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Listen to the episode
Driving Profile: Logan
(sneak peek)
LOGAN: I had to help my buddy, I was pulling like that hour days to where, when he would drive, we’d switch off. Cause he has a narcolepsy kind of tendency when he drives. He finds driving so boring. He will fall asleep at the wheel
but by the time we got to Arizona all of a sudden the car launched itself around this corner.
(intro music)
BHAVNEET: Welcome back to another episode of drive
with us podcast. I’m Bhavneet.
TARANJIT: And I’m Taranjit. And we’re super
excited to have you ride with us as our drivers, take us on some adventure
strives around the.
BHAVNEET: A little quick car key before we meet
today’s driver, we’re starting to line up guests for season six. So if you or
anybody, you know, would be interested in coming on the show, either fill out
the interest form in the show notes below, or visit our
website@drivewithuspodcasts.com. We look forward to hearing your driving story.
TARANJIT: And now let’s meet today’s driver Logan
from California. Logan, 27 years old has driven a lot over the past 11 years,
close to 1 million miles. If he had to put a number to it, including putting
100,000 miles on a car in just two years over his driving career, he has had
some crazy adventures on the road.
Here’s Logan.
(transition music)
BHAVNEET: Welcome leaded to drive with us podcast.
Thank you so much for joining us today.
LOGAN: Well, thank you guys for having me. It’s
honestly a bit of an honor to be here.
TARANJIT: We’re so excited to hear your story,
especially since we were just talking before we hit record and we’ve already
got glimpse of , some of your experiences. So we’re excited to hear more about
it, but before we dive into those crazy driving stories, how would you describe
yourself as a driver and would your family and friends agree?
LOGAN: I asked my family and friends to be
brutally honest with me about this. I was like, okay. I know I’m not perfect.
No, one’s perfect. But what do you guys honestly think of my driving? And they
were all very hesitant to tell me, but once they finally were like, okay, okay,
we’re going to tell you, you promise not to be mad.
I’m like, yeah.
And they were like, you’re a very competent driver. You’re good at what you do.
But yes, scare us when you’re driving, because you will make decisions in your
head, not say a word. And next thing we know we’re lane over and we’re moving
kind of fast.
I’m like, okay,
that’s fair. I will keep this in mind from now on when we get in the car
together and I’m driving. Cause that is the, I’d say 95% of the time. I’m the
one that’s driving me and my close group of friends around. and I joked with
them. I was like, well, you guys all still get in the car with me?
You haven’t said
anything to me until I have. So I’m like, how bad can I really be there? Like
you just do things that scare us. Sometimes I’m like, okay, that that’s fair.
That’s totally fair. And then I asked my mom, I was like, mom, what type of
driver remind w how would you describe me? Well, you’re competent.
And, you do a good
job. You can be a little reckless sometimes, but overall I think you’re a good
driver. I’m like, ah, that’s where I get it from. That’s exactly where I get it
from, because she was like, Yeah.
I don’t really see
a problem with your driving. There’s always room to grow and be a better driver
to your passengers.
And most likely the people around you too, but
for my passengers is something that I have now. Thanks to your, as podcasts
been made aware of, and I’m actively trying to adjust so everyone can be
comfortable driving in the car with me.
TARANJIT: Yeah, he pointed. How, why didn’t they
ever tell you? It’s probably because they were scared and they were like, I
don’t know if I want to make him worse.
LOGAN: Yeah, totally fair. So I I’m happy that
I was able to ask the question finally and get that answer. So I could use that
feedback in a positive light rather than a negative light
TARANJIT: What would you say is your relationship
with driving? Is it something that you enjoy?
LOGAN: ever since I was little, I mean,
Probably some of my earliest memories was just sitting behind the wheel of a
car being like, I wish I could drive this. So it’s always been something I’ve
really enjoyed the freedom. Before I was able to get my license, , we have a
lot of bike paths around here and I, I had a bicycle as a kid.
I would ride
everywhere. There was one time I started biking towards LA cause the way our
town is set up, there’s only one or two real ways to get out of our valley and
into the next one. And, I had friends that lived in the next valley, so it was
a kid on a bicycle driving next to like 55, 60 mile an hour cars on a little
like highway pedestrians were allowed to be on.
I was writing
miles and miles just to have that freedom . So I’d say driving is something
that I have always loved. There are times it can be a little daunting, but for
the most part, put me behind the wheel. Anytime I can do like nine, 10 hours.
Just me driving. No problem.
BHAVNEET: That’s awesome. I’m kinda like you, I, I
really enjoy driving. I don’t drive that much every day. Cause I know you said
you’ve probably hit around like a million miles you said?
LOGAN: Close, close. If it’s not it’s in like
the high 800,000. So I’m well, on my way.
BHAVNEET: Ooh, like I enjoy road trust what? Like,
whoa, you’ve driven a lot.
LOGAN: Yeah.
BHAVNEET: with all that driving, I’m pretty sure
you’ve seen a lot of crazy things on the road. So that’s a great segue into
your crazy driving experiences. What would you say is one of your craziest
driving experience?
LOGAN: I had to think about this a lot, because
there’s way too many for this podcast and recording time to actually be able to
tell you them all. , one that comes to the top of my mind. It was me driving
by. I wasn’t involved in this. I witnessed it when we were driving in it scared
me and my parents have to death.
We were on our way
up to lake Tahoe from Los Angeles. And we’re on the five freeway, which if
anyone who’s ever driven it or Googled, it knows that there is just stretches
that are just straight and nothing around other than a few gas stations, this
car, I think it was probably like a Mazda two, like a 2013 who was beat up
really bad.
You’re like, wow.
Oh, okay. I mean, we see some beat up cars, but this was even more beat up and
it’s only a two lane. this dude. Flies past us, lots of breaks up stops gets
out of his car, tries to confront a driver behind him who had nothing to do
with it. He’d just got an over to follow the flow of traffic.
It was scary
because when that happened, that car swerved, I had to stop. And then this
dudes just going crazy, no idea. He was by himself in this car, what he was
thinking or doing. Then we proceed. I’m like, okay, we’re just going to go pass
this, go passes. All of a sudden, I see him flying up behind me, passes me again,
does close to the same thing without getting out of the car this time.
