Bhavneet: Welcome to Drive With Us! It’s Bhavneet
Taranjit: and Taranjit.
Bhavneet: And for our first episode, staying with the theme of driving… let’s talk about driving.
Taranjit: Drivers…
Bhavneet: And everything about the road. Everything we love
Taranjit: Yeah… LOVE…
Bhavneet: So, we live in Maryland, and AllState comes out with this annual report on pretty much grading different states on how good you are at driving. So you thought you were done with school. But… you’re not. You’re still getting graded. And guess what? We suck.
Taranjit: Very bad. We are so close to the bottom. Maryland’s basically the third from the bottom.
Bhavneet: And Baltimore… you’re the worst.
Taranjit: In driving.
Bhavneet: In driving. Let me put that out there. And you know what’s funny? I drive in Baltimore every day. So if I can survive that, are you saying that I can survive… anything?
Taranjit: Probably.
Bhavneet: I’m probably one of those bad drivers too so… watch out.
Taranjit: If you ever see her on the road, stay away.
Bhavneet: My fancy Toyota RAV coming zooming down the highway.
Taranjit: And if you want to know what the top state was, it was… Texas. Brownsville, Texas made it to number 1!
Bhavneet: Shout out to all you Brownsvillians. You apparently know how to drive. Please teach us.
Taranjit: Yes. We all need to learn.
Bhavneet: Yes. Which way is the correct way? Am I supposed to drive on the left or the right side of the lane?… Road… That didn’t sound right.
Taranjit: Drive on the left or the right side of the lane?… Another report came out and said that… again supported that Maryland’s the 3rd worst drivers and it basically said that we are poor in performance in terms of rush hour congestion, so…
Bhavneet: I can vouch for that one. Again, I drive out of Baltimore. My 50 minute commute takes an hour and a half!
Taranjit: Yep. The next thing that we were poor in performance was the average commute ti-mime… average commute time
Bhavneet: Ti-mime. We’re miming in the highway. You know, so, since we’re stopped… like no one’s moving. Everyone breaks out into mime. Like, who can mime the best?
Taranjit: Yes. Exactly what I meant.
Bhavneet: Instead of breaking out into dance numbers, like in all Bollywood movies, we’re going to… mime.
Taranjit: Speaking of which, apparently there was this was this driver who was stuck in traffic so he got out and started to dance to entertain the other drivers.
Bhavneet: I wish I was there. I could use that entertainment.
Taranjit: I thought that was crazy.
Bhavneet: I think everyone should do that. People are too… stretched thin. It’s not good.
Taranjit: Would you do that if you were stuck in traffic for so long? Would you get out and dance?
Bhavneet: Let us know! I wouldn’t. I’m too scared. I feel like someone would be like, “get out of the road!” and run over me. Again, I drive in the worst city.
Taranjit: No, I think this was on Falls Rd in Baltimore.
Bhavneet: So, all you Marylanders out there. Falls Rd. First off, I would never drive on Falls Rd… because have you seen Falls Rd? At least the part I drive on. It’s like a roller coaster… if you want to die.
Taranjit: Yea, pretty much. So if you can’t afford to go to an amusement park, go on Falls Rd.
Bhavneet: There’s a couple other roads, but yeah. So, we… are not very good at driving. Tell us how good your state is.
Taranjit: Speaking of driving, Maryland drivers tend to speed. First of all. And if they can’t get past you they get soo angry.
Bhavneet: I can’t tell you the number of times that I have had a crazy person behind me. And you know what’s funny? Every time we see a crazy person on the road, everyone’s like “oh, there goes a pennsylvania driver!”
Taranjit: Yep. all Marylanders blame Pennsylvania… has to be a Pennsylvania driver. Something’s going wrong? Has to be a Pennsylvania driver.
Bhavneet: Where 90% of the time, it’s probably a Maryland driver, so… blame game!
Taranjit: Anyways, do you have any funny or terrible road rage stories? Because that’s very common.
Bhavneet: Oh, ok. I got one. So, any of you people out there played Sonic Adventure Battle 2? It was 2 right?
Taranjit: Yes.
Bhavneet: For the Nintendo Gamecube. Yes, we’re aging ourselves.
Taranjit: Classic.
Bhavneet: 90’s kids shout out! So, one of the favorite levels, if you will, of that game that I enjoyed was City Escape. I don’t remember the words to the song, but the tune plays in my head everytime a big truck is behind me. I feel like I’m being chased. And then I start going “City Escape!…. Ta-na-ta-na-ta-na… and I don’t know what the tune is, but you know, I’m Sonic on a snowboard. Riding down a road.
