I reckon there’s one place that sees more marital arguments than anywhere else. Forget the bedroom, it’s all about the car.
The first argument I ever had with the (self-proclaimed) Northern Love Machine was in his car. I can’t remember the finer details but it had something to do with a disagreement over the speed limit. Sound familiar?
We’re not an argumentative couple, but I think it’s safe to say that 99% of our rows have been in the car. If it’s not over directions then it’s to do with speed, missed road signs or dodgy parking. It doesn’t help that we’re usually running late, which adds to the pressure.
One of our most heated arguments took place on the way to the hospital when I was in labour with Frog. “DON’T DRIVE SO FAST!” I shouted at the NLM. “I’M GOING 40! THE SPEED LIMIT’S 40!” He yelled back. The rest is lost in a midst of contractions and deep breathing.
Then there was the time I made him get out of my car and walk. He’d made one too many comments about my ability to navigate a corner and I lost it. I now refuse to drive with him in the car, unless he promises not to provide a running commentary.
I learned from the best of them. The only arguments I’ve ever witnessed between my parents were in the car. The most memorable was on a holiday in France, when they fell out over my mum’s navigating skills (“You said follow the road round!”), but there were various others too. After a while my mum just refused to drive if my dad was going to be a passenger.
Of course, in my humble opinion, I’m a FAR better driver than my husband. I often tell him that he could learn a thing or two from my driving. He is a prime candidate to test out the More Than telematics Driving Style score, although he’d probably say it was the other way around and I’m the one in need of help.
To my cautious he is speedy. He’s also impatient (“BLOODY SUNDAY DRIVERS!”) and regularly gets bouts of road rage. His usual laid-back temperament goes out the window if he feels the person in front of him is driving badly.
One thing in his favour, though, is that he’s always willing to drive. He actually likes driving. And that’s a big plus when you factor in our regular road trips up north to see his side of the family. I’ve learned to nap on most of the eight hour journey to avoid any driving-related row. There was that one time though, when I realised he’d come off the motorway in the wrong direction and was travelling back towards London instead of up towards Manchester…
Do you know a bad driver? Have you had any driving-related arguments with your other half?
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Disclosure: Thanks to More Than for working with me on this post.
Sorry to say Mols, I’m half in NLM’s camp…all the bad drivers come out on the road when I’m driving (according to M!) and my language is awful. As far as instructions are concerned, I am right and left dyslexic and it’s even worse abroad. However, i do like leaving lots of stopping distance and generally my foot goes down on the break before M’s does. It’s because of all the times I was a passenger with Dada – now he really was terrible!! I did scare your dad once, going at 90 miles an hour down the M5 but he was a little too polite to say – the white knuckles gave him away. Your mum, on the other hand, is a great passenger and always very positive and encouraging with her feedback. She feels safe enough to snooze in the car with me…or perhaps that was because she’d had a few sleepless nights with granddaughter number 2 recently!!
Mum is a star passenger. Even as a learner driver with a scary lack of clutch control she was calm and never shouted at me!
I think H and I are pretty chilled when it comes to driving – he drives, I navigate and sort out the children and that works pretty well for us as like you we do a fair amount of mileage up and down the M5 and the M1 to see the various sets of family. I did once threaten to put my Mum out of the car and make her walk home once…!
My mum is a model passenger – but my dad is very like the NLM. Comments on all aspects of driving!