On The Road

It seems that driving often brings out the worst in people. What is it that takes an often soft-spoken, pleasant person and turns them into a raging bull when they step behind the wheel? I remember reading an article a number of years ago where they spoke of ‘Road Rage’ as a medical condition. They referenced a number of studies with different age groups and in various scenarios – there was some serious research done into this. They also crowned the ‘Road Rage Capital’ of North America.
Now, many people are simply angry drivers, ready to pounce on anyone around them, but the majority of this frustration is rooted in our personal driving ‘Pet Peeves’. Yes, some lead to pure rage and often physical or verbal interaction but a vast majority of them simply result in a remark to those in the car with you or a beeping of the horn. As lovers of all things cars, I have often found it interesting as to what annoys other drivers while behind the wheel. I know some of my trigger points, the obvious ‘driving in the left lane while on the highway’ or the less obvious person that, while driving in front of you on a side street, just stops alongside the curb, without signalling or putting on their 4-ways. I have also learned of other ‘pet peeves’ that my clients have mentioned over time, i) the person that leaves their signal on while driving on a highway on-ramp, ii) the person that turns into the convenient lane, not the closest lane, or iii) those that don’t park in the middle of a parking spot but way to one side. Now, of course the list can go on and many of these events do not result in anything more than a little frustration. There are some horrible drivers out there and perhaps this frustration is often warranted. With that being said, I do think that many people need to just relax and take everything in stride.
I am curious though – what are your ‘Pet Peeves’ when behind the wheel?

I remember when I first saw this video – over 15 years ago (seems like just yesterday!). Cars in music videos are a dime a dozen – sometimes used to further tell the story or, in most cases, just as eye candy. When I first saw Jamiroquai’s ‘Cosmic Girl’ music video I was immediately captivated and imagined myself sitting in those very cars, driving down those very roads. What a rush! It went beyond the simple fact that these were expensive, exotic cars. The specific selection of cars, the colour choices, the shots, everything…. seemed perfect. Now, this video has been eclipsed by better and, in this day and age, a million amateur videos on YouTube can now fulfill your automotive fantasies. We hope to share some other ‘car friendly’ music videos through this BLOG but naturally felt this was the perfect one to start with.

Yesterday we had the pleasure of visiting the 2013 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan.  Likely one of the best known auto-shows in the world, at least for those of us on this side of the Atlantic, the Detroit show is typically not one to be missed.  Although it is typically ‘Big 3′ territory, you can get up and close to most of the world’s brands.  This year saw the debut of the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray coupe, Lexus IS350, Mercedes Benz E-Class, just to name a few.  We also saw the Acura NSX and Volkswagen’s Cross Blue concepts and a general focus on fuel efficiency and emerging technology.  This year we attempted to do the show in one day – with a late night drive back to Toronto.  It’s always nice to get out on the road and a great day at the AutoShow made the drive home that much more pleasurable (other than almost running out of fuel near London, Ontario).

Alas – our BLOG is up and running.  We were very excited to launch our new website recently and this BLOG was a key part of it.  This page exists so we can keep clients, or visitors to our site, abreast of Auto Butler announcements, news, general automotive content or things that we simply find interesting or amusing.  Thanks to everyone that has visited this site and has used Auto Butler Canada Inc. for their automotive needs.