My dad and mom were just like, what is going
on? And we’re all like this. Dude’s going to kill somebody. They’re like, you
know what? being behind them’s is not a good option. Being them in front of him
sounded really good often, but let’s just go.
So I just gunned
it and we got as far away as quickly as possible from That person. Cause it was
just, it takes a lot to scare me while driving. And that, that was one time I
was generally like, oh God, what is going to happen? And I don’t want to be
around or involved in it. So we, we just booked it.
BHAVNEET: That is crazy. And like you were in a
place where there probably wasn’t any exits for you to be able, let me just get
off the road.
LOGAN: There was absolutely no exits for at
least a solid, probably like five to 10 miles.
TARANJIT: Oh, my gosh. I couldn’t imagine being in
that situation, but I’m glad you’re able to get away from him when I’m in
situation, not like that crazy, but when I’m in situations where I see a driver
that I’m like, okay, I don’t want to be near. I usually tend to back off and
let them be in my line of sight in front of me so I can, manage myself based on
what their reaction is.
But in that
situation, you’re just like, let’s get out of here.
LOGAN: Yeah, cause we still probably had
another four hours of driving on top of that. So it was like, are we going to
stay behind and play? Like, should we pass him? Should we not? Is he stopping
the radically again? So we were just kind of like, well, let’s just make the
informed decision to just get out of here.
and move along
BHAVNEET: Ooh, that’s crazy. I’m so glad I’ve
never seen anyone like that. I am really curious, like why he thought stopping
randomly in the middle of the road was a good idea, especially since I’m pretty
sure the speeds over there are probably high.
LOGAN: on that particular road at 70. So fun
fact about California. Interstate system. There’s very, very, very few roads
that have a speed limit above 75 or like 70 70 is like the standard for long
distance highways. And then 75 is like in a few little spots, anything above that,
it’s not in California. , but we do in specific rural areas.
And in counties
like orange county, they have streets that are lined with houses. But it’s not
like the main street to , turn into those houses. It’s like the backyards are
facing it, that they have speed limits of 55 just down that stretch, which in
the town I live in, that’s not how it is at all.
The, our max speed
limit is like for residential town areas is 45 miles an hour and below we do
not have any 15 miles an hour though. 25 is our school’s zone standard. We do
have a lot of speed limits that are fairly low.
TARANJIT: Oh, wow. The lowest I’ve seen here in
our area is 10 for residential areas, but I guess he has a little faster over
there.
LOGAN: Eh, everything’s honestly faster over here,
the traffic and stuff. I chuckled at the speed limit 65 when literally even the
cops, like all of us sometimes have to go to work at 5:00 AM, five 30. So I’m
on the road fairly early and you’ll be doing 80 with the cops. And he’s just
like, yep, we’re all just cruising.
We’re going where
we need to go. Don’t worry about it kind of thing.
BHAVNEET: Yeah, that’s a whole different world.
It’s just like, yeah, were just both going to go 80. It’s totally fine.
TARANJIT: Do think it’s because of the amount of
traffic that’s over there?
LOGAN: Traffic can get bad. It, it really
depends on the time of year, , what’s going on and what the weather conditions
are, because I know you guys have talked about snow being like a little bit of
snow.
Isn’t terrible,
but it makes people drive wonky. We get a, I mean the lightest mist of rain in
Southern California and everyone throws all the rules out the window and can
not drive for the love of God. You’ll see somebody doing 80 and then somebody
doing 45 and it’s like those two things don’t mix.
BHAVNEET: I’ve heard of the lake, Southern
California. You barely get anything. So it’s like, what is this foreign
substance?
LOGAN: , I don’t understand it. I’ve driven in
a blizzard before I’ve driven in all sorts of weather conditions. So it’s like,
I prepared myself and I know what I’m doing now. I have to be hypervigilant to
make sure that around me knows what I’m doing. Cause I, I will get weary and I
am a huge advocate.
Make sure you have
good tires. , we’ve lost one car. That way. My dad was driving at the tires
were bald and he spun out and hit a, a barrier cause a woman had cut him off
and it wasn’t even raining. That was a funny thing. There was no weather
involved, but make sure your tires are good.
Make sure they’re
inflated properly. Like do those , visual checks on your car because you never
know. My buddy had a nail in his tire. Three months and didn’t know.
BHAVNEET: Oh, wow. Three months.
LOGAN: Yeah.
BHAVNEET: I think you mentioned that you had your
treads flew off your tire too.
LOGAN: Oh yeah. This is a story. So it was when
I was doing pools like servicing pools for work. I had hopped on the freeway to
go from one account to the next. And , I bought this truck maybe like four or
five months prior to that. And this is where I learned about being a good tire
maintenance and owner and make sure they’re in good shape.
Because when I
bought the truck, the tires looked great. They weren’t bald. They had plenty of
tread. They were just old. And I was like, oh, okay, no problem. I shouldn’t
be, they should be able to get me by for awhile. I don’t think anything is
going to happen. It would make no sense there was some light cracking, but I
didn’t think anything of it.
I hop on the
freeway, get up to speed, which is like 65, 75 miles an hour. I’m in the slow
lane. Cause I’m getting off in like two exits and all of a sudden I’m just
driving the thing, start shaking. I’m like, what what’s going on? So I slowed
down a little bit, all of a sudden co boom, and I thought I had a blowout,
reckless.
I didn’t, but what
had happened was I, swerved, almost took out the PSI on TC to my left of me.
And I’m like sitting there holding on for dear life. I’m like, oh my God, what
is happening finally, safely, get over to the shoulder, get out and look at my
truck. I’m like, what was that? I’m looking around. I looked down at the
driver’s front tire and it is just smooth.
You could see bands the entire tread pattern.
Cause these were off-road tires. So they had the really big knobs on them. But
the tire was still inflated. I was close enough to the accident. I had other
stuff I need to get done that day. I put the hazards on and it like 10 miles an
hour drove that thing off the freeway, got over, thought about it, called the
tire shop was like, do you have these in stock?
Can I come get
them put on now? And they’re like, yep. So very carefully. I drove through town
on the side roads, babe, where my hazards were on the entire time, took that
thing to the tire shop and brand new tires. And after that, I am so meticulous
about my tires because I’m like, I do not want to relive that.
That was just
traumatizing.
