When I was a kid I was afraid of being driven around at night in the dark because I believed that the majority of people driving during those late hours were troublesome teenagers and teenagers intimidated me. I was comforted at times, such as when I observed the taillights of cars in front of us flash on. I had the idea that tail lights went on the way turn signals do, by means of the driver flicking the switch. And so I reasoned that any car whose tail lights lit when they braked was being driven by a responsible and non-threatening driver; even if they turned out to be teenagers, they would not be dangerous. There was a short interval of my life when I was excited to be in a car at a traffic intersection in the lane whose street sign affixed to the horizontal traffic light post featured an arrow pointing straight up. I hoped that when the light turned green and we began moving, we would take off into the sky.