Watching an episode of TopGear (FANTASTIC show, btw) where they traveled to Finland. One of the hosts, James May, competed against people in a little local rally, which included a 12-year-old driver. The segment also touched on why Finnish drivers are so good (specifically related to racing championships), and they had some footage of driver’s training. Which included skid pad training, learning how to handle a car that snaps around in the wet, and on and on. All the stuff that kinda looks cool on TV. In driver’s ed. When they’re 12. What a novel concept.

Driver training in Finland takes 3 years to go through. That is awesome. We need that type of program in the States. Most accidents happen because someone does something stupid. And it would be nice if new drivers could experience the danger threshold of situations, rather than going past it and not recognizing when they’re in trouble.

Related- the other day I noticed that a lot of carpoolers dash across the lanes of traffic, trying to get to HOV as soon as possible. Now, I’m not saying all carpoolers do this, but obviously the ones that do stick out to me. These drivers end up messing up traffic even more, because instead of waiting for an opening, they push into the lane, making the new lane stop. This ends up snarling traffic and irritating drivers. If it wasn’t such a pain in the ass from an insurance perspective, I would drive a beauty- 1970′s Monte Carlo- that could handle a not-so-gentle bump. I’m not saying I’d purposely hit these idiots on the road. I just wouldn’t slam on my brakes when they decided to drive with their head up, you know.