
An Ode to Driving in America - pseudolus
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/05/an-ode-to-driving-in-america/609109/
======
martythemaniak
Driving anywhere in the world is probably my favourite thing to do while on
vacation. Spend a few days in the city, then grab a rental car and start
driving. You can take the smaller roads, stop at random villages for coffee,
stop by the side of the road next to a fruit tree, an overlook, a plaque or
just some scenery you like. There's a dizzying array of things you can see and
do which are completely inaccessible to users of mass transit.

The vastness of North America certainly has it's own charm and driving the
vast distances can put you in a very relaxed, calm, meditative state, which is
very different than say, slowly winding your way through the narrow dirt roads
Costa Rica's Nicoya Peninsula. But they're both great and a great way to
really understand a place.

~~~
core-questions
The anti-car crowd has missed this, somehow, in their lust to convert all of
us to lemmings that can only get around with mass transport. There's an
incredible sense of freedom that comes with a car: you can go where you
choose, when you choose, without filing a flight plan or getting a ticket or
anything other than fueling the thing up.

When you're dealing with something on the scale of North America, it's hard to
imagine going without. As a Canadian, there are places here that mass transit
can never dream of taking me. Am I to never go to these places?

~~~
ohples
As a member of that anti-car crowd, I think most of us would be happy with
just banishing cars from city and most residential centers. We want to make
cars an option, not a requirement.

Having too many cars also starts to encroach on other peoples freedoms via
noise pollution, smog, less open space, etc.

Also, keep in mind we are talking about something that kills and injures a
large number of people a year.

~~~
arwhatever
As someone who switched sides from the car to the anti-car crowd, I believe
that in most ways you're _less_ free with vehicle ownership, as you wind up
more locked into "the system" than as a public transportation user.

The system being insurance, parking tickets, revenue grabbing speeding tickets
and tolls, fluctuating gas prices, frivolous lawsuits, fender benders and body
shops, and so on. People behave at their worst given the psychological
distance that their metal box provides them. Not to mention just having to
drive the damn thing when you could spend your time focused on something else!

The one big exception that I see is - dun dun dun - global pandemic time.
Temporarily, I appreciate the barrier between myself and my fellow citizen.
But I just went out and rented a cheap one, and will rid myself of it once the
risk of contagion subsides.

~~~
arwhatever
Re-reading the end of the "Lemmings" guy's comment more closely, there's one
other point that I would like to speak to - After traveling around the world
extensively for 100% of the last two years, I definitely prefer public transit
in almost every form over driving.

However, one good thing about the U.S. that is true of few other places, is
the ability to go on super long road trips, seeing tons of the countryside,
and getting far away from other people. This is truly a benefit and a joy.

However, it also comprises 5% of the driving that I wind up doing, the other
95% being shitty commutes and errands fees and tolls and road rage. And
finding parking! No need to find parking when using public transit.

------
optymizer
<rant> My biggest complaint with driving on highways in the US is that people
generally tend to arrange themselves in a checkerboard pattern, taking up all
the lanes, despite all the signs that say that the left lane is for passing. I
think it's because everyone wants their own lane, so they can cruise. It's not
a case of 'a few bad apples'. Anecdotally, about 1/3 of the cars actually let
you pass, the others don't give a rat's ass, slowing down the traffic for no
reason.

Speaking of cruising, my second complaint is how most don't use cruise
control. It's painfully obvious, because the other cars slow down
significantly when going up the hill and accelerate downhill. I see the same
cars passing me, downhill, then ending up behind me uphill. It's so annoyingly
unnecessary. If your car doesn't have adaptive CC, that means you have to turn
on/off the CC frequently. The traffic ends up stretching and compressing like
a rubber band. It doesn't have to be that bad - just use cruise control.

To contrast this experience, I had the pleasure of driving in Portugal (from
Porto to Sagres). They have by far the most respectful drivers I've ever seen
anywhere (and I drove in Western and Eastern Europe, Middle East and North
America). Good job Portugal, the rest of the world's drivers could learn a
thing or two from you.

</rant>

~~~
timerol
I agree with you that Americans don't know how to use lanes, but I want to
push back on the cruise control comment. Many cars have cruise control set
differently, and "keep the speedometer at exactly X" is not the algorithm
generally in play. I was once part of a caravan with a sedan, pickup truck,
and 15 passenger van where we all yelled at each other for not using cruise
control until we realized that we all were using cruise control the whole
time, but needed to adjust it to not interfere with each other on hilly roads.

If you want the best highway fuel efficiency, programming a cruise control to
slow down uphill and go a bit faster downhill is the right way to go. How much
faster or slower depends on the engine and current weight of the automobile,
which is why the three examples were so wildly different.

~~~
leetcrew
on very hilly roads, I like to hit the crest of the hill at least 10 mph below
my target speed so I don't have to ride the brakes all the way down. imo, this
is fine as long as you don't do it in the left lane.

my car has a standard transmission so cruise control isn't super useful in
this situation anyway, as I tend to change gears a lot.

------
sq_
For all the faults our driving culture has created, there's definitely
something calming for me about the whole thing (once you're outside the crush
of big-city traffic).

Kinda related to what the author says in the article, there's just something
about hitting the road, either alone or with a friend, playing some classic
rock, and just driving (whether or not there's a destination) that gives me
space to think and is soothing. Not sure why or if anyone else has the same
experience.

~~~
ip26
I'd always heard that, and so growing up I tried the whole "go for a drive"
thing many times. I found it felt good in the moment, but when I got home I
was just as wrapped around the axle as when I left. I came to think of it as
something like trying to drown your problems in ̶a̶l̶c̶o̶h̶o̶l̶ petrol.

I've found moderate exercise has a more lasting effect.

------
kodablah
TFA mentions "open road" in subtitle, then proceeds with anecdotes of city
driving on the coasts sipping chain coffee. That's a very small representation
of driving in America.

