Driving In The City

In Maine getting your license is a right of passage among teenagers. Without a license you are limited to the confines of your house, or even worse left to have your parents drive you to meet friends. However with public transportation in New York City the problem of driving is eliminated. It is in fact more of an issue if you have a car in the city. You have to find a parking space, you have to deal with the crazed taxi drivers whipping through tiny streets, and worst of all the streets themselves are too complicated to actually know which one goes which way. Most people I know that have lived in the city before, or are natives to the city don't have licenses and have almost no clue how to drive. To be quite honest a big part of the reason I came to live in the city was the fact that I would never have to drive. I'm scared shitless of driving, as well as being a relatively poor driver. Here I never have to worry about it.

A year ago my sister died in car crash and from that point on setting foot in a car is almost unbearable. Each time the driver accelerates or makes a turn I envision myself crashing and the impact that would have on my family. Driving was no longer an enjoyment but a hassle. In New York however, even when I'm riding in a taxi I feel safe. The drivers almost always seem to be quite competent, and the distance I travel in the taxi is never very far. I can't help but wonder if the city because many people don't drive, is it safer? Of course there's also the drunk driving aspect. In Maine it was a common occurrence that people would drive home after consuming alcohol. Driving drunk in the city seems much less prevalent with people able to take public transportation and taxi's and the peace of mind of knowing your friends haven't crashed on the way home is calming.

I specifically remember driving home from a party that I had gone to in the city and was in a taxi and phoned my father. He asked what I had been doing and I truthfully told him that I was drinking. He responded by saying that moving to the city was one of the best things for me and him, that knowing I was able to get home without being in a car with someone drunk gave him peace of mind. However what I can't help but wonder is whether people who have never left the city have any desire to drive or if public transportation is good enough that people couldn't care less whether they got from A to B in a car or a train. I try to think that people like that they don't have to drive. Public transportation is much less dangerous than being in a car, and from what I've experienced so far, much less of a hassle. The experience of getting your license may be lost in the city, but at least people don't have to worry that their car will break down, or that their son or daughter might not make it home.