Ponderings of a small mind on a small island.
I thought that now is as good a time as any to have a quick post about what I hope to achieve with this, what I plan to do and even some questions about what you would like to see in the future.
(Don’t stress, it’s multiple choice.)
I am passionate about helping people become better drivers, not just safer drivers. A driver who is knowledgeable and engaged is much less likely to become bored and drive erratically or absent-mindedly.
I intend to mostly post about ways to think about and improve your driving, with tips and explanations. This page is not really intended for people who are already advanced drivers though everyone is more than welcome. I would like people’s opinions too, I am happy to have a conversation to help improve what I am doing. Keep it nice though, abuse will just get you blocked.
I will make mistakes as well, I am only human. (Mostly) If you spot something let me know and I will try to address it.
In the future, I am looking to post different kinds of things hoping to open discussion about broader aspects of driving on this congested island that we live on.
And yes, this SubStack is aimed at people who live in Britain, as that is where I live and drive. People from other countries are more than welcome too, but bear in mind that I might not know specifics about your country’s road rules.
I intend to look into writing small pieces about terminology that are perhaps not as widely understood as people believe it is.There will also be some opinion pieces about driving and general transport issues. I am also considering, in the future, either making some videos or podcasts.
This is incumbent on a few things, partly me still enjoying doing this. I am doing it for fun at the moment after all.
The main thing though, is cost, I work full time and I do this in any spare time I have, so my ability to produce too much stuff is limited by that. I would like to keep this SubStack free, although I might make it so you can choose to subscribe if you wish. I do not like the idea of paywalling things that I am making to help people after all.
What would you suggest? I currently have a Kofi account, I will provide links below and I could set up a Patreon if that is something that people would be interested in?
I could maybe make a podcast and make it only available to Patreons or something? Again I am not really enthused by that option. I would rather make everything available to everyone and maybe add some extra-value content for the paying subscribers.
Another possibility is to paywall some of the content on here, then later put it for free access on my own blog. What are people’s thoughts on that concept?
I would love to earn enough money to be able to not do my day job, but realistically that is not what I am trying to do here. However, I would like to be in a situation where I gained some income from this that I could plough back into providing improved content.
So I guess the questions I have for you are:
Would you mind sharing what I do here at The Traffic Island? I know it seems a bit trite but it really does help when people share things on social media.
If there is someone you know that you think could become a better driver, would you be confident enough to share this site with them? I do not mean that in a derogatory way.
It has been said that there are three things that you cannot criticise about a man: His driving, his sense of humour and his abilities between the sheets.
Well, I have been paid to teach two of them. (Form an orderly queue everyone)
What I mean is, would you feel able to say something like “I care about you, and I want you to become a safer driver as I like having you around.” It’s a tough one, but I think it is something that we need to start talking about more freely.
Do you agree that being less selfish on the road, a bit more patient and thoughtful could make our roads safer? We are all on our own journey* we all have to get to the destination in the end. It would be nice if we all got there safely.
What things would you like to see in the future, for example, what driving term have you heard that you do not really understand? Is there a thing that you would like to know how to do better? (Feel free to message me privately if you have something that you are embarrassed to admit that you do not know.)
Would you mind paying for some extra content to support this, *waves hands* whatever it is?
All this and more to come. Maybe.
With a trailing wind.
Thanks and drive nicely everyone.
P.S. I am sometimes easily distracted, so another reason I am doing this is to keep me honest and to make me actually commit to producing something regularly. I have ideas and get over-excited and want to do different stuff. It’s a commitment to regularly writing something for me.
*It’s a rule in our house that if you hear the phrase “It’s been a journey” or similar that you have to point it out with a cheer.
As previously advertised here is a link to my Kofi account if you want it, no pressure. I will also drop my website link in here as well.
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