Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Verna Clark is never really sure how fast she's going

“I really like driving the Sunrise Highway up to Mount Laguna.”
“I really like driving the Sunrise Highway up to Mount Laguna.”

Name: Verna Clark

Car: 2005 Chevy Cavalier

What do you like about your car? It gets good gas mileage.

Is there anything you don’t like about it? It’s kind of a piece of junk, but it’s affordable. And none of my gauges work, so I’m never really sure how fast I’m going or how much gas I have left. It’s kind of an adventure.

Sponsored
Sponsored

What else have you driven? I drove a 2000 Ford Taurus for a long time and a Mitsubishi Spyder Eclipse. That was my fun car.

What do you listen to while you drive? The radio. Music, typically.

What’s your favorite drive in San Diego? I really like driving the Sunrise Highway up to Mount Laguna.

What’s your least favorite drive? The 15, between, like, Mira Mesa and Normal Heights, so Mira Mesa to University or Adams Avenue. It’s pretty awful. That’s where I hit the worst traffic. There and, when I lived in Santee, driving from there up the 52 was pretty awful.

Do you have any ticket or accident stories? I think I’ve actually only gotten fix-it tickets in the last 12 years.

I was stopped at a stoplight, exiting a freeway, and a 19-year-old kid rear-ended me. So we pulled over and got out, and the kid was freaking out. He kept saying, “Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. My dad’s going to kill me. Oh, my gosh.” He was in his dad’s car. He had no idea what to do or where his insurance was. I reminded him that insurance is normally kept in the glovebox, so he ran over to check there, and there it was. I asked if he wanted my insurance and he said, “No.” I strongly recommended that he take my insurance card, and then he asked me what to do with it. So I handed him a pen and a piece of paper and told him what to write down. It amazed me that you’d let your kid drive your car without knowing what to do in an accident because they were texting.

He was very lucky I was his first accident, not someone who was trying to take advantage of him.

Also, I once hit a surfboard on the freeway. The truck in front of me ran over it and it went airborne. There was nothing I could do. It was terrifying. And it left surfboard wax all down the side of my car.

What’s your dream car? I want a [Porsche] Cayenne and I want it to be a hybrid. It’s pretty and it goes fast and it’s a hybrid.

What’s your favorite shortcut in San Diego? I can’t say I know any! My smartphone tells me where to go.

You said you’ve lived other places. Is there anything different you’ve noticed about driving here? People freak out when there’s rain or fog or anything like that. So there are people driving 20 below the speed limit and people who are still going 90. It’s kind of a crazy situation.

But for the most part, I think San Diegans drive well. I lived in Iowa for awhile, and Iowans don’t drive well. They don’t drive fast, and they don’t look where they’re going. They can drive in the snow; that’s about their only advantage.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Seals hook up with Beaver

Salty’s Escape is a Mexican-Style cerveza brewed with corn and puffed Jasmine rice
“I really like driving the Sunrise Highway up to Mount Laguna.”
“I really like driving the Sunrise Highway up to Mount Laguna.”

Name: Verna Clark

Car: 2005 Chevy Cavalier

What do you like about your car? It gets good gas mileage.

Is there anything you don’t like about it? It’s kind of a piece of junk, but it’s affordable. And none of my gauges work, so I’m never really sure how fast I’m going or how much gas I have left. It’s kind of an adventure.

Sponsored
Sponsored

What else have you driven? I drove a 2000 Ford Taurus for a long time and a Mitsubishi Spyder Eclipse. That was my fun car.

What do you listen to while you drive? The radio. Music, typically.

What’s your favorite drive in San Diego? I really like driving the Sunrise Highway up to Mount Laguna.

What’s your least favorite drive? The 15, between, like, Mira Mesa and Normal Heights, so Mira Mesa to University or Adams Avenue. It’s pretty awful. That’s where I hit the worst traffic. There and, when I lived in Santee, driving from there up the 52 was pretty awful.

Do you have any ticket or accident stories? I think I’ve actually only gotten fix-it tickets in the last 12 years.

I was stopped at a stoplight, exiting a freeway, and a 19-year-old kid rear-ended me. So we pulled over and got out, and the kid was freaking out. He kept saying, “Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. My dad’s going to kill me. Oh, my gosh.” He was in his dad’s car. He had no idea what to do or where his insurance was. I reminded him that insurance is normally kept in the glovebox, so he ran over to check there, and there it was. I asked if he wanted my insurance and he said, “No.” I strongly recommended that he take my insurance card, and then he asked me what to do with it. So I handed him a pen and a piece of paper and told him what to write down. It amazed me that you’d let your kid drive your car without knowing what to do in an accident because they were texting.

He was very lucky I was his first accident, not someone who was trying to take advantage of him.

Also, I once hit a surfboard on the freeway. The truck in front of me ran over it and it went airborne. There was nothing I could do. It was terrifying. And it left surfboard wax all down the side of my car.

What’s your dream car? I want a [Porsche] Cayenne and I want it to be a hybrid. It’s pretty and it goes fast and it’s a hybrid.

What’s your favorite shortcut in San Diego? I can’t say I know any! My smartphone tells me where to go.

You said you’ve lived other places. Is there anything different you’ve noticed about driving here? People freak out when there’s rain or fog or anything like that. So there are people driving 20 below the speed limit and people who are still going 90. It’s kind of a crazy situation.

But for the most part, I think San Diegans drive well. I lived in Iowa for awhile, and Iowans don’t drive well. They don’t drive fast, and they don’t look where they’re going. They can drive in the snow; that’s about their only advantage.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Summit Fellowship wants to be a home of belonging

Unitarian Universalism allows you to be exactly who you are in the moment
Next Article

San Diego Reader 2024 Music & Arts Issue

Favorite fakers: Baby Bushka, Fleetwood Max, Electric Waste Band, Oceans, Geezer – plus upcoming tribute schedule
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.