Driving and Experience

This Blog Post was originally published on the platform "writelier" (formerly "co-writers" and "200wordsaday"). Sadly the blogging platform was discontinued. I downloaded all my blog posts and prepared them to be republish them here.

Thanks to @hiro and his "Driving longer more easily", which inspired me for today's post and also thanks for the tips. :)

I'm not sure if I have written about it before, but by the sheer amount of posts I put out on this platform, it is highly possible, but I can't remember one.

As you might know, I am working as a voluntary paramedic from time to time. Normally as the driver of the ambulance vehicle. In the last years, I drove about 7500 kilometres each year. On top of that, I drive about 13000 kilometres in my car.

That's a whole lot of driving. I think I don't need to mention that I enjoy driving. Not only short distances but also long distances. If I remember correctly the longest drive I took, where I was the only one driving the car was about six hours. The longest one with co-drivers and switching places was about 18 hours, just this August as we were heading off to the Wacken Open Air Festival.

But I wanted to talk about something different: Experience.

If I remember correctly, studies show to be an experienced driver, you have to drive more than seven years or more than 100000 kilometres. Looking at my driving logs and my driving licence, I know I've been driving since mid-2013. More than 40000 kilometres in my first car, about 12000 in my second and now in my third about 10000.

If you add the paramedic kilometres: 37108 (yes, I track them), the number adds up to 99108. Almost 100k.

So I'm reaching both "values" and could call myself an experienced driver.

My brother got his driving licence last hear as he turned seventeen. Just a few days back he turned eighteen.

He has got a girlfriend, or maybe they're just Friends+, not my business.

But last weekend I noticed one thing: he drives like an idiot. He drove me to the company hiking trip and I have to admit that I didn't feel great the whole drive.

Not that I had fear, I drove with colleagues driving way more dangerous, but all of them are older.

I know my brother works as a mechanic, and you probably have to have a "bad" car to show off or something (he's got a used Audi A4). He works on it regularly as almost every week something breaks, but one thing let me strutter.

He bought a kit to upgrade the motor power from 104 to about 150 ps. Now you could say that isn't that much, but let me continue.

In Austria, car insurances are calculated my the horsepower of the cars. Also, no problem if you tell the insurance company. Guess what, he didn't.

So now, my mind is flicking around if I should tell our insurance Agent as he's a good friend of my family and tell him.

The problem is if you happen to have an accident, which I really don't hope, and the company finds our your car that is not the specified car that's insured they say it's not their problem.

Sure, if only the car is broken there is only the loss of the car, but spin this wheel further, and sadly I'm doing such things constantly as a paramedic, for whatsoever a person is injured. My brother, a passenger or some other third person.

If the insurance doesn't pay, everything needs to be paid by the perpetrator and medical bills could go quite high. Not only has somebody to cope with the injuries that could be done to people, but also with a huge financial load.

Every time I see an accident at r/IdiotsInCars or something on the road out there, I'm thinking about how bad the education on driving is.

People are inexperienced, driver under the influence of drugs or paint their nails while driving.

Driving is here to bring you from point a to point b, not to destroy your or the life of somebody else.