Dear: Prelude Driver

Yes, I totally saw you. You in the red 5th generation Prelude.

I was driving and minding my own business, trying to focus on driving because it was a cold day and it had snowed a bit. For me, safety first.

I noticed this red coupe in my peripheral vision. Just there. Not going any faster than me or any slower than me. It was just side by side with me. It went on for what seemed like hours, when it was merely a few seconds. However, upon speeding up ahead of me, I saw the passenger sort of almost stick his head against the window to see who was driving (yes, I know my tints are a bit dark, but that's the point).

After that moment, what I saw was some dangerous driving maneuvers, trying to get my attention. The Prelude changed lanes without signaling (come on, why are cars equipped with turn signals?! they aren't decorations!!), and veered quite sharply directly in front of me, and then went back to his left lane. Then he starts braking hard, as to try and slow down to my speed.

There really are two things that crossed my mind at that time. 1) Guys do that to get a girl's attention or 2) they want to race. Most of the time they just want my attention, but this isn't Tinder. This is real life driving. You are operating a machine that could potentially injure or kill people if you don't pay attention. That is why I probably look zoned out every time I drive. Because that's what I'm doing: concentrating.

There are times that it may become necessary to warn a driver about something, whether a flat tire or maybe the gas cap isn't closed properly. Legit things to warn a driver about, so you go about and try to honk or get their attention to tell them. Still dangerous yes, but the intent is to warn them that something is wrong with their car. Either that, or the driver finds out the hard way.

In this case with the Prelude, there was nothing wrong with my car. It was two guys trying to get my attention, while doing dangerous maneuvers on the road. Stupidity is what I call it. Even if they are trying to say "nice car", you don't start driving like a maniac to try and get attention. Is it really that important to you?

As much as I wanted to cut in and out of traffic to avoid this driver, I couldn't because there was traffic everywhere. The highway was coming up anyways, so I just took my time and drove the limit. Meanwhile, the dudes in the red Prelude are in front of me. I ended up taking the highway whereas they continued forward.

In conclusion, yes guys, I did see you. But don't drive like maniacs next time to get a girl's attention.

Speaking about cars, there has been a picture circulating on Facebook about bringing Ertefa back. For those who don't know, Ertefa is GTA's largest car meet. Ertefa got shut down last year because idiots would show up and start doing donuts and burn-outs in a crowded environment.

In my opinion, if they bring it back, it will just be shut down again. There will always be a few bad apples in a basket of good apples. No matter how hard all the organizers try to make it a safe environment for everyone, there is always that one person who will ruin it for everyone. So far it seems that a lot of people do want it back, and Ertefa is finding a way to accommodate. Do I have high hopes it will continue to run? Nope.

My first/second and only experience going to Ertefa was back in the summer of 2013. I think I had gone to two different meets, one with my coupe and one without. There were exotics there, and a lot of imports. If I could sum it up, it was like a big parking lot with lots of modified cars. And the smell of weed was disgusting. The first time I was there, I smelled weed and got a massive headache because of it. I didn't enjoy my time there because the smell just ruined it. For those who say just "wear a mask", come on now. Who the hell brings a box of masks with them wherever they go? I never went to those meets before so I didn't expect the weed part.

The second time I drove the coupe, and thankfully I didn't smell weed. But that's the thing. Once you go to an Ertefa meet, you just don't go again after the first or second time. To me, it was just the same old repetitive thing. You pretty much see the exact same thing each week. Everyone is a complete stranger to me. There is always going to be some sort of drama with some person, and the presence of police just makes everyone nervous. I know in my previous posts I had mention about having police presence in order to have some sort of crowd control, but also having that interaction with car enthusiasts and cops to maintain a good relationship with them. Sounds easy on paper, but when cops see a douchebag doing donuts, burning out or randomly racing people on the streets, do you think they will just sit back and sing KUMBAIYAAAAA?

Obviously not. They will take action, and in return, the rest of the attendees suffer because of that one person misbehaving. So would I be in favour of Ertefa? Nope.

Having huge meets doesn't make it fun. Small tight-knit groups and cruises make it a lot more fun. Members are aware of each other already, meet ups are not as frequent but when they do happen, it's a more intimate group of getting to know all the drivers. Cruises are the most fun. It's way better than just parking the car in a parking lot and walking around trying not to get run over by a ricer. I could do that at Pacific Mall any time. Don't need Ertefa for that.

Besides, there is more to life than getting in trouble at Ertefa. To each their own.