Are you a good driver?

[mwilk012]

Nope, not any more.

I used to be, but the reality is that I am older than I used to be. I can measure things, like vision, that are not where they were.

Most of my early driving was in the desert in my father's jeep. Then I lived along Californias Hwy 96 for many years (my job in Medford OR paid my commuting miles, so it made sense to live in my father's cabin). Somewhere in that time, I went through Californias police driving school. Then I had a job that sent me to a two-day defensive driving class every two years (the same job as the one that paid my commuting expenses).

Now, I am an old has-been (which I consider being a considerable step above "never was"). I ride my bicycle to work whenever I can, which happened to include today. I try to only drive when I have a need to.

When driving, I am that guy, the light turns green and I am the one looking both ways for light runners before proceeding. I expect people to ignore yield signs. Basically, I do all I can to make sure that I do nothing "exciting."

I am the guy that always goes out of his way to drive through parking spaced so that I can drive straight out. Why? Because many accidents occur when backing up. So, whenever possible, I don't do that. I tend to stay n my lane in traffic. Many accidents can be attributed to lane changes. So, again, I avoid doing that.

All of this is a way of saying that I can no longer rely on skill and reflexes. As such I have to avoid situations that call for those very skills.

this is what a good driver is.

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[Notorious]

Just because its there, doesn't mean it must be used all the time. But knowing its there and waiting to be tapped into when needed, is definitely nice.

So true!!! The transformers would agree!

 

[Whaler27]

this is what a good driver is.

I agree.

We all have limitations, but most of us aren’t great at assessing them, particularly when we’re young, unless we’re confronted by unavoidable proof —- like formal driver training. I think most of us tend to get better at self-appraisal with age and experience.

 

[Whiskey 13]

Grew up on the farm and started driving when very young. Have over the years driven just about every class of vehicle from tractors, bailers, scooters, dirt bikes, Harleys to 18 wheelers. My DMV record is listed as Good Driver but I know I am below average because I am not smart enough text while I drive. I also am not smart enough to understand why I have to wait until I get in my vehicle and put it in drive to make the call I should have made three seconds earlier while I was safe in my kitchen.

 

[Dr. RGB]

Born and raised in New Jersey dealing with New York and Connecticut drivers on the Turnpike and Parkway during the summer, then transplanting to the Philadelphia area.... Bring on any driving condition!

 

[multicam]

I voted not quite average because without looking at the poll results I knew almost everyone would be “Average” or above, because everyone thinks they drive great and everyone else on the road sucks. Funny how that works. I figured someone needs to even the results out. People aren’t good at self-evaluation.

Anyway, I haven’t had an at-fault accident ever, so if that’s your metric then I’m a good driver. But I have gotten a few tickets over the years.

I can remember numerous specific times where I’ve been minding my own business in my lane and people have just decided to merge into the space I was occupying as if I wasn’t there. Totally clueless. Because I pay attention while driving, I was able to brake or veer away and honk. THOSE are bad drivers. Also people who drive for miles with their hazards on for no reason, people who drive 3 mph under the speed limit in the left lane, and Corolla drivers.

 

[Strommen95]

I'm a good driver because I drive defensively and anticipate bad decisions of those around me. I have never had a ticket or been in an accident daily driving in the northeast. I've parallel parked in some wicked tight spots too in NYC.

To more accurately answer the spirit of this post I'm not a good driver in the sense of driving something really fast, taking corners, etc, things of that nature. I guess that's why I have no need for speed past the V6

 

[Whaler27]

Born and raised in New Jersey dealing with New York and Connecticut drivers on the Turnpike and Parkway during the summer, then transplanting to the Philadelphia area.... Bring on any driving conditions!

Surviving New Jersey driving deserves an award and public recognition!

