Here are the top 3 current reasons I hate driving, or even owning a car. There are many other reasons, but most tend to involve paying out large sums of money.

Reason #1:
Our car recently failed to pass a safety inspection because the airbag light was on. After investigating why the airbag light was on, it was determined that our driver's side seat airbag was malfunctioning and it would cost $600 to have it replaced. We got the repair because we really had no choice, even though there are other cars out on the road that don't even have seat airbags. This stung a little bit.

Reason #2:
I took the car back to the DMV after the repair and finally got approved to drive on DC's wonderfully paved roads for another two years. (By the way, when do DC's roadways get to have their 'safety inspection?') On my way back from the DMV, no kidding, I was rear-ended on 12th street by a guy in an SUV with Maryland plates. I mention the Maryland plates because it always seems to be people with Maryland plates that you see at the scene of collisions in the district. Friggin' impatient horn-happy Maryland drivers. There was no reason for this guy to have hit me. I was at a complete stop behind some other cars and was sitting there for a good second or two when I heard the loud bang. It took me completely by surprise because I didn't even hear a screech right before it. The force caused my hat to fall off my head. The guy who hit me was very nice, despite the fact that he was from Maryland. He gave me his info. Asked if I was ok. There wasn't too much damage to my car, surprisingly - just my bumper got smashed in. But I was pretty shook-up and tense the rest of the day.

As I was driving home, I thought of the opening scene from the movie Crash.

In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In L.A., nobody touches you. We're always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something.

I don't live in LA. I live and work in DC. I walk or take public transport almost everywhere I go. I brush past people all the time, so I do not miss the 'touch' of other people and do not need to be rear-ended on the rare occasion that I drive, thank you.

Reason #3:
Two months ago I got a red-light camera ticket while driving my father-in-law's car in California. The annoying part is that I did not even 'run' the red light. I approached the intersection, slowed down, stopped (after the crosswalk, mind you), and proceeded to make a right turn on red while traffic from my right was making a left turn onto the street I was coming from. If I had even slowed down in this same situation in DC, I would have heard angry honking from behind me. In my view, I had a protected right turn on red. In California's view, I committed a criminal offense and my bail was $400. This is a huge money-making scheme in California. I have to say that these types of things really bother me. It's the fact that it's so impersonal that really does it: You don't even get to talk to a person about the 'infraction' and have a reasonable discussion about it. I have no doubt that if a cop had been in that intersection, he would not have pulled me over for what I did. Most cops (but not all) are more reasonable than that. But a camera only sees black and white. No shade of gray. Should traffic laws really be interpreted in that manner? I don't think so.

And then there is the cost of the ticket itself: $400? That's not even reasonable. Let's say that, conservatively, one of those cameras can fine about 25 people a day for turning right on red. At $400 a pop, that's $10,000. It's pretty easy to see that this isn't about 'public safety.' This isn't about 'breaking the law.' This is about money, pure and simple, and a lot of people are getting screwed.

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