Driving in NYC

I have now been driving to and from work every day for nearly 6 months, 30 minutes each way. That is a lot of driving... What do I think of it? Well, at first I was scared and I thought a lot about dying. I mean, dying in traffic is the #1 reason why people my age die. And by driving 1 hour every day in these insane traffic conditions... well, my risk of dying must have gone up some 900% since I mooved here.

The high-way I take to work is on average 8 lanes wide, 4 going each direction. People drive agressively, change lanes, often without blinking, and they try hard not to let other cars into their lane. Whatever one learnt in driving school about distance to the car in front of you doesn't apply here. And the yellow taxi-cabs... I won't even start talking about how they act in traffic... Driving here is like driving in a computer game. Fast, crowded, cars changing lanes right in front of you, constantly changing...

But one learns fast. One needs to be tough back, agressive, concentrated and always asume that someone is in your blind spot, because there is normally someone there. Now, believe it or not, instead of being scared when I drive to work I do some day-dreaming and relaxing in a kind of way.