She drove 13 miles to a Starbucks inside a Target. From the map that Channel 5 showed there are at least 3 non-national chain coffee shops either enroute or within 2 miles of her. Commenters keep saying how determined of a girl she is, while I just see another “good” consumer being created waiting in line at the local Bucks at 6am for their caffeine fix.
I don’t live quite rural enough to have anything stick shift besides my car. Now a days with vehicles being push button start, lane keep, and obstacle avoidance I think a lot of kids could probably make the trip and not get in a serious accident. Of course all those nanny features are also great for our aging population.
My brother thought it would be helpful to teach my nieces how to drive when they were 13 or 14. Unfortunately, when the younger one was 14, she began sneaking out at night and driving her mother’s car to parties. I told my niece that if she were to have an accident and it involves another car, she will be lucky to have any new clothes every couple of years since her parents would likely be sued to high heaven. That seemed to do the trick. You got to appeal to what is really important in their lives.
Yeah, that one … that one is disappointing in anyone. (Not that I’ll actually judge anyone else’s choices, but there’s always going to be a part of my brain screaming “with so may other good choices why are you going there?!?” Frankly, I blame the parents. I’d be far more impressed if she’d learned how to make it herself at home, but then we wouldn’t be reading an article about it.
I’ve hated SUVs since the first time I saw one staggering down the road, but when one of my partners and I made our annual week long camping trip this year, we finally made the decision to rent an appropriate sized vehicle instead of abusing my poor little Ford Focus again. We ended up with a Hyundai Tuscon hybrid, 2024, with more bells and whistles than a Spike Jones tribute band.
I’m tall – like around 1.9 meters – and it was interesting to find that I wasn’t hurting nearly as much after 7 hours on the road as I would normally be after 2. I also got really used to those nanny features very quickly. I could really feel the pull of the dark side almost as much as I could feel the pull of the lane correction. (I wasn’t about to let the damn thing drive for me, like I know some people essentially do, but I started loving that assisted mode really quickly.)
I still don’t actually want one, but I’m looking at them with a lot less contempt and more of “well, maybe … what’s the gas mileage like on that hybrid again?”
My old Land Rover makes me feel alive when I drive it. My wife’s Subaru makes me feel like I’m driving a toaster oven warming up some plastic. An hour’s drive in the Defender and I have to stop and unfurl clenched tendons and get feeling back into my arms. About the same after 9 hours in the Subie.
I’m surprised that girl had any sense of direction or route planning given the kids and teens I know. Most have their heads in their phones or sleep and have no idea how they got from point A to point B. My kids knew their brands though. Maybe she just drove until she spotted a logo she knew. So yeah, …
I came here to say “wouldn’t have happened with a standard transmission”, but you beat me to it.
Many modern cars are like bumper cars. There’s a start button, a go pedal and a left-right wheel. But driving is not just about making the vehicle do what you want, of course. We live, as they say, in a society, and drivers ed is about the rules of the road and the finer points of driving more than it is about the technical aspects. Although these finer points (hill starts, parking, motor breaking, etc…) are increasingly becoming obsolete as well, as they are taken over by automatic features.
Not only do I like the nanny features in my hybrid sedan, I ADORE the adaptive cruise control that keeps me three seconds (you can adjust this to less) behind the car ahead, regardless of how their speed changes. 56 MPG ain’t too shabby, either, for a full-size sedan.
When my oldest began driving, I found I couldn’t give her directions by naming streets, I had to name landmarks, e.g., the 7-eleven, the fire house, etc. She knew almost no street names. My dad used to give “Catholic” directions, and would mention all the Catholic churches on the route. In suburban Boston, there were plenty.
Not to get off topic, but there is a pretty big difference when I’m driving by myself compared to the family. The Subaru Ascent works great as the family vehicle. That lovely adaptive cruise and lane assist when taking trips is nice. On that spirited drive with all the other running late to work traffic in the morning 3 pedals wakes me up and keeps me engaged. I can tone down the spirited driving with the family in tow, but then why did I buy a car with stick shift…
Here in Wisconsin we can do it by a matrix of pubs (although call them bars else you’ll confuse the locals) and churches.
“Follow that road until you get to the intersection with a bar on each of two corners, a church on the third, and an open field on the forth. Turn onto the road between the church and the field …”
My nesting partner has pointed out that I still will often put my hand lightly on the gearshift when we stop at a light, even thought I haven’t owned a vehicle with a standard transmission in almost 20 years. (Back on topic … hmm … oh!) Yes, I do this even when driving to my favorite local coffee shops for something other than a Frappuccino!
…
Hey Pal! How do I get to town from here?
And he said: Well just take a right where
they’re going to build that new shopping mall,
go straight past where they’re going to put in the freeway,
take a left at what’s going to be the new sports center,
and keep going until you hit the place where
they’re thinking of building that drive-in bank.
You can’t miss it. And I said: This must be the place.
I’ve been in more places where they use landmarks that are long gone-“take a left where the Baptist church used to be, then go on past the dead tree and the gas station lot, turn on the driveway near the broken fence gate…”
Before GPS devices and the like I used to give people directions with a combination of street names and descriptions of what they’d see en route—not just businesses, churches, etc., but things like rock walls and distinctive trees.
Even now I like to use Google Maps to “drive” a route virtually, or to see what my destination and the area around it will look like.
It’s even more fun when you have moved from a manual with key start to one with keyless. The first time I stalled the newer keyless one the “old” reflexes kicked in. Clutch in, gear shift to first, right hand turning key…I mean turning nothing. I think I blew a mental fuse in that couple of seconds sitting there turning an imaginary key. It took me another few seconds to think, “push the button”.
In Canada you just turn right at the Tim Hortons, carry on past the next two Tim Hortons, bear left where there’s a Tim Hortons under construction. and you’re there.
With the Defender, 50 kmh is the beginning of sporty. 110 kmh is is terrifying. Ergo, sports car thrills / no speeding tickets. Except acceleration: it takes 2 days to get to 110 kmh.
Unfortunately, when the younger one was 14, she began sneaking out at night and driving her mother’s car to parties. I told my niece that if she were to have an accident and it involves another car, she will be lucky to have any new clothes every couple of years since her parents would likely be sued to high heaven. That seemed to do the trick. You got to appeal to what is really important in their lives.
