Tyler Crabe prefers not to take shortcuts

Name: Tyler Crabe

Vehicle: 2000 Ford Ranger

What do you like about your car? It’s a stick, it gets decent gas mileage, and it can hold stuff. I bought a camper shell, and it’s the best investment I ever made. I used it to move back and forth for college eight times, which saved me enormous moving costs.

Have you ever driven any other cars? I owned a 1988 Chevrolet Sprint.... I was too tall for that car. But, of course, I fit eight of my friends into it at one point. I also drove an ‘88 Honda Civic. That was low to the ground. Even though it was a clunker, it was fun to drive because it was a stick.

Do you have a dream car? Yes. A 1969 GT Mustang. Manual, of course.

What’s your favorite drive in San Diego? Up through Camp Pendleton is kind of fun. It’s scenic.

What’s your least favorite drive? City streets.

Do you encounter a lot of traffic? Yeah. At any time of day. There doesn’t seem to not be traffic at any time of day in San Diego County, unless it’s 10 o’clock at night or Sunday.

How’s your commute? It’s great! I walk.

What do you do while you drive? Well, I don’t eat: that just sounds dangerous. But, yeah, I love listening to music.

Do you have any ticket or accident stories? I got a speeding ticket. My only story there is “don’t do that.” It’ll cost you, like, $400.

What’s your favorite shortcut in San Diego County? Freeways. Honestly, it’s faster to take the freeways than city streets, even though I’ll travel more miles on I-5 to get to downtown Carlsbad than taking El Camino Real. El Camino is the devil’s road.

Do you have any real-life shortcuts? I prefer not to take shortcuts.

Do you have a driving pet peeve? I hate how everyone always uses their brakes. It’s ridiculous. You get terrible gas mileage. Why would you ever use your brakes on the freeway? I mean, unless you actually have to stop. But I know people who will use their brakes to get from 75 to 70. Doesn’t make any sense. Why wouldn’t you just let off the gas? I don’t know.

How do you like driving in San Diego? Well, SD is better than Tacoma and Seattle, but it has less freeways than the [San Francisco] Bay Area and more traffic than the Bay Area. There are really just two main freeways going north and south, and the county is pretty big, so if you’re trying to travel north or south, it’s harder to get where you’re going using mostly freeways. I just find it frustrating that many city centers in the county are not accessible by freeway. Take La Jolla: you pretty much have to take city streets to get anywhere near downtown.