nothing like a looming deadline

I've had my G1 driver's licence for years. It's cost over $1000 in driver training and licence fees to get this far. If I want to get a full license, my window of opportunity closes on August 8. Problem is, I've been behind the wheel for a total of 6 hours in the past 2.5 years. I can navigate through downtown rush hour traffic on a tandem bike. I'm confident making left turns at Wellington & Sussex at the height of its construction chaos. But put me behind the wheel of a bulky, motorized metal cage and I lose my nerve.

Mostly, I need to get over a mental block I've got around the idea of being a "driver". I really dislike cars. I'm a cyclist! Motor vehicles are dangerous bullies to a cyclist. Impatient drivers nearly squash me on my daily bike route. Cars, trucks, vans n' SUVs smell bad and spew hot exhaust at me on hot summer days. Ew.

I don't like what motor vehicles have done to my community. City planners still design our communities more for cars than for people. Big box stores with Olympic-sized parking lots preclude pedestrians. Multi-lane highways speed suburbanites' commutes. Double wide streets accommodate parking. Laneways and paving stones dominate places where green spaces could be.

Even our thoughts have been paved! Think of what it would be like without the distraction of the constant noise that vehicles produce? It's probably hard to imagine as we're so accustomed to the steady rumble and hum. Believe me, it would be magnificently serene!

Yet here I am - wanting to add one more driver to the ranks.

I need to turn in my satisfyingly holier-than-thou nondriver cred and join the licensed masses. ... well, maybe just until I pass the road test. Because I'm still not going to buy a car!