From the author: Written from personal impressions after a long, long break from driving. It so happened that I haven’t driven a car for a long time. About twenty years old. Traffic jams in a big city, you know... Especially when going in and out of stuffy Chinatown on weekends, to the nature I love. But now, I’ve moved to another area. Now in my life there are fewer traffic jams, and there is more nature around the city. And it’s a bit far to get to public work. Only the very lazy will not remember about a personal car. First impressions. I bought a car, got behind the wheel, and drove off. Through the gas station: the sellers of gasoline left barely enough so that the business, you know, wouldn’t go bankrupt... There seem to be no problems with driving skills. We, RB coaches, have good coordination in life. So does attention and reaction speed. At first you get out of the driver’s seat so invigorated, with an increased metabolism. It’s not like after a corporate shift, where you chronically fall into hibernation, even with your eyes open. In short, you don’t have to drink coffee in the morning after your own trip, it’s not required! Difficulties. First of all, the complexity comes from the very fact that you have invested money, purchased a tool for fast movements, and underneath you is a steel mustang with more than a hundred horses…. I want to go, and quickly... I don’t want to stand in traffic jams or under signs at all. We need to make the most of this hundred horses under the hood. And then there are all sorts of minor inconveniences: give way, double solid... in the right lane there is a queue for turning from a secondary road... You are tempted to turn right from the middle lane. Did you have such desires? Well, you also understand that in the 20 years that you haven’t driven, there have been many more cars, but the roads, alas, have not become wider. Rather, on the contrary, due to cars parked in all the required and inappropriate places. The road is now also a parking lot for cars growing like a snowball. The flow of cars became denser. Speeds in the city are higher. Outside the city - about the same as 20 years ago. It has become more difficult to navigate using mirrors. Maybe it was just that this skill was the weakest... In short, when maneuvering in lanes I felt like, if not a complete dummie, then at least half a dummie - that's for sure! Those drivers around whom God or teachers have given stress resistance treat your mistakes with understanding and generosity they let you through, create space, smooth out your involuntary “sharpness”. Well, impulsive paranoids, as in other areas of life, get into a fight, even if it’s morally, they honk at the top of their lungs, and are ready to provoke an accident in order not to give in. In short, some gap in orientation had to be compensated for by coordination, reaction speed, endurance and optimism. Without the latter, in general, you shouldn’t get behind the wheel!..Conclusions. Even without being a particular fan of traffic rules, you begin to understand how much their importance has increased in the current conditions. I solved all 40 “Traffic Rules at Home” tickets for several laps in a row. And knowledge of the rules means endurance and optimism. Optimism and endurance. No matter how much I would like to turn around on a double solid line, because “I need to get there urgently!” - it’s better not to do this categorically. Before my eyes, a newbie girl smashed a brand new Mercedes into trash while performing a similar maneuver. Everyone gave in to her, but the newspaper writer simply didn’t notice her, she “shouldn’t have been there”... And she, unfortunately for herself, did not have time to buy CASCO... A tragedy, you know... Of course, when driving along serpentine roads, observe the speed limit and drive strictly according to the signs. It wasn’t fools who placed them in the mountains (mostly, let’s hope, of course). Let someone impatient honk your horn from behind. He wants to break this - even if he is nervous, and then he is responsible for everything. Yes, if you get behind the wheel in the morning, start driving slowly. Like in qigong gymnastics or sports. First, warm up - and then show the results. That is, accident-free driving. Well, and avoid overtraining. If you arrive after a working day, tired and eager to recover, and your beloved family demands to take her somewhere... even if it’s for “the most important business.” Feel free to give them money for!