To the point where they make you carsick? They terrify you? They’re your mother? Passing her test 12-ish years ago is one of her proudest achievements?
She uses the handbrake as she slows to traffic lights, so the car lurches to a stop. She indicates when it’s confusing, and doesn’t when she should. She NEVER uses her mirrors when they’ll tell her something.
What do I do?
Besides shrieking in terror and grasping the dashboard with a white-knuckle deathgrip? Leaping from the car at every stop?
Oh, my. How old is your mother? How much driving does she do; must she do?
She’s early 50s, drives to work every day.
Yeah, I know.
Wow. There’s no good way to approach this that I can see. You could try breaking it to her gently that perhaps her driving skills could use some updating, but she’ll most likely indignantly deny the possibility and be terribly hurt that you’d even think such a thing.
I don’t suppose you know a kindly police officer who could step in and speak to her? Although it sounds as if she’s not actually doing anything illegal, just frighteningly dangerous.
On the handbrake, though – maybe her mechanic could explain to her how damaging this is to her vehicle? That doesn’t solve the rest of the issues, but one brick at a time…
Man, I’m glad I’m not in your shoes. My sympathies.
My best friend is the worst driver in the world. I tell her all the time. And she’s a LIMO driver! Always digging in a backpack in the BACK FUCKING SEAT while driving on the expressway. She’s had tons of accidents, too. Luckily, I haven’t been present for those.
You can just be like my ex-girlfriend. And point out their bad driving every 5 seconds. And just constantly nag them about it.
sorry
If you could find a way to do it with out making obvious that you think she’s a worse driver than Ray Charles on a bender, you might consider sending her to a driving school. Possibly mention the reduced insurance rates these inspire.
Worst comes to worst you could tell her it’s illegal to drive without physically posessing your driver’s license and then steal hers. Repeat with the new copies.
Just be thankful that it’s your Mom and not your Wife. At least you can tell your Mom. Granted, the reception will be just as chilling, but you don’t have to live with her.
“Well, try not to be so negative all the time. Why don’t you offer some constructive criticism?”
/blues brothers
Be grateful it’s a woman. In Australia every male is a superb driver, a veritable Michael Schumacher, and their driving cannot be criticised. Since women don’t have penises that shrink upon criticising their driving I have told several women they are bloody awful drivers.
BLAME IT ON HER TEACHERS
It’s not her fault she was taught badly (blaming Dad will help) but there is lots of stuff she hasn’t been shown…and you care too much about her to let her drive around without knowing. Christ look at that dickhead - you need to know all the defensive driving skills to avoid idiots like that.
I think you really should break it to her. The consequences of letting this go unchecked could be severe.
My grandmother (step-father’s mother, actually) got her licence in her late 40s or early 50s, and was never a confident driver. It never worried anyone too much because she lived out in the country, didn’t drive too far, and always kept her speed down.
The problem with poor drivers like this is that they often have very little sense of how attentive one has to be behind the wheel of a car, and their abilty to evaluate distance and speed is often not very good–a combination of age and lack of experience.
Well, that was the problem with my grandmother, and it cost her. One day she reached the T junction on the road from her place into town and made the right-hand turn (this was in Australia, so the right turn was equivalent to a US left turn, i.e., across a lane of traffic). She had either failed to notice, or inadequately estimated the speed of, the 18-wheeler bearing down on the intersection, and when the two vehicles collided it was, needless to say, her Mini that came off worse.
She spent the next nine months in hospital, and hobbled for the rest of her life.
You need to find a way to help your mum become a better driver.
“GODDAMMIT MOM, ARE YOU DRUNK?!”
…but I tend to be a very tactless individual…
Oh sheesh, my father is a nightmare to drive with. Doesn’t watch where he’s driving, is constantly looking at whoever is in the vehicle while talking to them (Just imagine the scene in Strange Brew where he takes his hands off the wheel and turns and starts talking.), he’s all over the road, runs red lights, fails to yeild right of way, has no conception of “Speed Limit” (he can be going 30 miles UNDER or over the limit…depends on where his mind is at the time.), and many many many MANY other things.
And then he has the nerve to get all pissed off at the people who ARE DRIVING PERFECTLY NORMAL!
As for telling the person how bad of a driver they are, we’ve done that. Matter of fact he knows and has been told several times by EVERYONE in the family that we won’t be in the vehicle if he’s driving. Everyone who knows him also says the same thing, and it’s actually become the running joke in the family. He just doesn’t care, and thinks that everyone else is in the wrong.
He actually had the balls to ask me to borrow my car a few years back, and I basically told him i’d rather have rabid beavers chewing on my crotch than let him drive my car.
Sadly though, I ended up having to have him drive me to the ER saturday night due to a toothache from hell, and I just couldn’t concentrate enough to feel safe driving. So I called up and asked for him to come over and pick me up.
THANK GOD all I could think about on the way there was the amount of pain I was in, and that I was too drugged to give a care when we left.
And it’s not old age, as he’s only 56, and he drives all over for his work. I still find it amazing that he hasn’t had any accidents in over 10 years.