BHAVNEET: I can’t imagine like them just flying
off my God
Luckily you didn’t
hit that car.
LOGAN: No, no, thank God. And , it took out the
whole inner fender. Well, on that wheel. So that had to be replaced too. I was
like, oh man, that could have been a lot worse.
TARANJIT: Yeah. Luckily it wasn’t working. You
were able to make it to a place to get your tires changed. It wouldn’t be
horrible if you had to just sit on the side of the road, because I know like
when I’ve had to call insurance to , send someone and they take forever, you
could be on the side of the road for like hours.
LOGAN: I’ve helped people that I’ve seen in
parking lots or safe areas that have a flat tire or something. I’ll roll up to
them. I’m like, Hey, you good? Do you need anything? They’re like, yeah. Tires
was flat. I called AAA. They said, it’s gonna be 45 minutes. Call AAA back.
Tell them you don’t need them.
Let’s get your
spare out and get this thing on. I’ll have it done in like five to 10 minutes
and they’re like, can we pay them? Like now it’s a good deed that I just liked
doing here and there just because I’m like, you never know. I was fortunate
enough that I have enough training on car maintenance and ownership and all
this stuff that I’m like, I don’t mind lending a hand.
Cause I know it’s
a bad situation to be in and no one, if it can be helped, should have to be in
that situation.
BHAVNEET: That’s awesome. But you help people out
because we don’t see that enough. And that’s amazing
LOGAN: yeah. It’s a little bit different
though. If you cut me off and you’re like, if we’re in the middle of traffic
on, especially like the 4 0 5 the five, and the 91.
Those freeways
have a lot of problems with the surface of them. Still, not as bad as other
places. So it’s like after that cross country road trip, I did, I had a new
appreciation for our freeways and traffic system, because even though I think I
figured out how to differentiate the drive in between Southern California and
the rest of Lisa lower Southern states is that they drive very similar, was
like cutting you off and speeding and stuff.
but there’s just a
lot more. In Southern California, you just get the volume. So it just amplifies
it, it makes it seem worse than it is if your patient willing to sit in that
stuff and just keep a cool head about it and be like, well, I’m going to get
there when I get there, it goes a lot smoother and it’s not as bad I had a new,
appreciation for Southern California traffic.
Still not great,
but it’s manageable.
TARANJIT: Wow. Yeah. The way so many of our past
guests have described California and traffic, I don’t think I could do it.
LOGAN: That’s totally fair. It’s honestly not
for everyone. I can genuinely say that I am a born and raised, LA driver and
have seen enough of it. I’ve had people in downtown LA almost walking in front
of my work truck and get taken out by me and I’m just like, okay, crosswalks
don’t exist down here. I need to drive.
Just cause no, no
one will use it.
TARANJIT: well, I mean, where you grow up, I guess
you get used to those types of drivers. And then when you go to a new area and
you see something different than you’re like, whoa, like this is not what I’ve
seen on regular basis. So I can see how you’re comfortable with the California
dire.
And it’s like, we
went there for the first time in Gerald Day. It probably would be more of like
a, whoa, this is so different than what we’re used to.
LOGAN: My second, most crazy driving story is
probably going to be one. I. was driving back from Tahoe. I have family up
there.
This was quite a few years back now and I do
not condone what I’m about to say. I had a very high horse-powered car and it
was nothing fancy. It was a Honda accord, but it had the big engine in it. Just
so your listeners understand,
, and I was
driving back. I had an ex-girlfriend in the car and my brother and we were
coming back and it’s night or it’s getting dark. And this very well built
Subaru, , comes up alongside when we start kind of pasting each other, picking
the speed up slowly, slowly, slowly. All of a sudden we looked down, we’re
doing like a hundred and something and we glanced at each other and just.
We held it on
there for, miles because again, it’s the five freeway it’s straight, at least
in the Northern to Southern transfer it straight there’s not really too many
cops around. You just got to watch out around the bridges. So me and the Subaru
was neck and neck the entire way, going down until we came up to a gas station,
cause we both looked down or at least this is what I’m assuming.
He looked down and
realized he needed gas. I looked down, I was like, oh, I need gas. And we both
pulled over into the same gas station a little bit apart from each other, got
out of the car, head nodded. He starts looking under his hood. I look at my car
and I’m like, well, if it’s made it this far, we’re fine.
We’ll just make it
the rest of the way. I’m sure about that. And so gassed it up and made it the
rest of the way home. No problem. But I’ve never went that fast in my life. And
I mean, I don’t even know if it was faster than 145. That’s just what the
speedometer went to. never went that fast again was like cool one and done.
We’re never doing
that again. That was an insane adrenaline rush. And after that I was like, yep,
Nope, I’m good. I could see how this could end terribly especially cause I had
passengers.
And at that time I
wasn’t thinking like, Hey, you’re jeopardizing the safety of your passengers.
You should really be paying more attention and not doing this. every once in a
while, I’ll get the urge to speed a little bit. I’m just like, I probably
shouldn’t do that.
You know what
could happen and you don’t want to be responsible for that. You just need to
get to where you’re going and relax and enjoy your music in the company. You’re
with
TARANJIT: Your past years didn’t react at all.
Were they also enjoying this high speed driving
LOGAN: my brother was asleep. So I don’t even
know if he knew it happened. I think I told him after he woke up, when we got
to the gas station, he was like, what really? But he was, he was fairly young
at this time. So he was just kind of like, eh, whatever you have that very
nonchalant attitude towards things.
I’m like, okay,
well, yeah, I, at the time I was like, oh bro, it’s so much fun. You should
have been awake for it. He was like, eh, okay, I’m good. And then, , the ax,
didn’t say anything.
So either she was
scared or just didn’t care. I’m not entirely sure which one it was.
BHAVNEET: The fact that he was able to sleep
through the whole thing, it’s like, you’re over your speeding and over 140
miles and it’s like sleeping in the back, you know, nothing.
TARANJIT: Well, I guess we had, it was a straight
road. You didn’t have bumps or anything to like wake him up or turns and things
like that that would have startled him awake. So he probably just slept through
it, which I don’t know how,
LOGAN: Yeah, that’s more or less what I’m, I’m
thinking.