I’ve driven through NJ twice over the last twenty years. The last time was in the middle of the night, when the traffic was lighter, because we had to get through it to access the southern route from Maine to Oregon. The first time was a trip when our kids were in their late teens and we were starting a New England vacation with a day in New York City followed by a visit to the Princeton campus. Our Jersey experience started immediately, as I merged onto the highway at 10 mph OVER the speed limit and still had a guy in a truck run up my butt until all I saw was his grill... the guy then HAMMERED his horn for a couple seconds. It scared the crap out of my wife and kids, as they didn’t see him coming. After that it was like an aggressive rollerball game. The driving I saw in the following three or four hours was, by far, the worst I have ever seen. It still stands out after many years of watching crazy. It made New York, LA, Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, and D.C. seem tame and polite. In less than four hours of driving we saw a fender-bender, a woman run off the road (because she attempted an impossible pass and then nobody would let her back in line to avoid oncoming traffic) and at least three other extremely reckless acts that were likely to produce a crash, including a large limo rolling back and forth, using all the lanes and the shoulders, to move through heavy traffic at 90+ mph. In addition to that, I got yelled at ( for coming to a stop at a stop sign), honked at three times, and flipped off twice — all for following the traffic laws, or not violating them enough. It was incredible. Truly abominable driving and behavior, with lots of crappy, dented, rusty cars to remind us they probably don’t mind impact.

Do you know the opening scene on the TV show “The Simpsons”, where Homer lets out a yelp as he’s chased into the garage? For the rest of our trip through New England my kids let out that yelp every time they saw a New Jersey license plate. The experience left an indelible memory in all of us. Not long after that trip I read about auto insurance companies pulling out of New Jersey because of their elevated loss rates. Our family avoids that place like the plague. Glad you made it out.

 

[TheRaven]

Nope, not any more.

I used to be, but the reality is that I am older than I used to be. I can measure things, like vision, that are not where they were.

Yup, this is me too. I used to be among the best...professionally trained, raced in SCCA TA2 and autocross for fun. Up until about age 28 I was a fantastic driver. But then things started to go downhill. I realized around age 35 that i'm not that great a driver anymore. I'm moody, so I can be a slowpoke or a crazy a-hole depending on the day, and even just in general, my reflexes and attention span while driving just suck anymore.

So at age 25 I would have picked the Mario option...but today I selected "average".

 

[mnjeeper]

I retired my motorcycle last summer after exactly 50 years of street riding without a get-off (dirt is another story). My last bike was a Ducati Monster 1200 and if fate was going to finally bite me, it was going to do it on that motorcycle. Waaaay too fast for any age. And...the speed was intoxicating.

I got on something different to slow down

 

[aldo98229]

Let’s face it: bad drivers don’t hang out on JL Forums. Nope. Period.

Now get the f*$&* out of @# f$#@&ing #$**&

 

[W5MQS]

I don't consider myself Mario Andretti by any stretch of the imagination either but as an ex-professional driver before getting into the medical field, I can say that I logged just a scoshe...an RCH...a hair...under a million miles of driving in 18-wheelers accident free. Given the time that has since transpired and the number of vehicles I've had and driven since that time, I'm probably close to or just slightly more than another million miles driven in 4-wheelers accident free as well. So yea, I think I'm better than the average driver that's out there. On the downside, I'm quite critical of lousy drivers I come across or see and those who don't use any COMMON SENSE too.

 

[aro]

I'm an excellent driver. I'm also the most modest person I know.

 

[Hound Dog]

I rated myself as Mario. Between all the mandatory classes the DMV made me take when I was younger and the lessons from all the collisions, I learned how to drive and wreck like a champ!

 

[Goosed]

Believe I am a good driver because:

I have not caused any accidents in my 24 years of driving.

I have been rear ended twice and saw them both coming - unfortunately I couldn’t exit my situation both times.

Key to being a good driver - situational awareness and always understanding what situation you’re possibly putting yourself into.

The phone is KILLING this practice. Following distances people observe these days is also sad. I wish law enforcement had the time to really start cracking down on following distances and tail gating.

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