Taranjit: It was more like a hill and it was coming after you and you’re like “aah!”
Bhavneet: So if any of you get that reference… Thank you.
Taranjit: You know how you feel in that situation. Anyways, I have a road rage story for you. There was this video that I was showing you earlier where there was 2 drivers on route 32, something like that, and they basically wouldn’t let the other person go. They just kept cutting them off and kept moving over in front of them and just wouldn’t let the other person go in front.
Bhavneet: I don’t understand. They were like, if you can’t go… no one’s going anywhere. If I can’t go in front of you… were both just going to stop. Like I don’t care what happens to my brand new… was it like a Ford Explorer? Dude, that could have been a cop.
Taranjit: Yea!
Bhavneet: You can’t tell what they’re in these days.
Taranjit: Whenever you see some sort of Ford car, or American car, you always just assume its a cop. Just slow down.
Bhavneet: Like, dude! You could have been trying to run a cop off the road. That’s a serious offense! I mean even if it wasn’t a cop. What the heck.
Taranjit: Yea, I seriously thought an accident was going to happen.
Bhavneet: You know it was crazy when the Mustang behind them hit their brakes. Like, “let the crazies go!” Yea, so it ended with them both.. There was a ramp and they were both sitting in the grass. They just stopped. Like, alright, now it’s not going to be a car fight it’s going to be a person-to-person fight. Let’s get out and yell at each other or something.
Taranjit: Yea, I don’t know how it ended but it probably was serious.
Bhavneet: I hope I never have anything like that. Ok so I experience my first real road rage not too long ago. I didn’t realize that road rage could be this bad…
Taranjit: It’s road rage. What did you expect?
Bhavneet: I’ve never experienced anything like this. I thought I’ve experienced road rage… but after this I was like… nope! That is road rage. What have I been doing before? I’ve been in the preschool, I don’t know. The kiddy pool.
Taranjit: Now what, are you in college.
Bhavneet: The kiddy pool. Now I’m in a adult pool.
Taranjit: The deep end.
Bhavneet: So, I was driving to school, and I’m one of those super cautious drivers… probably not anymore because I go to Baltimore.
Taranjit: Oh your not. You’ve changed. They’ve change you.
Bhavneet: Oh no! I’ve gone to the dark side. I used to be I should say, I guess, a very cautious driver.
Taranjit: Yes, used to.
Bhavneet: So, I was driving to school, and we came to this like fork in the road where I was going straight but there was a stop sign and there was a car on the other side of the stop sign. I wanted to go straight. This car had to turn right. They were not paying attention. They were on their phone, or something. So I stopped, I looked at them. No sign of movement so I decide to go. I’m halfway through the intersection, they start moving and then see me at the last second and hit their brakes and honk. Like, dude I’m already in the intersection, halfway gone, and you were moving without looking. So I had to swerve onto the other side of the road to avoid them.
Taranjit: Aw man.
Bhavneet: Yea. So, I felt bad. Like… City Escape ensues, lets go! Because he got on my bumper. Like, I’m pretty sure he was going to scratch my car, or something, because every time I got to a stop sign he would come up so close, honk, wave his hands frantically, and be like “Stop!”
Taranjit: Wait, what?
Bhavneet: Or he would point at the stop sign and be like “that’s a stop sign!!”
Taranjit: Are you serious?!
Bhavneet: Yea!
Taranjit: From behind you?
Bhavneet: Yea! And I’m like, I’m stopping but I’m scared to because I think you’re going to hit me! So, I was kind of thinking about.. So there’s a bunch of stop signs because it’s a neighborhood area and so I was kind of thinking about turning right at a random stop sign, letting the crazy man go, and then coming back, just so I could be behind him. That’s how bad it was.
Taranjit: And then you can honk at him and tell him, “Look! Look up, it’s a stop sign. Don’t look at you phone.”
Bhavneet: So then we got to a four-way intersection and it turned into 2 lanes, and I’m like “Aw great!” So he came next to me, then he stopped and then he rolled down his window. And then he’s like “put down your window!” and I just ignored him.
Taranjit: Oh my goodness!
Bhavneet: I just kept looking forward. And then, I was trying to see past him because I was in the left lane, he was in the right lane. And I tried to inch forward ‘cuz there were cars on the other side. Like, I wanted to go straight and there were cars on the left and right of me. They both came to the stop sign and then I was there first so they’re like “go ahead.” But then they saw this angry man and then they were like “no no, you go ahead. I will wait.” And he’s like yelling and I’m trying to inch forward and see. And he kept inching forward. He didn’t want me to go. And then he kept blocking my view. So then I started going and he hit the gas and like almost clipped me ‘cuz he purposely, like, went left and went right in front of me. And then I’m just like “Aw great!” SoI stayed back. Like going 20 in a 35 so that he could get away from me. And guess who was at the next stop light?