TARANJIT: I know you mentioned that you did a road
trip across the country. And you’ve been through so many different states . How
would you describe the types of drivers in California in comparison to drivers
in other states?
LOGAN: We went through most of the states
pretty quick. We just like do sessions. So it was just a lot of driving, in
really rural areas where no one was really around. The only thing that I really
noticed with the drivers over there, I was like, huh, comparing them to what I
knew.
I’m like, this is
similar. They are driving slower. But when traffic or people would still cut
you off, it didn’t really matter. They behave the same as people that were
driving in LA. Even though we sat in some traffic like through Atlanta that was
a little sketchy. I saw a guy drive down.
I believe you you’ve had guests tell you this
before, where they’ll drive down on the grass side to get to like one part or
another. So it was like a bridge and there was like a, a road, but there was no
barrier that you just drove down onto. The freeway just took off. we didn’t see
that in the car.
We saw that from
our hotel room. , we were just like, what was that? But even though we sat in
the traffic. if I didn’t know I was in a different state, I’d say for the most
part, everyone kind of just behaved the same, maybe a little bit slower, but
that was really the only difference I noticed on that whole road trip.
So We went through all the lower states. We
started in South Carolina. Then we hit Georgia. , Tennessee, we popped down to
Mississippi and then into Texas and straight across Texas to New Mexico and
then to Arizona and back to California. Which was just a lot of flat open road.
And I
intentionally did that. Cause I talked to my friend about maybe driving up
higher, but then other stories I’ve heard about going through the higher up
states, there are a lot smaller in size. So you have to deal with a lot of
rules and regulation changes through each one and they can be a lot more of a
stickler about those rules.
So we tried to
stick it to the lower ones where I’d researched, where I’d kind of knew. Laws
need to be abided just so it was a safer drive for all of us and I wasn’t going
into this uneducated I think the biggest thing that, , I had to help my buddy,
cause he did drive a little bit, but I drove the majority of it.
I was pulling like
that hour days to where, when he would drive, we’d switch off. Cause he has a
narcolepsy kind of tendency when he drives. Cause he finds driving so boring.
He will fall asleep at the wheel sometimes it’s not paying attention. So I’m
always like a warrant, like, Hey you good? Yeah. How you feeling?
Do you want to
trade? Should we get gas? Do another energy drink? What, what do you need? Kind
of thing. So it wasn’t like he scared me, but I knew to be vigilant about that
because I was actually the one who taught him how to drive. I already knew what
to expect when I was in the car with him, which it was fine.
Nothing super
eventful happened. And I’m thankful for that. I’d rather have a boring cross
country road trip than be like, oh my God, I got pulled over in three different
states?
They almost
arrested me, but it’s like, no, no, this was a lot of driving and a lot of
time, let’s just make sure it’s on eventful and get to where we need it.
But by the time we got to Arizona and his car,
this was like the most eventful thing that happened.
We realized his
transmission in his car was just about shot. I took a corner, all of a sudden
the car launched itself around this corner. I didn’t lose control. I was just
caught off guard by how quick it did it. I was like, whoa, what was that? And
we , thought about it for a second. We’re like, car has been acting a little off
this entire drive.
What are the
chances of transmissions going bad with it? Because it has been underpowered.
He was like, you know what? I bet you that’s a problem. because , we had done a
complete tune-up on the car before we left. We were like, okay, make sure your
brakes are good. Make sure that the car is going to stay running and all this
stuff.
So we stopped in
Arizona, found a dealership and he bought a, a different vehicle, there,
because it just wasn’t worth it. But lucky enough I’ve bought sold cars any way
you could possibly think imaginable, so I made sure we got a really good deal
on his car and I can’t recommend buying a car in Arizona enough. They make it
so easy. And they’re so transparent with everything. You deal with one person,
they have a tablet that you put all your information. It shows you what banks
approved you in front of you. Not in some closed door away from you.
They do it all
right in front of you. They’re like, look, here are the rates you’re available
for and what they’re willing to finance for. and we honestly had that done.
It took us longer
to pick the vehicle out than it did, do the financing and get all the
paperwork, signed the paperwork and everything took a total, maybe 35, 40
minutes.
TARANJIT: Yeah, that is so opposite of what
typically happens when you’re doing the paperwork it takes for ever.
LOGAN: Oh, most definitely.
BHAVNEET: I found it really interesting that you
actually researched the different rules and regulations of the places you were
going to drive through. I don’t think people really do that even though it’s,
that’s a really smart thing to do so that you’re aware of like, Hey, I
shouldn’t do this thing in the state.
LOGAN: And I got to say for some of the basic
ones, a lot of the states will have billboards posted up with like slower
traffic state of the right. Only use left lane for passing and stuff like that.
At least for the ones we drove through, that was a label. Like you could see
that across the board, and then obviously as a safety precaution, cruise
control and the speed limit, for the most part, we were just super cautious.
Cause we’re like, we don’t want to deal with anything.
We just want to be
good drivers and,
Move onto our next state.
TARANJIT: Yeah, and tickets and an out of state
ticket can be way higher than in state. So, yeah, it’s better just to follow
the rules and just get out there smoothly. Also, like you’re pointing out the
signs yet. We’ve also noticed that they do usually put the basics, like drive
in the right lane and then don’t drive in the left lane kind of thing.
But I have noticed
that the one thing that we don’t see enough is this actual speed limit. So when
you’re in a new area and you’re just like, is the traffic going the speed limit
or is the traffic going over the speed limit?
LOGAN: This is the one beauty about technology.
I use my GPS for everywhere, even if it’s around town and I know exactly where
I’m going, because AI want to know if there’s traffic and be Elise for, I maps
and with Google, it posts the speed limit of that street. When you enter it, it
can be off sometimes by five miles an hour.
Like they updated
it and made it five miles slower or something like that. But for the most part,
that is like my safety net that like, if heaven forbid I got pulled over and I
was doing the speed limit, my GPS showed I’d pull over and find out why I got
pulled over, but I’d be like, officer, it says this on this.
I get that. That’s
not the law. And like, that’s not the one, I was doing what I genuinely thought
was the right speed limit, and hope, hope he has some humanity. And it’s like,
alright, well, let this pass. Don’t do it. That’s my reasoning for using that
stuff.
