Anyone else notice just how much cars are abused these days?
This is the typical use-leading-to-abuse pattern in drivers today:
The first car purchase is phase 1. The driver buys his first vehicle for casual and commuting use. Maybe driving to school or work and back, but he generally follow the laws during the first few months of ownership, and usually take proper care of his vehicle. The new driver also avoids interstates and generally drives on "easier" roads. Usually in this phase the driver drives right at or even under the speed limit.
This leads to phase 2, experimentation. Having developed a tolerance for normal casual car use, the driver moves on to bigger and more dangerous uses to reach his high. The driver starts using interstates in this phase, but generally stays within 6 mph of the speed limit. Some aggressive driving and abuse starts here, but nothing too serious.
Phase 3 is addiction. At this point, the user can't even function day-to-day without a car. When the car gives him trouble, he doesn't even go to work, instead his whole focus is on getting to his "dealer" to get the car back into working condition. Users in this phase often make up excuses or lies to cover up their addiction, for example a light rain will be used as an excuse to drive rather than walk a short distance, and the user will insist on driving even short distances for whatever reasons they can come up with.
A coworker today insisted on driving 2 blocks to get to a gas station, it's ridiculous how addicted she is. I suggested she could easily walk that far, and get some nice fresh air, but she said she needed to drive "because her car was low on gas". It just goes to show how her addiction has warped her thinking process. If she was willing to leave behind her vehicle for a few short minutes she could have walked the way to the gas station and then she wouldn't need to buy gas. I just let it go though, because once a person has fallen into the third phase on a professional can help them.
Phase 3 automobile users have been known to purchase multiple vehicles, even though there is no way for them to drive them simultaneously. They tend to speed, as much as 15 mph over the limit on interstates. Some, having built up a tolerance for normal domestic vehicles, move to more dangerous foreign vehicles, such as Japanese or German cars. A very serious warning sign is people who don't even leave their vehicles to eat, instead they go to a "drive-thru", which is a restaurant that actively encourages this sort of behavior, and they receive food they can consume without even shutting down their vehicle.
I'm writing this in the hopes that it will reach some of you before it's too late. Once the addiction has taken hold it's almost impossible to break, so I urge you to never start using automobiles in the first place.
This is the typical use-leading-to-abuse pattern in drivers today:
The first car purchase is phase 1. The driver buys his first vehicle for casual and commuting use. Maybe driving to school or work and back, but he generally follow the laws during the first few months of ownership, and usually take proper care of his vehicle. The new driver also avoids interstates and generally drives on "easier" roads. Usually in this phase the driver drives right at or even under the speed limit.
This leads to phase 2, experimentation. Having developed a tolerance for normal casual car use, the driver moves on to bigger and more dangerous uses to reach his high. The driver starts using interstates in this phase, but generally stays within 6 mph of the speed limit. Some aggressive driving and abuse starts here, but nothing too serious.
Phase 3 is addiction. At this point, the user can't even function day-to-day without a car. When the car gives him trouble, he doesn't even go to work, instead his whole focus is on getting to his "dealer" to get the car back into working condition. Users in this phase often make up excuses or lies to cover up their addiction, for example a light rain will be used as an excuse to drive rather than walk a short distance, and the user will insist on driving even short distances for whatever reasons they can come up with.
A coworker today insisted on driving 2 blocks to get to a gas station, it's ridiculous how addicted she is. I suggested she could easily walk that far, and get some nice fresh air, but she said she needed to drive "because her car was low on gas". It just goes to show how her addiction has warped her thinking process. If she was willing to leave behind her vehicle for a few short minutes she could have walked the way to the gas station and then she wouldn't need to buy gas. I just let it go though, because once a person has fallen into the third phase on a professional can help them.
Phase 3 automobile users have been known to purchase multiple vehicles, even though there is no way for them to drive them simultaneously. They tend to speed, as much as 15 mph over the limit on interstates. Some, having built up a tolerance for normal domestic vehicles, move to more dangerous foreign vehicles, such as Japanese or German cars. A very serious warning sign is people who don't even leave their vehicles to eat, instead they go to a "drive-thru", which is a restaurant that actively encourages this sort of behavior, and they receive food they can consume without even shutting down their vehicle.
I'm writing this in the hopes that it will reach some of you before it's too late. Once the addiction has taken hold it's almost impossible to break, so I urge you to never start using automobiles in the first place.