What kind of driver are you?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I learned to ride a mini-bike when I was six, and a motorcycle when I was ten. From six until early adulthood I rode around the desert, which honed my reflexes and made me notice what was going on around me, gauge road conditions, etc. I was 23 when I got my fixed-wing pilot’s license. My instructor pounded it into my head: “Fly the airplane!” No matter what happened, fly the airplane first and take care of communications, power failure, or whatever later.

My first car was a sports car. I put the things I learned on motorcycles (and later, in airplanes) to good use. I looked ahead to see what was happening. I looked around to see what other drivers were doing. I planned ahead. I don’t allow myself to be distracted by the radio or passengers, and I’m cautious on those occasions when I use my cell phone. My head is on a swivel.

I’m a “tactical” driver. I see a situation and I plan my reactions and then execute them. Others would say I’m an “aggressive” driver. I guess that fits as well. I know my limits and the limits of my machines. I don’t exceed the envelope, but I do like using a vehicles capabilities if it is safe to do so. (And yes, I do evaluate the safety of a situation whenever I drive.) I’ve scared the hell out of passengers, even though I knew exactly what I was doing and what other people on the road were doing. I occasionally get “Oh my God! We’re going to die!” from one person in particular. But as I said, I know my limits and the car’s. In 30 years of riding and driving you can sort of tell ahead of time what people are likely to do, if you’ve been paying attention.

Not that I’m an asshole. I make an effort to be a courteous driver. I don’t cut people off. I don’t ride their tails. (Okay, I get a bit close on the bike, but that’s because I’m positioning myself to split lanes – which is legal here.) I let people in front of me, and I wave thanks when someone lets me in. The “Oh my God! We’re going to die!” girl doesn’t understand that I feel it’s important to be at a speed similar to that of other drivers on the freeway when I’m getting onto it. Anyway, I make a conscious effort not to piss people off.

I use cruise control to save fuel, and I plan ahead so that I don’t have to slow suddenly and then accellerate again.

In the words of Rainman, “I’m an excellent driver.”

Now, I ride or drive about 85 or 90 miles a day. I have a lot of time to observe other drivers (which I do, since I’m keeping a constant scan). Many of them – perhaps most of them – are what I call Left Seat Passengers (people who are along for the ride, but just happen to have a steering wheel in front of them) or Left Seat Zombies (people who are behind the wheel and just seem to be zoned-out). As I mentioned last May, I was nearly creamed when an inattentive Wrangler driver failed to notice that traffic had stopped in front of him – just at the time I was positioning my motorcycle to pass around some slow-moving traffic in the carpool lane. Left Seat Passengers/Zombies are scary.

In any case… I’m an aggressive “tactical” driver who tries to get the performance I want without pissing people off. (As opposed to some aggressive drivers who seem not to care, or to think it’s funny if they piss others off.)

What kind of driver are you?

2

I think I am similar to you as a driver. So far, it has helped me avoid and survive a few crashes, all caused by a-hole drivers. I also rode a motorcycle and still like sports type cars and convertibles.
Cheers! :cool:

3

I am the driver you hate. I am overly cautious. If I am sitting at an intersection waiting for a traffic opening, I have to have a bigger opening than most. People behind me blow their horns because they get impatient. I turn around and wave as if I know them. I know they are hating on me big time. If I have passengers they get impatient too. Oh well. I believe in proper following distance. I hate to drive behind big trucks because, I just hate it.

Once, years ago, I accidently merged into the passing lane and cut this “Bubba” off. He got right on my bumper. I accelerated to the point where I was at 85. My steering wheel and front end started to shake. I was driving a Datsun B210 with over 100,000,000 miles on it. I thought well, if this guy is going to run me over, I am not going to be going 80mph. So, I slowed to the speed limit and he stayed right on my bumper…less than an inch. I pulled to the median, turned on my flashers, and stopped. The guy was at my window within seconds and cursed me out, told me I should be glad I was a mf woman. I was sooooooooooo glad. Then he and his starched Wranglers got back into his pick up and sped off. My knees were weak.

