There is
Zen Meditation, Zen Archery, even Zen Motorcycle Maintenance, but did you know
there is also Zen Driving? I am a student of ZD, an aspirant on the asphalt
path. It’s not an easy path to just stumble upon. In my culture, we are trained
to be impatient, and when we get on the road, haste is the deity reigning
supreme. Example: it seems a majority of the voters in my town are still
willing to spend $45 million on the Rainier project’s promise of saving a few
minutes in central cross-town car travel. If you do the math for the
statistically average driver, saving that time costs about $100 an hour. Who
among you are worth that much, much less willing to pay that much? Relax.
My
youngest son turned 17 in February, and he wants his driver’s license. In
addition to the State test, I am insisting he pass my Zen Driving exam. ZD is
simple, like the Taoist’s proverbial uncarved engine block.
Unless you are speeding your laboring spouse to the delivery room (as I did once,
a little over 17 years ago), you drive a couple of mph *under* the speed limit.
Acceleration is eggshell slow and smooth. Your awareness encompasses all road
and traffic conditions, tuned for every opportunity to avoid sudden movement,
to maximize glide. Finally and most important, at every stop sign you come to a
complete stop, while you take a deep breath, smile and exhale… and then gently
move on.
I
conducted a test, driving a 1.5 mile loop around back streets in west Petaluma.
Four stop signs, speed limit either 25 or 30. First I
tested “Anxious Driving”: 5-10 mph above the speed limit, rolling stops,
jackrabbit starts and rapid deceleration: 3 minutes, 16 seconds. Zen Driving: 2:48, about 1.5 times as long.
But Anxious Driving carries the heightened risk of accidents and tickets, as
well as a significant hit on fuel efficiency. A more reasonable and common
approach, driving at the speed limit with “California stops”, but with rapid
acceleration and braking, was only 10% faster than ZD, without the fuel
efficiency and health benefits. One a 30 minute cross town round trip, that’s 3
minutes.
My boy
thought I was joking when I told him about Zen Driving, but he tried it… and later
acknowledged the stress reduction effect. Your Anxious
cultural conditioning will still be tapping your rear bumper, pushing. But you can
always find that peace lying there, just around the corner, a deep breath and a
smile away. If you must drive.
There are
other requirements for him getting the car keys. He must learn how to *safely*
ride a bicycle. I’m giving him a few hours of on-the-road training, the content
of the ABA “Street Skills for Safe Cycling” class. He needs to feel physically
comfortable on the bike. As for any peer pressure to drive, that’s just a matter
of time. We watched An Inconvenient Truth together last month; he’s smart and
pays attention to the news. As we get deeper into the climate crisis and society
lifts its head from the sand, I expect the chic-thrill of frivolous fossil fuel
burning to be regarded as “cool” as inhaling the smoke of burning tobacco.
Jared
Huffman and Carole Migden, you can help the
transition from cars to bikes by adding a few things to the State’s climate
protection legislation. First, include two bike safety questions on every *driver*
exam (e.g. bicycle rights, how to pass bikes), and require at least one correct
answer in order to pass. This will help ensure that motorists give bicyclists the
respect that the law requires. On the
other side, a 2 to 4 hour bicycle safety training
should be a requirement at least every other year for students from grades 4
through 12. If we are *really* serious about responsible bicycling, we should
require licenses, with exams, for the cyclists as well. And one last thing: Critical
Mass riders should look for another way to express their frustration with cars
and drivers. The old way just isn’t working.