Anything I do is hands free. I have new enough
vehicles to where everything I do is a push of a button. And you say what you
want to do and it’ll do it. And I do that because I am terrified to use my
phone while I’m driving, other than the hands-free option, just because it’s
like, this could be risky.
I could see how
someone could get very easily distracted by it and be looking down for a second
too long. And next thing you know, they’ve plowed the car in front of them.
BHAVNEET: Yeah, I see way too many people here in
Maryland doing that, where it’s more of look at your screen and glance up at
the road rather than glancing elsewhere and looking at the road.
LOGAN: I’m big on using all my mirrors. I like
to know who’s behind me. Who’s to the side of me. I literally went out and for
my truck, I got the biggest mirrors I could find, so I can see everything, just
because I want to know what is going on around me, because I have no control on
what’s going on around me.
So I need to be
aware of it.
TARANJIT: Yeah, it’s very important to pay
attention. I feel like a lot of people don’t do that nowadays. They just , get
in the car and just go , as opposed to like looking around and having those
blind spot mirrors, especially it’s very helpful.
LOGAN: Would you say in your state, the
majority of the people you see looking at their phone or older people, say 30
and above.
TARANJIT: I feel like literally everyone is on
their phone. Like, that’s just the thing you is like, everyone is on their
phone. Yes.
LOGAN: it’s weird. Cause Elisa around LA and
Southern California, I notice older people looking at their phone and zoning
out to it. Like they’re commuting to the office and I’ve noticed a lot of the
younger people that I’ve seen driving are terrified. They’re not on their
phone. They’re just trying to stay alive behind the wheel kind of thing.
And I found it
very interesting cause they locked such a huge campaign towards team. To not be
on the phone while driving or messing with the technology. But the biggest
defenders I see are generally, , people of working age, , commuting to their
jobs and back or just going around town.
And it drives me
crazy , they started that campaign when I was still in my early twenties. , and
I was like, you guys are targeting the wrong people. I see teens and young,
young people driving and they look terrified because they’re trying to
understand what to do. And it’s all these adults who have gotten super
comfortable.
And I mean, I say
that like, I’m not an adult, but I see all these adults just not paying
attention. And I’m just like, what is going on? The people who cut me off,
they’re all older. For the most part. I don’t see any young teens cutting me
off or anything like that. So it’s just, it’s very interesting to me to see
how.
They’ll go after
the wrong people for the offenses that are happening and driving on the cell
phone in California is a, , I forgot what you call it, where it, if they see
you doing it, they have the right to pull you over for it. They don’t have to
see something else to pull you over for it.
TARANJIT: Yeah, that’s the same here. Now, when at
first the law first came out, it was a second offense. Like they had to pull
you off for something else, but now it’s like primary and they could pull you
over for a cell phone, but I’ve seen, we live really close to a high school. So
I’ve seen high schoolers. They drive by our road and the light is red and
they’re not even fully stopped.
They already have
their phone in front of them and they’re coming to a stop. And I’m like, you’re
not even paying attention to the car in front of you.
LOGAN: see, I literally live two blocks from my
high school and actually in a four block radius. There’s a elementary school, a
high school and a junior high I’m closest to the junior high. , the biggest
problem I have with everything going on is the parents.
The parents do
illegal turns all the time. They act like they own the road and they will so go
into my house next to the high school or the junior high there’s it’s a two
lane road. So one person going one way, one person going the other way, a
center median, I have parents. And this also goes for the soccer practice they
do.
Cause the field
faces us double park and block the road, no hazard lights. Just I’m here, deal
with it. And , I have to deal with that on the weekends, on the weekdays. If I
leave for work later that day and it just drives me, like, that’s gotta be one
of my biggest pet peeves.
It’s like, okay,
the parents are acting in title. I get, you got to get your kid to school and
get off to your job or whatever you need to go do. But their behavior around
the school to get their kids to school, it’s not only reckless dangerous, but
just very inconsiderate to everyone who lives around there.
And it just it’s
like, oh, that one lights a fire in me because it’s like, I don’t know. I had
to walk to school when I was in junior high and then when I went to elementary
school, my mom was a very aware driver who wouldn’t do things like that. So
just seeing that just really upsets me. And I’ve seen accidents. I drove to
work one day and these two cars, it was bad. Had hit each other. Their cars had
been totaled or really close to it. And I don’t even understand how they did it
because the speed limit there during school hours is 25 miles an hour, but they
did.
And I was just
like, see, this is your, that could have been a kid.
TARANJIT: Wow. Oh my gosh. Yeah. I feel like I
would, if I did that, I’d be so worried about my car because of double parked.
Like someone would hit me, I couldn’t do it because I’d be freaking out that
even if I left it for two seconds, that someone, what is the, uh, what hit my
car. And then that’s a big thing that you have to deal with right there.
BHAVNEET: So would you say that is your biggest
driving, pet peeve, people who are double parking?
LOGAN: yeah, I’d say that’s probably one of my
biggest pet peeves next to No. Blinkers And then them trying to get over in
front of me when there is clearly not space for them to get over in front of
me. And there was nobody behind me. .
TARANJIT: . Blinkers is a big one for a lot of
people. Do they in California. I know here what they do is like if someone puts
on their blinker, people purposely block them to not let them over. Is that something
that happens there?
LOGAN: I’m guilty as charged because I see
space behind me and I’m just like, just get behind me. And I think another
thing that really bugs me is when we’re in the fast lane, it’s going slower
than all the other lanes. And you want to come into this lane. I’m like, what
are you doing? Like I would get out if I could, but I can’t drive fast enough
to get up to the speed of the traffic next to me to go around this problem.
And they’re trying
to come into the fast lane when there’s no exits, there’s no entrances. Why do
you need to be in this lane right now? I will literally purposely drive with
the semis just to avoid that chaos. Some days I am the type of driver because I
do drive so much. If I know I need to get off in.
Two miles or something. And I see there’s
traffic. And especially on that side, I will merge over safely, get in that
lane and sit in that traffic because I’m like, I’m not going to be that guy.
That’s going up there and cutting everybody off. That’s just rude. I don’t like
that. I don’t want that done to me.
I don’t, I’m not
going to do that to them. So then I see that and I’m just like, that’s when,
even if they have the blinker on, I’m like, no, no, I watched you just drive
past all of us. Get dealt. Nope. Get back there. So I guess you could say
that’s where I become a bit of an enforcer, but for the most part, I don’t know
if someone has a gun.