4

Umm… When do you find the time to do anything but drive? :wink:

I’m pretty much like Johnny, except I haven’t been riding as long, nor do I fly a plane. I do try and keep up with the majority of people on the highway and very rarely cut someone off. I can usually tell what someone else is going to do. As of yet I have not gotten into an accident with another car, I’ve always slid on stuff. :frowning:

5

That should read 100,000. That would be lots of driving.:smiley:

6

I plan ahead and try to make everything as simple and easy as possible. If I have to make a left turn, I’m in the left lane as soon as I can get there. I think through every step of the route (assuming I know the route) before I go.

I drive about average speed and I dislike people who drive fast.

I dislike driving in rain or snow and I’m extremely cautious if I have to, way more than most people.

I don’t mind driving behind big trucks. I do mind being BESIDE or AHEAD of big trucks. That’s where they’ll kill you.

7

I am an overly courteous driver. I’m always trying to give people lots of clearance, lots of space to merge, stay out of their blind spots, get out of the way of faster traffic, even if it’s only 1 mph faster.

What it gets me? Nothing. Those spaces I try to leave just end up with two cars in them. If I change lanes to let someone merge, they’ll match my speed exactly and I’ll be stuck in the wrong lane. If I let people in ahead of me in construction/1 lane situations, people from my lane will pass me just to get one car ahead.

One of these days, I’m going to get annoyed.

I don’t believe I’ve ever had anyone think they were going to die. I don’t enjoy testing my car’s capabilities; instead, I try to plan for the unexpected.

Julie

8

My brother once remarked, while I executed a maneuver that let us slip past a hundred or so other cars, “You’re not a bad driver at all; you just drive like a cab driver.”

I did drive a cab for several years. Before that, I had many wrecks, tickets and did my time in the high risk pool. I’ve had one (40 in a 30) ticket since I first started driving a cab 27 years ago.

I’m a traffic flow driver. If I need to let someone in to keep it flowing, I will. But sometimes it may be a better choice to accelerate past (or out of) a situation. I do stop at stop signs. And then I go, and your out of sequence California stop probably won’t deter me. But, I’m not going to let a collision happen. I try to anticipate what the other drivers are going to need to do.

And I blow it off when a jerk passes through. I do drive a bit over the limit where it’s safe, but I putter around the neighborhood, parking lots, etc.

9

I was a much more aggressive driver when younger, now I am more of a “go with the flow” driver. Being “overly cautious” often means doing less than safe things, especially in a big city. When entering a freeway, speed up to the flow of traffic in order to merge into it. Obvious to say, but I see so many people slow down to fit in a spot. When crossing an intersection and the light goes yellow, there are times I want to stop, but see someone behind me right on my bumper and accelerate. When moving, I like to find someone going a similar speed and follow a safe distance behind him. This only backfired once, when I followed someone going 30 through a school zone (need to watch those signs). The cops let him go and pulled me over. On the freeway I like to be in the lane next to the far left. People going faster can pass, and I can pass slower cars on the left.

10

I am a courteous, responsible driver, who obeys all traffic laws, and does his level best to be conscious of what is going on to make sure that the aggressive drivers don’t endanger me.

11

I struggle with the overly cautious thing when I am sitting at a dead stop trying to turn left across traffic. I want to go all the way across instead of getting across two lanes and then sitting and waiting to turn left and go with traffic. I can merge with the traffic on the interstate. This is precisely why I have the big V8. When I accelerate, I want to go. I know, I am supporting the oil companies. I like having the big horsepower and the ability to accelerate.

12

My insurance premium reads “Ultra-good driver.”

13

Johnny, you and I are TOTALLY “car incompatible” from what you describe. If I was ever a passenger in your car, I’m sure I’d be constantly thinking “Oh shit we’re going to die!” And you’d hate driving with me, or even near me because I’m sure I’m too slow and cautious for your tastes.

However, personally I consider myself a defensive driver. On the highway I maintain the speed limit/flow of traffic most of the time, but when that’s “too fast” for me (in bad weather for instance), I stay in the right lane, so all the speeding jerks and impatient, aggressive drivers can pass me. Actually, I tend to stay in the right lane anyway because all the maniacs who drive like you :wink: tend to populate the other lanes. The only time I’m NOT in the right lane on the highway is when I know there are “exit only” lanes there which I have to avoid. Once past them I get back in the right lane and sigh with relief.

