I must come clean that I cannot respect those who wield heavy and chunky new vehicles, without a care who and needs a scare in their motoring life to focus on the road.
My relatives drive a brand new Chinese luxury MPV electric vehicle.
I am more sensitive about driving than the average joe – I keep in my lane, signal by the books and not – just to be safe – but these relatives of mine… intrigue me.
They are nice people, don’t get me wrong, but are they nice drivers? They have no interest in cars. As some people may say, “If you don’t like something, you are most likely not going to be good at it.”
I see their lack of care as they pilot their huge two-tonne behemoth on the road. No signals, one hand on the steering wheel, pulling out of intersections without checking, not staying in lane, the list goes on. As someone who values driving as a skill akin to cooking, I’m mindful that how I cook can leave someone in the hospital. The same goes being on the public road!
When they do hinder other motorists, they just don’t seem to care. Cut someone off, no problem. Honked to move by faster motorists, no go. I want to believe they will take time to reflect, but its the same situation next week.
The cars? They don’t help. Or it does, by all of the safety and technology present including surround cameras, but even these and lane departure warnings don’t fix the driver – it only “aids” them. Beeps here and there, a camera popup on the blind-proof screen, and yet nothing changes as he blocks two lanes with both hands on the very top of the steering wheel. Neither him or I would want invasive alignment to the road. Nobody does.
The cars just feel… unhelpful. Status quota, that’s all it feels like. They not only seem genuinely lifeless by how mathematically on-the-nose or assisted perfection the experiencing experience is, but how they purr around. Weightless and disconnected steering systems and more – it feels like a soulless and perfected A to B transport perfected to the point of perceived zero flaws – nothing imperfect, which feels so sterile and uninteresting, from passenger to driver.
And its not just Chinese cars or EVs – this falls into many regions – where only the unrefined cheap cars seem to retain some element of livelihood thanks to their imperfections or “unrefinement” courtesy of petrol motors.
These cars are perfectly comfortable, yes, but there must be a mix of relaxation and acknowledgement that you, the driver, are piloting a two-tonne appliance whose misalignment in value of road safety will align with a dangerous situation. These cars are so perfect and cushy even for the driver that they seem to forget they are driving, too!
Maybe its not only the cars, but the drivers, so it begs the next question. Why people still pick them up by the dozens, I don’t know yet, but these people buying them? Some of them shouldn’t drive at all! Their lack of skill or care is the kind that puts both attentive motorists and inattentive pedestrians at risk, and this world doesn’t need more motoring deaths.
There needs to be more accountability designed in these cars rather than being a luxury yacht for even the driver wafting through a city at 50 kilometres an hour. And drivers themselves, especially older ones, need more accountability and respect to having a licence. It doesn’t help that cars are now so muted for a skill so hazardous, while legislators bat an eye and release them to all licence holders, allowing cars bigger than ever to reach the hands of drivers whose senses may have declined with age – or incompetence.
I really want cars to both be downsized or reform the ability to buy giant vehicles, or put only those who value driving, to drive. My relatives… bless them. And pray for them.
~Guest Writer Andy
Read more: Fuel for Thought: I think I’m harsh on myself for being mechanically illiterate
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i agree, my family drive a byd m6 also, cannot drive properly