alter course when I see congestion coming up.

Driving is an interesting exercise of the mind and I enjoy driving. But, I can see a time in the distant future where driving might not have any relevance to me anymore. I can see a time when I might not be a driver anymore. I might just be a passenger. I'd be OK with that.

But for now, I remain mindful of my driving, other cars, other drivers and the people in the car with me. I err on the side of peace when I drive.