Off the highway, and because my distance perception is a bit off, I drive in the lane in which my next turn will be, rather than having to risk missing my turn because I can’t get over to that lane in time without cutting someone off or smashing them in the side, etc. It takes me awhile to feel safe with a lane change, and often I tolerate drivers who are WAY worse than I am in the “slow and cautious” department merely because I’m afraid to pass them – it takes what others think is “too long” for me to find an opening I feel safe with! On this subject, here is one thing you’d want to shoot me for, Johnny –

I am scared-shitless PETRIFIED of making left turns across traffic when there’s no left turn light giving me right of way and stopping the oncomers, so if you were behind me when I had to make a left at such an intersection, you’d be one of those people beeping and beeping at me – and if you did that I’d probably be giving you the finger! :wink: I am sorry, to you, and anyone else who beeps at people who don’t make left turns fast enough for you, but I for one am NOT making any left turn UNTIL I feel SAFE doing it. Honk your horns all you want, but it’ll get you nowhere! Fortunately, I don’t have to make too many of these (I have “altered routes” so I don’t have to in most cases, and am an expert at K-turns, hee hee), but sometimes I’m stuck with those dreaded left turns and believe me, I hate them as much as you hate waiting for me to make them.

Well, it’s probably obvious that I can’t stand driving and wouldn’t if I didn’t have to. In fact, I don’t unless I DO have to. If I won some huge amount of money in a multimillion dollar lottery, not only would I move someplace else, but I’d never own a car or drive again. Ever. Anywhere, for any reason. I’d have everything I needed delivered. :smiley:

:::::sigh:::::

14

Yersinia: There is nothing wrong with driving within your limits. As a pilot, I have the authority to decline an instruction from a control tower – if I have a valid reason to. Some small plane pilots will decline a "cleared for immediate take-off, for instance, if they feel that ther may be wake turbulence from a “heavy” over the runway.) I expect other drivers to know their limits and stay within them.

On the other hand, all drivers have a responsibility to “keep it moving”. If you’re in the way it’s not the other drivers’ fault.

There is a difference between me and the other maniacs. I devote 100% of my attention to my driving. Seriously, I’m constantly watching what other drivers are doing, measuring angles and trajectories, and so forth. Of course, everyone says, “I know what I’m doing!” But I doubt they devote the same attention that I do to their driving. I’ve been in a few collisions. Except for one when I was 17, driving too fast and too close, every one of them have been because somebody else was not paying attention and ran into me. Unfortunately, I was usually stopped and couldn’t get out of the way. The worst time was when I was in a head-on collision on a mountain road and the old dude in the LTD came over into my lane. I couldn’t evade unless I wanted to catch some air.

Actually, I’m very cautious. Too cautious for people who seem not to be planning ahead. (Those people who whip pass me – almost hitting me – and then slam on their brakes because there’s nowhere for them to go. :rolleyes: )

But yeah, I’m somewhat aggressive. It’s safer that way.

15

I’m not particularly aggressive, but I do like to go fast, though it’s very rare for me to speed in the rain or after dark. Oddly enough, I find it relaxing.

On the highway, I’m constantly in the left lane unless my exit is coming up. I’m not really one of the people going upwards of 100 (I figure the fastest I’ve gone is 95, my speedometer stops at 85), but when it comes to the highway I’ll go as fast as I can get away with driving. When someone’s going faster and wants to pass, I’ll often move back to the middle if there’s room. I’ve also been known to work my way up through loose clumps of traffic, unless it’s too densely packed.

I don’t take well to being tailgated, I’ll usually slow down. I actually frightened mr.cynic on our recent day trip that way – I was driving his car, and a semi truck started riding the bumper, so I eased back off the accelerator a little… until he made me stop. :wink:

I think learning to drive in Northern VA has spoiled me, sort of. For the most part, driving around here seems to be a big free-for-all.

16

If I’m in a car, I tend to pick a lane and go with the flow of traffic. I rarely change lanes because even if it is going slightly faster, the lane next to me will slow down as soon as I get in it. I’m very rarely in such a hurry that 5 minutes is going to make a difference, and generally drive defensively.