Taranjit: Him.
Bhavneet: Yea. So then I like stopped 50 feet back. And then he saw me and I’m like slowly stopping all the way back there. He started yelling again… and I’m like Dude I’m behind you! These people probably think your crazy! And then the light turned green and he hit the gas again. And then I saw him at the next light.
Taranjit: Oh no!
Bhavneet: And so I stopped back again. It was so bad.
Taranjit: Wow! I’ve never experienced anything like that.
Bhavneet: I thought I was gonna die. I’m like, there’s a sheriff’s office near here isn’t there.
Taranjit: 911 on speed dial.
Bhavneet: I’m like, I know there’s a fire station, but that’s close enough, right?
Taranjit: Yea, close enough.
Bhavneet: I was so scared. City Escape you guys. City Escape.
Taranjit: Real life
Bhavneet: Edition. Not fun. You can’t come back after you lose a life.
Taranjit: Oh my god! That went so dark.
Bhavneet: That’s how I felt at the time. I was so scared. So? Any real road rage incidents? Any City Escape moments?
Taranjit: I will tell you about a car that wasn’t paying attention so continuing on your not paying attention story. So, I was going South on a road and there was a car coming North and there was a truck par… like stopped… not parked. He was stopped on the road ‘cuz he was awiting to turn. But since cars on my side were coming he couldn’t turn yet, so the right thing to do is wait, right?
Bhavneet: No, you just go. Force your way in there.
Taranjit: Oh yea. Another accident. Add to our high accident rate.
Bhavneet: Maryland right? We gotta keep up the stereotype? It’s not really a stereotype but…
Taranjit: Statistics. Gotta stay high up there
Bhavneet: Yeah
Taranjit: Anyways. He was coming super fast. Obviously he didn’t notice that this car was just stopped. So last second he swerved into the shoulder to avoid hitting this truck, but he cut the wheel so sharp to the right that he ran right into the guard rail. But I guess it wasn’t hard enough because his car wasn’t super crashed but he like bounced off the rail guard.
Bhavneet: Oh my god. Bounced?
Taranjit: Yeah, he bounced. His like, front hit. He turned, his back hit, he turned.. At his side, then he went back to the front.
Bhavneet: Oh my god.
Taranjit: And he just… then he hit the brakes.
Bhavneet: Like a yoyo.
Taranjit: The truck turned so fast across… so he wouldn’t get hit
Bhavneet: The truck’s like “nope I’m out of here! That’s it. Forget the rules.” Maryland driver.
Taranjit: Yeah. if he didn’t… if he didn’t turn he would’ve definitely got hit in that spin.
Bhavneet: Well, hopefully somebody that was coming let him go.
Taranjit: Oh yeah. Our side… our side of the road was going so slow because we saw that happening.
Bhavneet: Oh my god. It’s scary when you actually see an accident happening. I don’t think ive ever really seen one happen.
Taranjit: I’ve seen so many close calls but not actually happen. Which is a good thing. You don’t want to see that.
Bhavneet: Yeah. Luckily, I can say that I don’t think I’ve ever seen one happen…
Taranjit: Actually…
Bhavneet: I’ve seen them post-happen.
Taranjit: We’ve seen… We’ve seen… We’ve had a hit-and-run. Don’t you remember?
Bhavneet: Oh my god.
Taranjit: It wasn’t as major, but it was a hit-and-run.
Bhavneet: It was like a I’m right there hit-and-run.
Taranjit: We literally just pulled into the parking space next to a van. The lady in the van started to back up.
Bhavneet: She obviously did not see your tiny car in her humongous van.
Taranjit: Then she started reversing and I guess she didn’t realize the car was in the spot next to her. So she thought oh I can just turn like this without… because there’s no cars in the other side and she hit our car and then just drove. And it just like dragged across the drivers door.
Bhavneet: Hit is an understatement. She kind of like molded. She made her own shape. She left an impression. She’s like, “this is my car. I want you to remember me forever. Have a piece of me.”
Taranjit: What I thought was.. I thought she was going to stop because she like hit the car… she tapped it, she moved forward again back into her spot and then was like nevermind, reverse and then pull away.
Bhavneet: No, too late. I already did the damage. Time to go.
Taranjit: And she booked it out of there.
Bhavneet: Oh my god. I was about to like just jump out of the car and stand in front of her and be like, “what are you doing?”
Taranjit: It was crazy. And it was raining on top of that, but I’m so glad you got the license plate number. But then our police…
Bhavneet: Oh don’t even get me started. Let’s just not. Nope.
