[aargee]

Had a casual thought if I'm the only one to do this or are there so many out there...

I usually remember several things about the road I take everyday or most often traveled. Larger details such as shops (very occasional updates) at important junctions, number of manned & automatic signals, bus stands to finer details like potholes & their appearances, bad stretches, best places to overtake, traffic flow pattern at certain stretches, locations where traffic can be held up in blink of an eye, stretches where fuel will not be available, stretches where medians are hazardous (lined up stones).

Are there people who notices these things or am I the only one to do it?

[roy_libran]

Absolutely yes.
Uncannily somehow, a few feet before you encounter a pothole, or a speed breaker, or even a road undulation, you know exactly where it is, and what is the best driving line and speed through that.
Don't worry, you are not the ONLY X-MAN!

[kmadhok]

On the road I travel everyday to and from office, yes I do remember the pot holes etc. In fact I feel I can drive blind (though I know I cannot) and still avoid all the potholes. Some you just can't avoid.
Some other roads which we go to less often, I do remember the good and bad spots and infact my father taught me the routes using shops/ petrol pumps etc as landmarks.
On a road less traveled, no I do not remember, and neither do I try to make a note unless I think I will be driving on it again in the near future.

[bharat4ever]

Definitely. I remember potholes, speed breakers, where exits are, which lane to keep when entering a bottle neck, i remember where tractors with water tanks would turn off from the road, and on the streets near my house, I remember where dogs will be lazing around, so that I circumvent them.

[ghodlur]

Deja vu.

Remember every turn, sweet spots to slot the car in traffic, bumps, potholes during my daily run. The list is long one and I have to try to remember it. But once on the road everything comes like a flash. In fact I try to time the most visible spots if I have passed early or late.

I try to visualize the petrol pumps, flyovers, blind turns, rough roads, pedestrian crossings etc etc. Believe me, I get happy when I pass all of these & reach office and vice versa.

[mayankk]

Yeah, I do!
worst bit is, the strecth I use for office, is slightly longer, and allows me to pass imperfections on the road much easily, but is about 5-10 kms more than the usual.
So, when I drop my wife to the office on my own way, she gets majorly mad that why am I taking a longer route?

Its the same for any of my regular routes, its why most of us use a fixed route , dont we?

[SupratikDebnath]

Nice thread. Can relate to it!

Major things which help are:
1. Knowing the bus-stops, so that you can change lanes for smooth passage, much much before-hand.
2. Potholes! You can avoid them or bisect them.
3. Knowing the intersections, again to change lanes at a safe distance.
4. Knowing auto-cracy spots (where autos create ruckus, by moving in opposite lanes, parked in double / triple / ... / hundred lines!)

The thing to watch out for is, choose a similar route with similar road conditions, but a road that you do not take often. Check the time you take to drive through that!

Knowing the road matters. :-)

[sameerg001]

Yes, Definitely.

I remember each speed breaker, Traffic intersections, shops etc. I remember everything. If i travel by the same road 3-4 times, I remember it well.

Sometimes, It happens that, I am lost deeply in thoughts in my mind, Not paying much attention on the drive, But still, I give indicators, where i have to turn, I slow down at each speed breaker etc and this happens only when i drive on my everyday route :P

Cheers,
Sameer

[binaiks]

Mine would be a unique case. I know my route like the back of my palm - but everytime I end up in the wrong lane and get stuck in traffic jams.

Its a sense of Deja Vu every morning - I would know in advance that I need to change lanes to avoid a traffic block, but I would still end up in the lane with the most number of vehicles.

[SANSI]

Originally Posted by aargee

I usually remember several things about the road I take everyday or most often traveled.

I am totally opposite. I have to drive minimum 5 times to remember the way at-least. Every time it is a new route to me. I have to observe carefully every time I drive. I definitely don't remember the shop names or the street names and don't remember any name boards unless I have gone to that shop very often. My friends call me absent minded.

[kablu]

Originally Posted by aargee

Are there people who notices these things or am I the only one to do it?

A BIG YES from me. I somehow developed this habit of observing things that are present in the roads that I frequently travel. My most frequent route is Chennai-Kumbakonam via anaikarai and via ariyalur sometimes and I remember almost all the corner shops, diversions, speed-breakers,etc in these routes.

[sridhar24]

In my case so true it is, i remember every turn, hump, pothole.
I remember them so well Its like i can visualize the road i travel often. Even the highway i take i remember exactly the humps are present and the number of humps.
And also i have seen people totally opposite to me, who don't remember even the roads properly on which they have traveled more than once and still confused.

[GTO]

I actually prefer to drive on roads that I'm well familiar with and conversely, am extremely cautious in new areas / cities.

This doesn't include only the daily route between home to work and back, but even highways. I know the Shivaji Park -> Churchgate route and the Mumbai-Deolali Highway like the back of my hand. Driving can be so smooth and fluid when you have that level of familiarity; which blind corner pedestrians will be crossing on, what part of Marine Drive has the worst bumps, the dangerous traffic lights you have to be most cautious about, the largest speed breakers, the bottleneck lane in traffic and those wretched unmarked dividers.

I even remember my daily drive from Bentley University to home in downtown Boston very well . Used to look forward to that drive every evening.

Originally Posted by binaiks

I know my route like the back of my palm - but everytime I end up in the wrong lane and get stuck in traffic jams.

Murphy's Law, dude

[mayankjha1806]

This is nothing.

My wife used to remember distance to the last 100 Meters to most frequently visited places in Bangalore (Specifically on bike and not on Car). One would ask how much is the distance from home to office and she would respond 10.3 Kms (.3 being 300 Meters).

I am bad, i don't remember anything that is outside the road and on the sides, even the distance.

[KiloAlpha]

Most people will remember every single thing about a road frequently traveled on. For me, things tend to register a lot quicker if I am riding a 2-wheeler than if I am in a car. It takes 2 round-trips for me to remember all the details in a bike, couple more if I am in a car.

There was a car insurance ad I remember seeing in the UK, the company promised an extra discount if you had lived in the same house and worked in the same place for more than 3 years. Their theory was that people who drive regularly on the same routes have fewer accidents - due to familiarity with all the finer points of the route.