Driving In New Mexico

[Darrell]

New Mexico can be a strange place at times... these NM driving tips were found via Southern Rockies Nature Blog:

1. The driver who seems like they might be drunk, is drunk.

Seriously. It’s damn near the official state participant sport. If a driver is weaving, constantly varies speeds for no apparent reason, and generally seems… off… treat them like they have a twenty-foot force field all around them. Even if that means you get home slower.

2. The beater car has the right of way, at all times.

If you see a car that looks like it has been assembled from the corpses of other cars, you immediately know two things: the driver has no fear, and the driver does not give a shit about his or her car. If you break this unwritten law, the next time the beater car is seen it may be wearing your car’s fender as a trophy.

3. Stringently obey all traffic laws on Indian reservations, and in pleasant-looking little small towns.

In the former case, speeders and reckless drivers are major revenue generators. In the latter, the answer to the petulant driver’s bleat to the ticketing police officers of “Don’t you have anything better to do?!” is an entirely honest “No, I do not.” In either case both communities have more reasons to care about outsiders rocketing through their turf than the state bears or the police forces of bigger cities do. In general, New Mexico is a very bad place to be an impatient driver.

You can read the rest here:

http://www.atomicnerds.com/?p=5595

[Rod]

Years ago, the Bangles came out with a song called "Walk Like an Egyptian". A DJ came out with a parody called "Drive like a New Mexican".

[Rich]

They're called "Enchanted Drivers" for just that reason.

[Cybrludite]

One of the signs I'd been out there too long was seeing a sign reading "Santa Fe 95 Miles", and thinking to myself, "Cool. Almost there!" (The other two signs were being able to smell bodies of water at a quarter mile and ordering green at a local's restaurant and not realizing until I was nearly finished w/ the meal.)

[Weetabix]

New Mexico: Yes, that tumbleweed IS going to hit you, but it's not as scary as it looks.

Boston: I was lost in Boston one night for two hours within about 2-5 miles of my hotel. Every native I talked to gave me different directions that I couldn't follow. It was amazing. I did my "growing up" driving in Tulsa where the major streets are N-S or E-W, exactly one mile apart, and straight as an arrow, which made Boston seem worse.

[Netpackrat]

My brother was in Boston for a while and constantly bitched about the drivers there. But to be fair, he has constantly bitched about the drivers everywhere he has lived.

[Rod]

New Mexico: Yes, that tumbleweed IS going to hit you, but it's not as scary as it looks.

Boston: I was lost in Boston one night for two hours within about 2-5 miles of my hotel. Every native I talked to gave me different directions that I couldn't follow. It was amazing. I did my "growing up" driving in Tulsa where the major streets are N-S or E-W, exactly one mile apart, and straight as an arrow, which made Boston seem worse.

Sounds like Ireland. Wife, in-laws, and I were touring. Got to Galway and were looking for our b&b. Pulled over and asked a native. He borrowed the address and the map, then stopped another gentleman. After arguing, switching glasses back and forth, and pointing all over, the first man came back. After a full five minute set of directions (ie., at the fork in the road, with Mrs. O'Leary's cow in the pasture..., at the second light, not the first, not the third...) the gentleman said, "And once you're there, ask someone else. I'm new to town also."

[SoupOrMan]

Another thing about driving in New Mexico: beware the military guys who have never driven before in their lives and get stationed in a wide open land filled with roads. One of the guys in my squadron grew up near Red Hook and didn't have a driver's license until he joined the Air Force and got stationed in New Mexico. He immediately went out and bought a 1975 Cadillac. No fear, that kid. None at all. All he said was "I'm half Italian and half Puerto Rican. God's on my side in any accident. We got an agreement!"

[Termite]

Of course, to them, it wasn't "95 miles" or "about an hour and a half drive" it was literally "more than halfway across the country" (Ireland is only 180 miles wide at the widest point, and 160 miles wide where I lived on the east coast just south of Dublin. It's also only 290 miles long on the longest possible diagonal).

I've heard the same thing from the young British soccer coaches who run the summer soccer camps for Challenger Sports around the country. They are amazed at the size of the USA. It boggles their minds that Orange, Texas to El Paso, Texas, is 850 miles. That one state, Texas, is the size of France.

[Erik]

Of course, to them, it wasn't "95 miles" or "about an hour and a half drive" it was literally "more than halfway across the country" (Ireland is only 180 miles wide at the widest point, and 160 miles wide where I lived on the east coast just south of Dublin. It's also only 290 miles long on the longest possible diagonal).

I've heard the same thing from the young British soccer coaches who run the summer soccer camps for Challenger Sports around the country. They are amazed at the size of the USA. It boggles their minds that Orange, Texas to El Paso, Texas, is 850 miles. That one state, Texas, is the size of France.

Part of it is also fuel costs. Gas here (and I think all over Europe) is now $8/gallon. Add to that higher taxes on income, and you don't really have to do much driving to spend 10-20% of your income after taxes on gas alone. If you have a 30mins drive to work, that's around $1700/year just to get to and from work. Visiting someone that lives 95miles away once a week would be around $2700/year, just in fuel cost. So unless you have lots of money, you don't really want to do that kind of driving for too long.

Not to mention that most European roads really aren't suitable for long distance driving the way US roads are. I've driven across the US and it's almost relaxing to drive there. Around here it's just more stressing, there constant speed changes in traffic, small roads with lots of bends, intersections, and other things that demand your constant attention.

This also has a somewhat crippling effect on sport activities. A lot of people think entering a match more than say 50miles away is too far, and prefer to stick to those within 25miles.