Four Days a Year

The average commute is 25 minutes in the U.S., which means the average person spends at least 4.3 days a year in their car. That is the equivalent of a vacation every year, just sitting in your car. Now, if I told you that you had to spend four days in a row in your car would you look forward to it? If you answer 'no' to that question you probably drive a terrible car. What I mean by terrible is not that the car doesn't drive well or is unreliable, I mean that the car does not inspire passion inside you. Look, if you were to go on vacation for four days would you choose to sit in a shower? Would you sit in an elevator for four days? Both sound ridiculous, but someone out there is sitting in a car that is as exciting as an elevator in a government building. Why on earth would they do that? I have no idea. But there is hope, and this blog will attempt to save such poor and unfortunate souls.

Now, if I say that you are going to spend four days in a row in your car do you imagine being parked and staying in your car, or do you imagine driving for four days? The answer to this question is important because it says a lot about who you are as a driver.

If you imagine being parked for four days then you are the kind of person I describe as a "passenger with a steering wheel in front of them." For someone who is a passenger they care more about comfort, ergonomics, and ease of driving above everything else. A passenger never really cares about something like the sound of the exhaust, or the how fast the rubber on the tires heats up. A passenger wants to to get to their destination comfortably and with as little drama as possible.

Now, if you are the type of person who imagines driving for four consecutive days then you may be a driver. A driver may prefer a manual to an automatic transmission or turn the stereo down so they can hear the engine purr. Drivers care less about what their car looks like and more about how their car feels and drives. An ugly car is fine if it outperforms most other cars for drivers. A driver keeps a car in the garage so they can tinker with it, while a passenger keeps their car in the garage so they don't have to scrape ice off of it in the winter.

Since the average person does spend over four days a year in their car then it is important that they know which kind of driver they are, a passenger or a driver. This blog will attempt to show its readers how driving can be a vacation, even in everyday traffic.

So the next time you get into your car look around and ask yourself, do you want to spend the next four days in your car? Because like it or not, you are going to spend more than 96 hours in that car this year.