On a bike, I drive offensively, in the sense that I think of myself as a football halfback. Whenever I start to move, I have the ball and every single person out there is going to try and tackle me, and it’s my job not to let them. I do whatever I can to make as much cushion around me as possible. I’ve developed a near sixth sense in picking out the particular vehicle that I know is going to try and slide into my spot. Over the past two weeks, on every trip to and from work, except one day, at least one person has nearly sidelined me. A light braking and horn blast woke them up each time, but I was expecting it to happen. The only close call was two weeks ago when a minivan in the right lane in town decided to shoot across my lane to get to the turn lane. I wasn’t sure who was more scared, me or him when he heard my horn and both tires locked and squealing. I didn’t see that one coming.

Sometimes I think the freeway is safer than surface streets. There are more stupid people on the freeway, but they generally tend to “slide” across lanes where on the streets, people do a lot of quick darts to do stuff.

17

Here in town: The speed limit is my limit. I’m very attentive, and give plenty of room to the people on bikes. I have my radio on, but I don’t really pay attention to it.

On the freeway: I’m not really sure. I just had two points added to my record and my insurance shot up $600/year (42 in a 25, knocked down to 30 in a 25, on campus at night.) That altered my in-town driving, but I haven’t been on the freeway more than two miles since. In the past I was an aggressive, go with the flow driver. I did, on occasion, turn into a Zombie when coming back to Kalamazoo from my parent’s house. It’s difficult not to at night, I-94 from Detroit to Kalamazoo is essentially a straight road (there’s a curve near Jackson, and I think muscle memory gets me through that.) But now, paying $1900/year for insurance on a Kia, I think I have to slow down and stay right.

[hijack]

And, with those points, so much for me getting a bike for the next two years.

18

Below average. I take too many risks. I’ve never had an accident, but it’s probably just a matter of time. I learned how to drive in Boston, where the drivers are so bad they’re good at it, and have done a lot of cross-country trips, generally in very small, manuverable compacts. Anything bigger than 2500 pounds feels lumbering and dangerous to me. The little car weaving in and out of traffic, that’s me.

19

I’m at the next Karmic Level Johnny, You’ve still got some learnin’ to do. :slight_smile:

I’ve been formally trained on a race track. One of my four cars has more horsepower than most entire famlies. I’ve done 168 mph on a public highway. I can handle myself in just about any situation you can picture, yet:

99% of the time, I’m doing 7 over. There’s always space either to the right or left of me to escape to. There’s always 3-4 carlengths ahead of me in rush hour traffic. If somebody pulls in, no big deal, make more space. The reality is, there’s 2 or 3 aggressive drivers and the rest are lemmings. So that 2-4 car lengths keeps pretty consistent. It’s not there for safety, it’s there to help my car live longer. How? It’s a buffer, that distance is consumed by the jackrabbit drivers ahead using full throttle and full brake to cover the exact same amount of ground that I am.

In the meantime, I’m shifting maybe 1/4 the number of shifts as the guy next to me. I’m not needing my brakes, I’m not wearing my clutch, and the throwout bearing isn’t being taxed unusually. My car’s motor will spend time pulling it along at 900rpm, and I’ll run it up to redline two or three times a week. That’s what’s best for the motor.

I spend time on the highway, going highway speeds, IN_NEUTRAL. Why? Because traffic ahead is slowing. I’ll coast until I get to the speed necessary, then pick the appropiate gear.

I use the clutch to select a gear. If I’m at a stop, the clutch is out and the tranny is in neutral.

If someone signals, I let them in. ALWAYS.

If there’s a semi that needs to merge, I give them space and flash my headlights when there’s room. ALWAYS. These guys are already at work, if I can make their day better, so be it.

I will subconsciously travel the speedlimit (or less than 7 over). Why? Because I’ve got two vehicles capable of running the quartermile in the 12’s. To NOT habitually drive beneath the notice of the cops would be stupidly expensive.

Commuting is a Zenlike experience. It’s spent listening to music, watching the lemmings outside, and planing so I’m not in their way when they inevitably do something stupid. Realising that stressing out over every lanechange, cut off, or stupid distracted soccermom will only make my life shorter, and fighting it would be like fighting the wind. It’s not worth the wasted calories to get upset, or find every hole, or split lanes.

20

I am the archetypical “Oh my God! We’re going to die!” girl. (You don’t have to hate me, though, because there is no way I’d ever drive on a freeway. Ever.)

Funnily enough, I’m OK with other people driving fast; I only get scared when I’m the one in control of the vehicle.