I am a great driver on high speed roads. My commute to work is 26 miles each way and I make it in less than 23 minutes every day (keep in mind this is Massachusetts where 90+mph driving is only a touch high but not something that attracts attention). I am also good at knowing when to be careful due to conditions as well. I will get as slow as I need to in snow and fog and have good foul weather driving skills in general plus some off road ones. I have never been in an accident while moving forward.
That hints at the basic problem however. I suck at backing up and have hit 4 vehicles in parking lots in my 23 years of driving plus a few trees in wooded areas and various other things like barriers and pipes. The damage has only been minor but it is embarrassing. I force myself to pay attention these days especially since my kids have nearly been run over by other drivers backing up and I see potential for disaster for not paying close enough attention when backing up.
I can back out of parking spaces well enough to avoid any collision. But it is a tense moment for me. I proceed with excruciating slowness and excruciating caution, which is how I keep doing it safely.
I’ve been driving since 1985. In the first year I had 5 accidents, none of which were my fault. In the next 25 years I’ve had none. So if you were to ask my 18-year-old self to explain, he’d tell you that other people are clearly getting better at driving.
In seriousness I’m not bad, but sloppy. About five years ago I did an Advanced Driving course and got roundly chewed out for many bad habits - simple things like coasting in neutral, driving with my hand on the gearstick - and given some good habits - optimal road positioning, better driving lines for visibility, optimal gear choices for various conditions. I’d now say I’m a better driver than I was when I thought I was better than I am.
If everybody had to have their driving skills evaluated on an obstacle course I’m sure I wouldn’t be near the top. I’m not a skilled driver, but I am a paranoid driver. I don’t trust the guy behind me, beside me, or in front of me. I don’t trust that your turn signal means you’re actually turning, I don’t trust that you’ll wait to pull out in front of me, I just don’t trust you (the general ‘you,’ not singling anybody out) to do what you’re supposed to do. This makes driving stressful and not fun, but I do think it makes me a good driver overall, at least with regards to avoiding accidents.
My choice isn’t listed: “Wasn’t always, but now I am”.
I caused an accident back in April that almost killed someone (including me). Luckily we both walked away, but since then I’m no longer driving, but in now way am I superior to you!
I don’t drive, and have never been interested in doing so. I have a fear of traffic, and can be easily overwhelmed when confronted with a lot of information in an onslaught, which is how I imagine “keeping an eye on the road” to be. I suspect I would be one of those panicky dithering kind of drivers, so the world is better off without me behind the wheel.
Having said that, as far as operating a vehicle is concerned, I think I’d be pretty good at it.
I think my joke was too subtle. I meant that in my first year I drove like a total ass and assumed it was everyone else’s problem but mine. Eventually the wrecks wised me up.
I believe I’m a better predictor of accidents (and thus a more defensive driver) than average. I constantly try to predict what all the drivers around me are going to do next, which has allowed me to avoid becoming a victim of an accident caused by other, poorer drivers. I take precautions even when an average driver would deem them unnecessary… I signal even when there’s nobody else around, I turn off my radio/all distractions when I’m driving on an unfamiliar road, and I refuse to talk/text on my cell phone AT ALL while driving. I make it my goal every day to notice someone who’s driving badly, and why they’re driving badly, and endeavor not to do those things in my future driving sessions.
I’m not a perfect driver, but I’m above-average. Definitely not a bad one. I also, like Terraplane, do not find driving relaxing at all. I’ve seen way too many fuck-ups by inattentive drivers to take road safety for granted, and I’ve only been on the road for about 7 years now.
