Several California Articles (5) | On California Highways

Traveling alone in a car is like singing out loud in the dark. It's not just a metaphor - I do sing quite loud as well.

The rain in California is in winter, and the flowers and trees are green all over the mountains at that time. When spring really came, they were sunburnt. The highway runs through rolling hills, sparse pastures and withered mountains all the way. This is a good thing for most drivers. After all, the scenery is flat and you can concentrate more on driving. Only the passing economists gritted their teeth: the housing prices in the Bay Area have risen like this, and you still use this land to raise cattle?

California drivers are known for being irritable, and those with such a mentality of worrying and worrying about the world are already one of the better ones. I was clearly driving at a constant speed of 20% above the speed limit (yes, the above is true), but somehow I became the slowest car on the road. In the rearview mirror, I often saw the car behind him flashing left and right, and the road conditions A little better, I didn't turn on the lights, and walked away from my left. After being overtaken, I had to quickly turn on the internal circulation, and there was an aftertaste of cow dung everywhere.

On such a mixed road with peculiar smells and atmospheres, there are often traffic jams - Americans are really spoiled by car life. You need a car for work, a car for school, and if you need a car when you go out, even if it’s a two-minute journey, you should drive the car first. That day, I went to the bakery opposite to buy breakfast, and when I went out, I saw the man in the next building moving his car out of his car, and then counting the U-turn, the red light and the STOP sign, he just stopped and left when I paid the bill. into the same store.

The solution given by the administrative department is to prohibit vehicles with only one person from driving on the express lanes in the hardest-hit areas of traffic jams. The camera does not see if you are speeding and overloading, but just stares at how many people are in the car. Sounds good, but I'm dubious about its effectiveness, after all, you can even buy a dummy in the passenger seat on Amazon, so that pampered California drivers can drive in the fast lane when they are on the road alone (really for the sake of this use!). Moreover, this is always a palliative solution.

But what can be done? I tried taking the bus halfway through, and the driver suddenly got off the bus and changed shifts and left, and the master who took over didn't come over until 15 minutes later; Throw it in the wilderness and let everyone wait for the next bus in half an hour. As for the subway, please, the 30-minute subway should take the ire of the public, especially the public like me who is used to the perpetually crowded and efficient public transportation system in East Asian metropolises. But so to speak, the bus system in the Bay Area, which is so full of casual atmosphere, has already regarded itself as the pride of the national benchmark, so it is inevitable that everyone chooses to drive when they go out...

And after driving on the road, I can really experience the refreshing feeling of driving by myself. Although it is often overtaken, time is wasted in traffic jams, fuel is not cheap, and it is detrimental to Mother Earth, but it is freedom, a very American freedom. I also found a heavy sense of mission in the daily crowded bus, which is to give up the pleasure of self-driving for a while, to benefit others, society and the earth. This is the tempering of urban citizens’ self-denial. Of course, perhaps more importantly, can't afford to buy a car...

From south to north, through the hot and dry central mountains, back to the seaside in the Bay Area. The frigid spring breeze is slow, and the snow on the heights has not yet melted. The rush hour is approaching, and the road is blocked again. I don't know how many drivers who are also alone in front. On this California highway that is always sunny all the year round, driving the disturbing stereo, drinking coffee bought from drive-through, cursing and waiting for the team to move.