I don’t know what
their road rage is like. It’s like, I try to just remember now that I’m older
and not as reckless as I once was, I try to just take a deep breath and be
like, you know what? It’s just not worth it.
BHAVNEET: have you ever experienced robberies?
LOGAN: There’s been plenty of times where I
have been, I’ve I will not get out of the car. And the worst you get from me is
me laying on the horn for minutes at a time, and flashing the headlights, at
least in Southern California. If you get flashed anywhere other than a stop
sign, or when you’re letting a semi-truck merge in front of you or a back, if
you get the high beams any other time, it is a straight-up insult.
Is them flipping
you the bird without physically flipping you the bird. And that’s at least in
Southern California.
but my worst incident being involved in road
rage, because I can’t say it was one-sided because I was pretty upset too, was
I was driving back a long distance. It was me and my brother and that same
truck that had the blowout with the tire. And it did not have AC at this time.
So we had the windows down, it was like a
hundred and something outside, which has dry heat. It’s not great, better than
humidity any day of the week though. And we’re driving. I forget why I need to
get over or it might’ve just been, it was a carpool lane and I’m like, oh, I
want to get into the carpool lane.
But this car was
pacing me right next to me, to where I couldn’t get in front of it or behind
it. Cause every time I’d slow down and be like, all right, I’ll just get behind
them every time. Stay right in line with me. So I finally had a point where I
was like, dude, what’s your problem. I’ve had enough of this Florida and this
truck wasn’t very fast.
So he had the
advantage with the speed, but I, I, I got up, I thought I was clear enough and
I was, I was, I didn’t hit his car, but I got in front of him and he, oh, he
did not like that at all. He got out of the carpool lane across the double
yellow line. Cause I went in when I could get in. And then by the time he had
reacted, it was already a solid yellow line.
So he illegally
got out of the carpool lane, drove alongside me. My brother’s in the passenger
seat. This dude is yelling. I, it was him in girlfriend, wife. I have no idea,
sister. I don’t know he’s yelling for me and my brother. to pull over and fight
him.
And I’m just like,
huh? My brother’s just like, dude, what’s your problem? Ignoring him. He, my
brother, I pretty sure being my brother flipping the bird or something. Cause
it’s like, dude, you’re freaking insane. We’re not pulling over. We’re just
trying to get somewhere. That went on for about eight or nine miles where this
is just yelling, swerving, close to my truck, which I’m like, well, it’s an old
truck.
If he hits it and
it gets a dent, eh it’s okay. I’m not going to really be that upset about it.
I’m going to be like, this dude hit me. I’d be upset. the fact that he did it
because he was road,
raging. But I’d be
like, I’m sure I’m going to be able to drive away his car. Probably wouldn’t
long story short, we eventually got to a point where he finally cooled off and
veered away and was gone.
And me and my
brother were just like, what the heck was that? But I mean, we were, we were
upset and we were like looking at this dude, like, what’s your freaking
problem? So, I mean, I wasn’t innocent to the, the road rage on that one. I was
kind of returning a little bit of it. Like, dude, go, go. Things, I won’t say
on a family-friendly podcast kind of thing.
BHAVNEET: People are crazy. I can’t believe that
person went to that much effort just to get next to you and be like, pull over
and find me like, what do you think was going to happen if you pulled over?
LOGAN: I would like it also at the same time
racing through my head, I’m like, does this, do you have a gun? Why is he
challenging too tall, big guys? Cause It’s not like I’m six, two and my brother
is six one. It’s not like we look small and we’re in this giant lifted truck.
I’m like, you’re either armed or insane and I’m not taking my chances with
either.
TARANJIT: Yeah. It’s like why, if someone was
angry at you like that and had road rage, why would the person pull over on
purpose and be like, yeah, I’ll deal with it. No, it’s like, I’m getting away
from you and you go deal with your road rage in your own car.
LOGAN: Yeah, pretty much. I mean, but it
happens all the time now, when it happens, I might have an instant where I’m
like, oh, and then I’m just like, you know what? This isn’t worth it back to
the podcast I go. And that’s one thing I love about your guys’ podcast is I’ll
be listening to it while I’m driving.
And you guys will
be talking about your, the crazy experiences with that person. I’m just like,
it makes me think. I’m like, okay, I know this isn’t right. I should be
listening to what some of these people are saying and just calm down. I’m going
to get there when I get there.
TARANJIT: Well, I’m glad that it has an influence
on you in a positive
way,
let’s go back to
your driving first. How would you describe your first time driving experience
and what was your driving test like?
LOGAN: I’ve had a lot of different first
driving experience. Like I know some of your other guests have expressed when I
was a young kid, my dad stuck, stuck me on his lap and let me drive the wheel
around to get familiar with it. So I did that a lot. As far as the first time I
drove a car alone, I’m pretty sure it was in a church parking lot.
It was my
grandma’s Ford Mustang with a big old engine in it. Cause my grandma just drove
a hot rod for some strange reason. , and all the little church ladies came in.
And including my grandma, my grandma had hand me, the keys said, bring the car
over here. And I’m like 10, 11 at this time. I’m like, okay.
Yeah, this is
going to be so much fun. I’ve always wanted to do this. I go get in the car and
I never touched the gas. I, the break only cause that car idled it like 15
miles an hour. So that was my first experience. Now I have a crazy pre driver’s
license experience story because of my itch to drive at such a young age, I had
bought an, a car off a friend.
What? My best
friend had a friend, they were selling a car and it was stupid cheap. It was
like 200 bucks. And I had a job at the time, but I was only like 14, 15. So no
permit, no nothing. I’m like, I’m going to buy that. But the car drove it home.
Didn’t tell my parents anything. I parked it around the corner.
I’m like, they
don’t need to see this. They don’t need to see this. It’s my little treat
because where I was working was across town. And I was like, it’s really a pain
in the butt to get there. I gotta take a bus and ride my bike. And it’s just
not always worth something like, I’m just gonna drive this car.
Cause I had driven
off road before we’re in like ATVs and side-by-sides and cars off road before.