Taranjit: So crazy. So… I’m gonna get started.
Bhavneet: Oh god.
Taranjit: So we called the police, what you would probably do in a situation like this. Call them and he comes. He takes out statement. Takes my license information, all that stuff and then he’s like, “oh let me see this… this scratch or hit” and he’s like “Oh there’s nothing there.” And I’m like, it’s raining.
Bhavneet: Dude it’s raining. We felt… you were in the drivers side. You felt it cave in. It’s like, uh, there’s damage
Taranjit: It’s raining right now so it’s hard to see but it’s there. And then he was like, “oh let me look up this license plate number” and he was like, “oh this lady is the owner of this local grocery store and she’s a very nice lady.” Ok…
Bhavneet: Not very nice if she destroyed my car.
Taranjit: Yeah.
Bhavneet: Okay destroyed is an overstatement but you get the idea.
Taranjit: Anyways, he was like, “I’ll give.. I’ll give her your information and then she can call you if she would like.”
Bhavneet: Uh, you seriously think the person that just hit your car is gonna be like, “oh, yep. I’m gonna call them. I…I…I hurt their car. It got a boo-boo because of me. It’s all my fault. Let me fix it. Let me call ya.
Taranjit: Yeah. Never got that call. Now I don’t have that car but… that’s a different story.
Bhavneet: So what did we learn from that kids?… Don’t hit the table.
Taranjit: That actually reminds me of another story where I got hit, but this lady didn’t run. She stopped.
Bhavneet: I’ve had a hit and run, but this is the stereotypical hit and run where your not there hit-and-run. At school. That was not cool.
Taranjit: That’s it. That’s all you have to add.
Bhavneet: Yeah. Okay, so my first time going to this campus in terms of having a class there. So, I parked in a spot that’s like double lanes… so I’m parked in the front of the lanes. I pulled in forward so someone can park behind me. I come back from an hour class. The back bumper is smashed. First day of school… on this campus. And I’m like never again. I don’t like this campus. And I go to campus security, as one would. And what do they do? Nothing. Which I’ve heard that nothing really gets done. Like people have had accidents and security has done nothing about it but I went…
Taranjit: Oh that’s because they have cameras but there not actual cameras.
Bhavneet: Well, I don’t really know about that because I don’t know if they actually looked at their cameras.
Taranjit: I don’t think the cameras are actually recording anything. There just there for show.
Bhavneet: It’s like, “oh whoops! My camera wasn’t recording at that date and time.” Like, what?
Taranjit: It’s like the thing is if you have the camera it kind of scares some people. It’s like, oh there’s a camera, but if it’s not working then it doesn’t… like… it’s like not having one.
Bhavneet: And they even look like those 360 cameras. Like it’s just a bulb and it makes it look like, I see you in every direction. Big Brother. I’m watching you… but, I’m not. I’m asleep. I have those, like, glasses on with the eyes drawn on them so you think I’m watching but I’m not. So do as you will.
Taranjit: Anyways, before you cut me off. My other hit and not run story.
Bhavneet: You may proceed.
Taranjit: Huh?
Bhavneet: You may proceed.
Taranjit: Thank you. I needed your permission.
Bhavneet: Your welcome.
Taranjit: Anyways, this was a car before the one that got hit-and-run. It was a gold Toyota corolla and I was at a stoplight waiting to turn right onto 30 and I… I think the light was still red and the lady behind me just managed to let go of the breaks and her car started rolling and it tapped my car.
Bhavneet: So it wasn’t really even like an accident.
Taranjit: No. But like it came I feel faster than just letting it go ‘cuz I felt it in my back in neck. Like… the impact.
Bhavneet: Permanent injury lawsuit.
Taranjit: Anyways, I like put my car in park, then put it back in drive because I wasn’t sure what to do. It was like should I park it here? Should I get out?
Bhavneet: Yeah, your first incident. What do you do?
Taranjit: Is she going to get out? Like, what do I do? We both were kind of just sitting in our cars for a little bit.
Bhavneet: The light was still red right?
Taranjit: Yeah.
Bhavneet: Okay, so nothing weird yet.
Taranjit: There wasn’t that many cars on the road too so… but then, I’m like okay I think I should park my car.
Bhavneet: Awkward… What’s the protocol?
Taranjit: Then I put my flashers on, my emergency lights on just in case ‘cuz you know.
Bhavneet: Your freedom lights?
Taranjit: Yes, my freedom lights. And then I like waited and she walked out of her car so I got out of my car because…
Bhavneet: Follow suit. She’s older.
Taranjit: Yeah.
