I drove a car the other day for the first time in oh, about 13 years, returning our Autoshare car to its parking spot a few subway stops west of us.
I didn’t enjoy it. The car was a Suzuki Aerio, which felt enormous and tank-like. It was an automatic, which I didn’t like — the feeling of just putting my foot down and having the thing move, ack! Not that I ever got any good at driving a stick, but it’s less freaky. Visibility out the back of the thing was kind of bad, too. Fortunately it was dark and rainy — since I learned to drive in Vancouver, I’m most comfortable driving in the dark and the rain. Still, compared to my bike where I can see and hear 360 degrees, my situational awareness was significantly constrained.
I think I’d prefer the Toyotas in the Autoshare fleet. They’re smaller and shaped to be more open, especially the Echos. And maybe the Smartcars, since they’re small and can be driven in either automatic or manual mode.
Anyway, I didn’t hit anything.