It’s akin to déjà vu on acid, being a 37-year-old driver’s ed. student. The last time I sat through a lesson on defensive driving, the Los Angeles Police Department was caught on video behaving badly – firing a taser into Rodney King’s spine and beating him down with batons for good measure.

Back in 1991, I had Nirvana’s Nevermind album (remember albums?) blaring from my tape deck (remember tape decks?) as I boned up on hand-to-hand steering, hand-over-hand steering and highway hypnosis.

Once I passed the California DMV’s written test for a Class C license, I was ready to assume the 10-2 steering wheel position. And while the Soviet Union was collapsing under the able management of Mikhail Gorbachev, I was eased into the vagaries of the Basic Speed Law by the deliciously flamboyant Señor Torres, a San Fernando Valley legend.

Learning to make lane adjustments on the 405 freeway…