Because car culture is so ubiquitous, it is important for English learners to try understand the difference that exists between the meaning of certain words they may think are interchangeable, when it comes to 'auto talk'. A classic example is the mis-use of the words "drive and ride".
The confusion might stem from an illogical deduction.
For example: If it's true that a person can ride a motorcycle, bicycle or a horse, than implicitly they are orientating their steed (inanimate or animate), they must therefore be driving it.
Similarly, if one is in a sitting position in a car or bus, why is s/he not 'riding' in the vehicle when their passengers are?
The complication, of course, does not end here. On a train, the operator conducts, a boat is captained, and on a rocket commanded. Would it not be easier if all these operations were described by one verb? The simple answer is yes. But if that were the case English would lose one of it's great characteristics, its ability to describe, sometimes adnauseam, what others may think of as mundane and unworthy of such attention.
Home Work: What other verbs can you think of that describe orientation of a craft or vehicle?
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