I grew up in New York City where a car is a liability not an asset.  I got my driver’s license when I was 21 years old but didn’t have a car.  When I moved to Seattle at 24, it was the first time I really drove. Two years later, I lived in a neighborhood called Greenlake.  The streets on east side of the lake curve along it and there is at least one spot where a fork in the road creates a blind spot.  I drove this stretch almost every day.

One day, driving down that road, with my boyfriend in the car, going the legal speed limit, I got to the blind spot and I said out loud, “I’m always scared there is going to be someone trying to turn on this road when I get to it.”  And my boyfriend said kindly (and nervously) “Well, you could slow down.” I looked over and he was clutching the armrest for dear life....