Peace of Mind

 I remember a friend of mine said, "Buat
apa beli keta mahal2, modified sana
sini? Keta ni cuma untuk bawak kita dari point A ke point B." I
think most of the people out there might be sharing the same opinion. Well, I
can’t argue much of that statement though because it is somewhat true, given
the rising cost of petrol and other petty things as small as weed. But for me,
there is an additional element to this ‘from point A to point B thing’. I don’t
own an expensive car nor modified my car rather heavily, but other than just
merely driving, its how you drive from point A to point B that
what makes driving is a passion.

   I’m not telling illegal racing on the streets as a passion. I
spent most of my time in the week by driving to work, sites, meeting supplier,
hanging out, and meeting someone. For me, I always approach driving as
an opportunity to improve my driving skill, awareness, concentration and
reaction. These attributes not only applies on driving, but in
everyday life, at work, sporting activities, etc.. The more you understand the
basic skills of driving, the more you can respect other drivers, no
matter how bad their habits are (like most Malaysians drivers are). And other
aspect that we can improve while driving is, defensive driving. For road bullies out there, they may
laugh at this, but defensive driving is one of the most important
aspects of driving, if not the most. From my personal p.o.v,
defensive driving is when you can anticipate an event that may lead to
an accident before it happens, so you can take the appropriate measures to
avoid them. This is when all the attributes you gain by driving comes
in play. By anticipating a potential accident before it happens may be the key
to a safer road in our part of the world.

   Well, there is no harm applying a bit of racing technique
in your everyday driving tough. I’m not good at all in racing, except been to a
go-kart track once in a while, hehe. But my favourite technique has to bee
tip-toeing and racing line. What I mean by ‘racing line’ is entering a corner
by touching the apex, and exiting the corner by run over the exit ‘kerb’. I
know there is no such things as kerb at normal road, but just imagine that the
kerb is there. But make sure you don’t obstruct traffic in any way, because it can be very
dangerous. What ever you want to do, make sure you don’t harm other vehicle in
direct or indirect way, because it may lead to accidents. Actually, your car
balance is much better by using this technique while cornering than what we
normally do.

   The joy of cornering at the
optimum speed of your car is as close as you can get to the ultimate
stimulation. Some people say it’s better than sex, well I have yet to
find out the comparison, hahaha. If you take driving seriously, and willing to
learn the lessons of driving without anyone telling it, being humble on the
road, feel the improvement of your car control and steering input, plus being
able to anticipate a situation before it happens, then you can say Driving is My Passion. It is not just
about racing or dangerous driving; it is about learning the art of
driving. For me, driving was never ‘merely driving from point A to
point B’…

ridhuan
abubakar®