Bhavneet: You’re a new driver.
Taranjit: So, I was like okay if she’s getting out I guess I should get out. So I get out and I slowly shut the door and like I wait for her.
Bhavneet: Don’t hurt me… don’t hurt me lady.
Taranjit: I wasn’t sure what to do and she came over and she was like, “oh my gosh! I’m so sorry! My foot accidentally… I accidentally let go of the brakes.” She’s like, “I hope you’re okay.” and she like kept asking if I was okay. And then she was like “do you want my information?”
Bhavneet: Yes. Give it to me… all of it.
Taranjit: And then I was like, yeah I guess I should just get it but I think everything’s okay. We like walked back to the back of the car and saw that there wasn’t really any damage but she still gave me all her information. She showed me here license after she wrote everything down to be like “loo. Compare”
Bhavneet: Wow. You don’t see those kind of people anymore. Rarely.
Taranjit: Yeah. I was like this was a first time so I didn’t know what to do. So I was just like, “Oh, okay. Thanks”
Bhavneet: Yeah. Thank you for being a kind, considerate human being.
Taranjit: Yeah. And then she wrote here insurance information down. She wrote her car information down and she’s like check everything and then we’ll you know… and then we were like oh okay let me know if I need to fix anything, pay for anything. Call me.
Bhavneet: Oh my gosh. Can’t everyone be like that?
Taranjit: Yeah. That was my first hit-and-not-run.
Bhavneet: And not-run. Yeah exactly. Since we’re only talking about the bad, lets cheer it up a little. I mean you guys are driving right now. You don’t want to be thinking about accidents. I mean unless your in Maryland… be careful.
Taranjit: Especially if you’re in Baltimore, be extra careful.
Bhavneet: And if you see me on the road, wave. Hello. Okay so this is random, but weird I think. I have a weird brain…
Taranjit: I’ll be the judge of that.
Bhavneet: So, when it’s raining, you know how you put your wipers on?
Taranjit: Where are you going with this
Bhavneet: I just thought of this story. I’m trying to cheer you up, okay?
Taranjit: Oh, yeah I’m so sad.
Bhavneet: Yeah. Okay? So, you when it’s raining you put your wipers on?
Taranjit: Yes.
Bhavneet: Okay. good. At least we’re on the same page there. You put your wipers on. And the cars coming the other way also have their wipers on.
Taranjit: Yeah…
Bhavneet: ‘Cuz you wanna see!
Taranjit: Uh-huh. That’s the point of wipers.
Bhavneet: So, in my mind, if while I’m driving past a car it’s windshield wipers go off right after mine do or mine go off right after there’s do… I think our cars are saying hi.
Taranjit: Now I’m never gonna… now I’m gonna think about that every time I turn my wipers on.
Bhavneet: Well, I do. So I’m like, “Well, thanks!” Like, if my wiper goes off and the other car just drives by I’m like, “well that was rude, I’m saying hi!” Or someone does, it’s like “hi to you too! Have a nice day!”
Taranjit: They should probably teeth this… teeth this! They should probably teach this in drivers ed. That that’s proper etiquette.
Bhavneet: Yeah! You gotta be nice. This is why there’s so much road rage. The cars don’t say hi to each other.
Taranjit: So when the headlights go on is that their eyes opening?
Bhavneet: Yeah ‘cuz your always supposed to have your headlights on. It’s a law.
Taranjit: Not everywhere.
Bhavneet: You can’t drive with your eyes closed.
Taranjit: Apparently you can.
Bhavneet: Yeah, a lot of people do. But that’s not right. You gotta say hi people… say hi. Speaking of, not related, they should invent a reverse honk.
Taranjit: Yes! We were talking about that.
Bhavneet: I found that I need a reverse honk way more often than I need a forward honk. I’m more scared of the person behind me than the person in front of me.
Taranjit: How would that work?
Bhavneet: Uh, you have a honk on the back.
Taranjit: How would you reach that?
Bhavneet: I don’t know, kind of like your blinker. You have a separate honk for the back.
Taranjit: Okay…
Bhavneet: Yeah. Scare the bejeezus out of people.
Taranjit: Yeah, then you’re going to cause and accident.
Bhavneet: Yeah, but the people they drive so close. City Escape.
Taranjit: Back to City Escape.
Bhavneet: Yeah, this is how I feel when I’m always driving. I’m so terrified. People don’t say hi. I’m City Escaping, not even in the city.
Taranjit: You’re in Baltimore city… close enough. Anyways you can find us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Search for Drive With Us Podcast and we’ll be there.
Bhavneet: Thanks for joining us, and letting us join you on your daily commute. And we look forward to your next commute!
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