So I was like, I can drive a car. It’s not that hard to me. So I did it, I got
to the top of a hill and the reason the car was so cheap was because it had
engine problems, and , if anyone’s wondering, it was a 1987 Chevy cavalier four
door and the head was gone on it.
The thing
overheated, I got to the top of the hill, the car died. Wouldn’t start again. I
had to coast it down this big hill and pretty much was stuck in traffic. Not in
like a backup traffic by a stuck in like the street. And I’m just like trying
to get the car to start. It wouldn’t start. I was right next to a, uh, parking
lot.
So I got out in my
panic thing. Yo God, if the cops show up, I’m driving illegally. Why did I do
this? Oh my God. I should’ve thought this through better. And I’m pushing the
car. Some Samaritan helps me push it into the parking lot. And then I get to work.
My parents, friends. It was a restaurant. My parents, friends happened to be in
the restaurant and they come in and be like, looking what’s wrong.
Why do you seem so
distressed? I’m like, I don’t know if I should tell you or they’re like, no,
you need to tell us like, these are family friends and knew me since I was a
baby. They’re like, no, you need to tell us. I’m like, I bought a car and it
broke it’s over in the parking lot across the street. And they’re like, call
your dad and tell him what she did.
I’m like, okay. So
I go with my tail between my legs call. My dad, obviously he’s upset initially,
but then he’s like, all right, I’m going to come. I’m going to get my buddy.
We’re going to get the tow truck. When you get the car home. Now I bought this
car for 200 bucks, drove it illegally, all that bad stuff happened.
I still made a
profit off that car. A hundred dollars. It was broken. Did it run? And I still
made money off of it. So anytime my parents bring up me driving illegally, I’m
like, yeah, but I made money off the car and they’re like, that’s not the
point.
BHAVNEET: When you say weren’t that mad
LOGAN: No, they, they were more like, oh my
God, you crazy kid. What were you thinking? . Looking back upon it now. I’m
like, God, that was stupid.
But the driving, once I got everything in
order, I was lucky enough that at the time I was dating a girl whose parents
happen to really like me and they’re like, login, we’ll pay for your driving
school. I’m like, all right, cool. I appreciate that. Like three or four weeks
later, I mean, this girl ended up breaking up and they were like, It was more
or less a mutual thing.
I know she was
upset when I happened, but it was mutual. We like you enough, we’re still going
to pay for your driving school. So I got to go to AAA driving school, and then
once they felt we were competent enough to take our driving test, not the
behind the wheel test, the paper test
so I took the
test. I only got three wrong and, and you could get up to seven. So I passed it
the first time. No problem. and then my grandma, , bless her heart. Actually,
it was the one who took me driving outside of the driving school.
Which is hilarious because my dad actually
helped a handful of my peers in high school. Go do their driving test. I’d had
my license by this point, but he was, he was helping other people and I’m like,
I had grandma, how did that happen? My grandma taught me how to parallel park,
and do all the crazy driving stuff. She was, she was just awesome. She was so
patient with me. Not that I was a bad.
driver, but being
like, I got this. Sure you’ve got this, but remember, you’re still learning and
you need to just take your ego down a notch there, buddy.
TARANJIT: That’s interesting that I guess your
written task was really long because here we had, we have in class driver’s ed,
but then the written test is at the DMV and it was on a computer now. So it’s
only 20 questions. So the max you can get wrong is three.
LOGAN: Oh, really?
I want to say it was 40, 46 or 48, maybe 50
questions. And yeah, you could get up to seven wrong on the test itself. Now
the behind the wheel, you know how most people will go out of their, town to
take the driving test because it’s easier for whatever reason.
I was like, yeah,
I’m absolutely going to do that. Never driven in the area that I went to go
take this test. No clue how to get around there. So my grandma takes me, she
lets me use her car. , I had really long hair at this time and it was just
like, you know this, but I had bangs the driving instructor.
The one thing they
dinged me on. was they could not see me looking at all my mirrors. ‘ cause my
hair was too long and she was like, I had no clue where you were looking and
then she’s like, don’t be surprised if I fail you. So I’m staying in the car.
I’m like, oh, darn okay.
I get it. I should
have been doing this with my head. Apparently like shaking it back.
and forth. So you
can tell I was looking at the mirrors even though I was, and then she opens the
car door. Oh, by the way you passed. I was like, oh, what really? No way. Okay,
cool.
TARANJIT: Yeah. That’s one thing my mom made a
point to point out when we went for ours. It’s , over-exaggerate looking in the
mirrors just so they know you’re doing it because that’s something they will
ding you for.
LOGAN: Oh yeah.
BHAVNEET: Switching gears a little bit, let’s talk
a little bit about the future of driving with the possibility of self-driving
cars, coming in to the mix would you be interested in getting in these cars and
what are your thoughts on self-driving cars?
LOGAN: I like to follow and look at all the new
technology coming out for cars, including autonomous driving and self-driving
itself. Personally, at this point in time, the technology is just not there.
The things a human can do behind the wheel to a computer, a computer can
calculate a lot faster than a human, but to be able to throw all those
variables.
And it’s just not
there yet. There’s been quite a few instances if you Google it where
self-driving cars have gotten themselves in a lot trouble, I think. At this
point in time, I’d call it a unique novelty to go sit and experience one in the
future. If the technology progressed enough and as long as I still had the
option to physically drive the car, I’d be willing to let it do its thing.
Cause there are
definitely some moments where I’m like, man, I wish I could just put it on
autopilot and just chill back kind of thing. Cause I have a work truck that’s
already got the lane detection. Make sure you stay in your lane and don’t get
too close to the car in front of you. So I like to use that stuff when I can
just cause it’s like, you know what?
Then if someone
goes flying past me, I’m like, Hey. This is what the car says is safe. I don’t
know what to tell you . But I would need to give it a long time before I ever
felt comfortable doing that.
I didn’t even take
a Lyft or an Uber until like two years ago for my first time. And I’ve only
done it a total of three times just because , I’ve seen too many incidences
where it’s just safer. If I stay sober and get us there. And back safely, , I
was in an Uber and it was late at night and it was my first time ever taking
it, the Uber driver drove on the wrong side of the street.
