Whaler27
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- Alex
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2020
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- Location
- Oregon
- Vehicle(s)
- 2019 JL, 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee Altitude Ecodiesel, 2005 Mustang GT, 2018 Ford Raptor, 2018 BMW R1200GSA, 2020 Honda Monkeybikes (2), 1972 Honda CT-70, 1980 Honda CT-70,
- Occupation
- Saving the world :-)
- Thread starter
- #1
The discussion of the new 392 got me thinking about driving skills, how we assess ourselves, and what I’ve observed over the years...
Please rate your driving skill before reading the thread.
Our family had a ranch, so I started driving a small tractor when I was just seven years old. The tractor had a manual transmission and a wagon, so I learned how to back a trailer well before I was nine. Then my dad taught me to drive the old “three on the tree” pickup when I was ten. By the time I was twelve I was completely comfortable driving anything around the ranch, including bigger trucks. I thought I had the whole driving thing down. We had dirt bikes too and, like most kids, I rode like an idiot. My friends and I tried to race anything and jump everything., so I knew I was squared away there too. By the time I was in my early twenties I felt like I’d been driving and riding my whole life, and I’d done it in every kind of weather. I had survived a lot, thank God... I rated my driving skill and confidence level at a ”9”, on a scale of 1 to 10.
Then I got my first formal driver training with the help of seasoned instructors, controlled slick conditions, and skid cars. I learned that I was a poor driver and didn’t know squat. What I had learned from a very young age was a long list of bad habits that were extremely difficult to break. I had a similar experience when I went through motorcycle training — mostly bad habits, including bad posture, poor vision habits, poor line discipline, and bad timing on acceleration and braking. Fortunately for my ego, most of the guys I was training with, mostly in their mid twenties to mid thirties, we’re crappy drivers who thought they were great drivers too, so we were all humbled as a group. We took turns missing gates, driving over cones, spinning out, and “going farming”. (Blowing off the track and leaving wheel trenches out through the field.)
That was years ago, and my driving has improved quite a bit through training and experience. Today I’d give myself a solid “5” on that scale of 1 to 10. I’m not an Andretti, but I can drive with some safety margin under pretty challenging conditions. I still love horsepower and speed too, but I’m not sure what I’d do with a 400 horsepower Jeep other than love the sound. Based on the driving (and crashing) I see every day, I’m not too excited to see my neighbor, his wife, or his kid driving a 400 hp anything, or even a 200 horsepower anything... but I respect their right to buy what they want.
My sense is that almost everybody thinks they‘re good drivers. Heck, my Mom still thought she was a good driver in her mid 80s, when her thrashed Carmy had about six different colors of paint transfer on it and dents in every quarter panel. By that time she was driving by Braille, I think, but she had no idea... that’s when we took her license away...
Please rate your driving skill before reading the thread.
Our family had a ranch, so I started driving a small tractor when I was just seven years old. The tractor had a manual transmission and a wagon, so I learned how to back a trailer well before I was nine. Then my dad taught me to drive the old “three on the tree” pickup when I was ten. By the time I was twelve I was completely comfortable driving anything around the ranch, including bigger trucks. I thought I had the whole driving thing down. We had dirt bikes too and, like most kids, I rode like an idiot. My friends and I tried to race anything and jump everything., so I knew I was squared away there too. By the time I was in my early twenties I felt like I’d been driving and riding my whole life, and I’d done it in every kind of weather. I had survived a lot, thank God... I rated my driving skill and confidence level at a ”9”, on a scale of 1 to 10.
Then I got my first formal driver training with the help of seasoned instructors, controlled slick conditions, and skid cars. I learned that I was a poor driver and didn’t know squat. What I had learned from a very young age was a long list of bad habits that were extremely difficult to break. I had a similar experience when I went through motorcycle training — mostly bad habits, including bad posture, poor vision habits, poor line discipline, and bad timing on acceleration and braking. Fortunately for my ego, most of the guys I was training with, mostly in their mid twenties to mid thirties, we’re crappy drivers who thought they were great drivers too, so we were all humbled as a group. We took turns missing gates, driving over cones, spinning out, and “going farming”. (Blowing off the track and leaving wheel trenches out through the field.)
That was years ago, and my driving has improved quite a bit through training and experience. Today I’d give myself a solid “5” on that scale of 1 to 10. I’m not an Andretti, but I can drive with some safety margin under pretty challenging conditions. I still love horsepower and speed too, but I’m not sure what I’d do with a 400 horsepower Jeep other than love the sound. Based on the driving (and crashing) I see every day, I’m not too excited to see my neighbor, his wife, or his kid driving a 400 hp anything, or even a 200 horsepower anything... but I respect their right to buy what they want.
My sense is that almost everybody thinks they‘re good drivers. Heck, my Mom still thought she was a good driver in her mid 80s, when her thrashed Carmy had about six different colors of paint transfer on it and dents in every quarter panel. By that time she was driving by Braille, I think, but she had no idea... that’s when we took her license away...
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