~~~
Causality1
This bears repeating. Driving in major cities is, to me, one of the most
miserable experiences to be found on the face of the earth.

~~~
ohples
Not just that, living (or just being in) a city with cars is also terrible.
Its lose lose for everyone.

~~~
sfkdjf9j3j
Well, it's a win for the suburban dwellers whose weekend visits to the city
are subsidized and accommodated by the people who live there full time.

~~~
Causality1
Subsidized in what way? Cities still have to have roads for buses and delivery
trucks and the vast majority of road wear comes from semi-trucks so it isn't
the roads themselves. Are you saying the visits are subsidized on the basis of
the increased traffic costing the city more money than it receives from the
tourist dollars spent by the visitors?

~~~
ohples
Buses and delivery truck don't need giant parking lots, which can't be used
for anything else.

~~~
Causality1
Do you know a lot of major cities with large amounts of free parking?

When city land becomes valuable enough that people in parking lots don't
generate more wealth than they would if there wasn't a parking lot, the
parking lots get sold and buildings are put there instead.

~~~
ohples
I wish that were the case but there are minimum parking laws in place in a lot
of place that prevents that.

And yes most cities I've been to tend not to charge for parking at night or on
the weekends.

~~~
Causality1
Such a bizarre practice. Demand on the weekends is highest and logically the
parking fees should be highest, not zero.

I'm not one from whom to take advice on the subject, though. I think roads are
for driving and parking on them is perverse and I refuse to live anywhere
crowded enough to have a bus system.

------
RajuVarghese
Ah yes. This article does resonate. I've been living in Europe for 40 years
but I learned to drive in the US. I loved the wide open of the country and the
fact that everything is setup with cars in mind. Classic rock radio: that's
the ultimate when on a holiday in a rented car in the US. I can fully
understand the sentiment of the author.

------
woodrowbarlow
as problematic as cars are in america (for suburban sprawl, environmental
reasons, and equal access to opportunities) there is a uniquely enjoyable
element of americana to it. the final fantasy 15 game captured this really
well.

------
brickmort
_Here in my car, I feel safest of all. I can lock all my doors It 's the only
way to live In cars!_

------
jerzyt
I have a second home in the mountains surrounding LA, and it's such a joy to
go out there for a few days. I love driving the curvy mountain roads. It's
just exhilarating. Nowadays, with the Covid-19 quarantine, I'm taking
circuitous path to go grocery shopping, just to get a little extra "me time"
on the road.

------
A4ET8a8uTh0
Anecdote from the old country. I used to live in a relatively small city in
the old country ( 50K maybe ). As a kid, I was able to walk just about
anywhere. And I did. As most of my friends, I did what I could to get my DL
equivalent and as soon as I got it, I drove everywhere I could.

I think this is the point that occasionally is forgotten in these
conversations. It is not just that the infrastructure forces behavior ( in US,
in most areas it does ), but the convenience factor makes it a very hard
proposition to just ban cars from cities ( in a way similar to France's ).

But it is hard to argue against convenience and established routines. People
do not like change.

~~~
akgerber
The convenience factor is also engineered. It's not convenient to drive unless
there is ample parking at every destination, and policies in the US and many
other countries has basically banned building new places without ample
parking. Providing this parking requires a large amount of land, which makes
walking slow, unpleasant, and dangerous.

~~~
bostonpete
Policies dictate required parking? Seems like something developers would
naturally do anyways. If you build commercial space without ample parking
you're going to have trouble finding tenants...

~~~
tropo
This is true for an isolated rural business.

In other cases, a business benefits from having customers park at neighboring
businesses. If parking is provided, it will be taken by customers of other
businesses.

------
brailsafe
I love driving, and thought I'd never give it up until my car died. Now that
I've been without one in Vancouver for over a year, it's just not financially
sensible to get one for the occasional fun I'd have. Certainly, the sense of
freedom is great, but good public transport for $100/month is way better.
Renting a car fills the gaps I think so far. It's also super not worth the
hassle to maintain and park.

------
zip1234
I understand why people like driving. I drive plenty and have two cars and
live in the USA. There is no option but to drive in most of the US, so people
do and it can even be enjoyable. It really is a tragedy of the commons
situation though. Great and horrible at the same time.

------
stevenleeg
What about an Ode to the MTA? Or an Ode to Amtrak? Or an Ode to MUNI? An ode
to the bike lane!

I think the last thing the United States needs is more people glorifying the
horrendous car culture that has been built up in this country.

~~~
infecto
Ode to needles on Bart?

But seriously. You cannot ignore the the importance that cars have played in
America. Ya ya ya, cars are terrible, Europe is better but also much smaller.
I am definitely looking to the future and hope we design smarter cities but we
cannot ignore the past. None of the options you listed are part of Americana
imo.

~~~
danans
> we cannot ignore the past. None of the options you listed are part of
> Americana imo.

To the contrary, commuter rail transit systems, primarily streetcars, were
very much a feature of American cities from Cincinnati to San Francisco in the
period from the late 1800s through the mid-century. Ignoring them is, as you
yourself say, ignoring the past.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streetcars_in_North_America](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streetcars_in_North_America)

~~~
infecto
But for better or worse I would argue anything before 1900 is not really
Americana, probably earlier. I think it holds true across the world. We are
talking about nostalgia from childhood or your grandparents, popular media
that you consumed. I am not saying to ignore the past but I have never heard
of street cars romanticized like car driving in America is. Hell, tourists
will come and rent a motorcycle or a car and drive across America. Sorry I
confused you.