And luckily there
was no cars?
cause it was like
three in the morning, but it was just terrifying. I’m just in the backseat. Like
what do I do this? Someone tell him he’s in the wrong lane because it was me
and a group of people I’m like to someone tell me he’s in the wrong lane or a,
we just going to let this happen.
he realized pretty
shortly after that, I was like, okay. Yeah.
Nope. You’ve just
instilled why I do not take Ubers or Lyfts.
BHAVNEET: That’s crazy. Like what do you do with
this situation? But I agree with you. Like, I, I would want there to be the
option where you can still take control. Cause you don’t know what’s going to
happen. And there are certain situations where a human can logically think
through and reason with a situation versus a car or a computer that’s probably
not programmed for every single possible.
LOGAN: Yeah. I think one of the biggest ones
that they mentioned was like the homeless woman that got hit. And I want to say
either Arizona or Nevada cause the self-driving car, they were testing it at
night and it didn’t see her. And it ended up killing her. She was illegally
jaywalking and there was her, the, all the problems that happen because of the
action she decided, but the car wasn’t able to react to her.
Cause it didn’t
detect her. Unlike a human would see that and be like, Oh, okay, what you doing
over there?
BHAVNEET: Oh, that’s crazy. Yeah. Self-driving
cars are way in the future. I feel like fully self-driving long ways away,
bonus question time. Are you ready?
LOGAN: Absolutely.
BHAVNEET: If you can make one, a new driving law,
what would.
LOGAN: I don’t honestly, I’ve thought about
this. Cause I’ve heard you ask so many people that I’m like, what would I want?
honestly, it seems like the majority of the problems on the road is people not
doing and following the laws that are already in place. So there’s some petty
things like the blinker. I wish we could up the fine for the blinker and
cutting out of the carpool lane into the fast lane.
Cause that’s a
serious problem around here. My sister’s boyfriend saw three people do it in
front of a copy of the night and the cop didn’t pull a single one over merged
out of the carpet. These people just went out of the carpet. And the cops in
the carpool lane did nothing. So I’m just like, I would.
just, I would hope
to just see the laws that give people courtesy and acknowledge to the vehicles
around them.
Like, Hey, I’m
going to get out. I wish those were just a little more heavily enforced in the
fines were maybe a little bit higher to be like, Hey guys, we’re not doing this
because we want to target you. We’re doing this because it’s a safety factor
and you need to do these things to make sure you and your fellow drivers,
because we’re all in this together.
Whether we like it
or not get where you’re going safely.
TARANJIT: Yeah. I’ve noticed that we’re police
officers in situation where you’re like, okay, you could, did you not do.
LOGAN: Yeah.
TARANJIT: you going to say anything about that?
Like, they’re the ones who can enforce it. It’s not like the, your road rage
guy who can like tell another driver , you’re doing something wrong that would
obviously make the other driver more freaked out or mad themselves and be like,
I’m not listening to you.
LOGAN: Yeah, no, totally.
TARANJIT: Do you have any final thoughts or any
tips that you would like to give other drivers that are listening?
LOGAN: yes. I’d like to say, and this goes for
myself as well is to always remember we’re, we’re all living here together.
Whether you be walking, bus, train, house bicycle, however, your means of
transportation. We all need to remember that. We’re trying to just get to where
we need to go and to be courteous.
To the people
around you. Cause obviously, you know, I have a few pet peeves about people
cutting off and trying to merge in where they’re not supposed to, but at the
end of the day, we’re all just trying to get somewhere safe so we can get back
to our families or to our job. And it’s just not worth killing ourselves over.
And if you like
speed, like I do, there are safe ways. In controlled environments that you can
go do that stuff. Because, it could help prevent you from doing something on
the road that you might regret.
I had a friend of
a friend that he got into a street race down in the valley, and he crashed his
truck so bad. The cab sheared off from the frame. And he now has spinal issues
and a whole bunch of things. And he’s lucky he didn’t kill someone in the
process besides severely hurting himself.
He’s lucky to be
alive, let alone walking,
BHAVNEET: that’s crazy and that’s, that is such a
good tip or advice that we’re all in this together. We’re all just trying to
get somewhere, be courteous. Like I wish more people would just take that into
consideration
LOGAN: yeah. And if you see traffic’s going
faster in the left lane and you’re in it, and you’re going 65 and you see these
people come just move over to the right lane. It’s really not that hard. I
promise I do it all the time when I don’t want to speed or go faster. It’s a
good thing to do.
TARANJIT: Yeah, it was designed in that way for a
reason.
LOGAN: Yeah. People just forget about it,
BHAVNEET: Well, thank you so much for coming on,
before we let you go, where can our listeners find you if they want to connect
with you?
LOGAN: At the moment I’m currently working on a
podcast, but it is not done yet. I hope to be releasing that within the next
month or two. we are still working on a name , but my Instagram is car
underscore fund underscore life to, to, to,
BHAVNEET: awesome. Well, thank you so much for
coming on. It was really fun talking to you and hearing all your crazy
experiences.
LOGAN: Yeah. Thank you guys for having me so
much. This was a blast. I do it again in a heartbeat. If you ever need a follow
up, just let me know. I’ll be there.
Thank you so much
for having me.
(transition music)
TARANJIT: Logan was another driver that I felt
like we could talk to for hours. Because again, I feel like we just graze the
surface of his crazy driving stories with the amount that
BHAVNEET: he’s driven.
I’m sure he’s had
way more than what we talked about.
TARANJIT: we’re curious to hear your thoughts. Do
you like hearing from a mixer drivers like everyday drivers and professionals,
or do you prefer just one type of driver?
BHAVNEET: Would you be interested in having us
bring on previous guests again, like Logan, let us know and we’ll try our best
to make it. And be sure to stay tuned until the end of this episode, to hear a
sneak peek of next week’s episode with Rabiah and everyday driver currently in
London,
TARANJIT: she shared with us about the time she
T-boned a car and the guy came out limping.
BHAVNEET: . If you enjoyed this podcast, you can
help support the show by sharing it with your friends or leaving us a review on
Podchaser. It truly does help us get
TARANJIT: discovered. Thank you for choosing to
drive with us and we’ll see you all next week.
(outro music)
RABIAH: I didn’t see the light because there were these lights that were
like hanging and they were blowing and so I couldn’t see them side go through
this intersection, not knowing end up T boning this other vehicle.
This man gets out
and he’s limping