Totally agree!
Blank, your driving style sounds just like mine–even though I’ve never raced and am undoubtedly much shorter on horsepower than you. I’ve driven far too much–on the close order of 400,000 miles–to drive any other way. It pays off, too; I’ve never had an accident, and my last and only ticket was 14 years ago (back when I was teenager and naive about such things as portable speed limit signs).
I’m a different type of driver depending on what I’m doing.
Highway cruising, I’m a tactical driver. I go a little fast, I concentrate on what I’m doing, I monitor all gauges as well as how the vehicle sounds and feels, and I keep constant track of what’s going on around me in every direction including the oncoming traffic in the other lane across the median if it looks like anything out of the ordinary is happening over there, and I get into a racing mentality like when I’m in the NASCAR simulator. I switch lanes when I have to, but I tend to cut it slightly close - I have my own internalized guidelines for when it’s safe to cut over, how far behind to follow others (excepting large trucks, which have their own guidelines), and so forth, and I’ll admit that it’s well under the “two seconds” rule my Driver’s Ed teacher drilled us on.
Around town, I become much more cautious, still staying aware of my gauges and my fellow drivers, but giving myself a lot more room. Lane changes are done well ahead of time. I refrain from following closely at all. If I’m turning into or across traffic, I err on the side of caution. I usually wait for the green light even if right on red is allowed, unless the road is absolutely clear.
Both of those apply mainly when I’m alone in the car. If I have a passenger I become a horrible driver. I pay too much attention to conversation with my passenger and too little to what’s going on around me. I’m working on that.
Hmmm…me…
I’ve had my liscence for 3 years now, I think. Within this time, 2 speeding tickets (one was late to go home, the other late for work and pissing around with my stereo shrugs). I’ve never caused an accident but I have been in 2 while driving (people are idiots). I drive all day at work (curtesy driver for toyota here pretty much everyday) and I have been complimented very much on my driving skills.
I have “cat-like” reflexes.
For example, I took my shoe off once when driving and it somehow got lodged under my brake and when I went to come to a sudden stop, I realized “Hey, my brake won’t work…” I threw it in neutral, yanked on the ebrake and came to a completely stop. This all happened within about 2 seconds and my friend in the car was like “Holy s**t, that was fast!”
I drive a Chevette and I’ve pushed my little baby to the absolute limit. No power brakes, steering, locks, mirrors, and theres no mirror on the right side. I wouldn’t use it anyways, I’d much rather take my own vision as judgement then be dependant on a mirror, so i shoulder-checked everytime.
As for driving attitude, I am the worst backseat driver known to man. I don’t think anyone can get any worse then me. I’ve reached over and put people’s signals on because that is my biggest pet peeve. Since I sit and bitch at people the entire time they just hand me their keys when they pick me up and let me drive. Everyone trusts me driving their car.
I scream at people from my car when they don’t creep up at intersections, when they cut me off, when they cut someone else off, when they drive 20km/h in an 80 zone, and i just randomly yell at people on the side of the road for a laugh. But through all of this, I can keep most of my concentration on driving. Takes alot to distract me, even with subs full blasted, people yakking at me about stuff in the car, and randon specticals.
My car isa death trap, its been in 15 accidents within the 18years that we’ve owned it and none of them have been our fault. It’s a giant target and the biggest piece of crap on earth and I’ve mastered it, so I feel I can drive anything.
Me and my brother came up with a rule about letting people in. If someone that day, has done something nice to me while driving, then I’ll let the whole city infront of me, if it’s been a bad day, they can kiss my ass.
So yeah, all in all, I think I’m a pretty darn good driver.
Now with my luck, watch I crash and die today. 
Hahahaha.
The happiest day of my life (well, no, not really) was when they really got into TREX, Denver’s Transportation Expansion project. Mostly because the straigh flat ribbon of too-narrow I-25 now became an undulating, twisting, multi-surface, NON-BORING, piece of road.
S’funny, in the PT Cruiser, it’s an exciting drive, the object being to find the ‘shortest’ line in your lane to run the course. This car has the lowerst power output of the vechiles I own, driving it well can be the most rewarding. In the 98 Vette, it’s suspension eats up all of the road imperfections in the same stretch. Driving it is a one handed affair. I haven’t tried it in the 89 vette (the hobbycar) as it’s been outta commission for the past year. IT was awaiting time and money while the twins were born and will be hitting the road again next week. (I’m SERIOUSLY psyched!)
Well, it’s nice to see so many people here who actually know how to drive. I just wish this was an even slightly accurate sampling of the human race. MOST people drive like idiots. It’s all about PAYING ATTENTION, people! What’s so hard to remember about that?
Most important thing is to drive as far in the future as you possibly can. If you KNOW where your car is now, and you KNOW how your car reacts to various situations, you can make a pretty good guess about where your car will be in a couple seconds. THAT is where your attention should be focused. Why? Because when something important happens, you’ve got time to react to it. If you’re driving 3 inches in front of your bumper and the car there slams on its brakes, you’re screwed.
I like to keep in mind the fact that I’m not only driving my own car, I’m driving those around me as well. If I hit my brakes, and the guy behind me is paying attention, he hits his brakes too. I make him slow down. This applies to virtually every movement my car makes… it will ALL affect the other drivers. This is how the big chain-reaction accidents get started. One driver does something stupid… and the rest of them don’t have time or skill or attention to react properly. A slight miscalculation on one car’s trajectory gets multiplied and spread on down the line until potentially HUNDREDS of other cars are affected.
There is a website that I would like to share with, well, everybody on the planet, actually.
http://www.amasci.com/amateur/traffic/traffic1.html
I hope that came through properly, first attempt to directly link here.
This is about something the author calls Traffic Waves. It’s a model attempting to describe the reason behind those traffic backups that seem to be caused by nothing at all. You know the ones, stop and go traffic for miles, then you get to the end… and there’s nothing there. No accident, no construction, no nude blondes with free pizza, nothing to make the traffic stop. It just stops.
I’ve been using the extremely-large empty space method that this website touts and lemme tell you, it sure seems to work. I get a lot of joy out of clearing a lane of heavy traffic. It makes the horn-honking and getting cut off while I’m doing it all the funnier. “You morons, I’m HELPING you! Sheesh! Read a BOOK!”
Drive Friendly folks. That is ALL it takes. You’d be amazed how much good a single car can do with a functioning and informed mind directing it. q;}
Thanks Phnord! I’d seen that site a few years ago and it DRASTICALLY changed the way I drive in traffic, I could never find the site again, 'tho.
Here’s another nugget I can share:
Every Driver’s Ed and DMV manual has mirror positioning wrong.
The next time you plan on paying attention whie behind the wheel, do the following:
- Position the rear view mirror (the center one, you know, on the windshield) to see behind you.
- note where it’s field of view ends, roughly 12-15 feet back.
- without moving your head, reach over and adjust the driver’s side mirror to pick up where the center mirror leavs off. NOT, as the DMV tells you, where you can see the side of your car in that mirror.
- When you make a lane change, look in the Center mirror first, THEN look in the side view mirror before making your lane change. In normal driving, note how a passing car leaves the center mirror, just as it’s picked up in the side mirror, THEN shows up in your pheripheral vision as it leaves the side view mirror.
If you can adjust to the change, congratulations! You’ve just eliminated any blind spots you have to the left-rear of your vehicle.
My folks taught me how to drive when I was about 10-11. One of the best things they every did for me. I had a mini-bike at 9 and a 100cc motorcycle at 11. Also got lots of practice on a farm tractor that we used to mow the ‘lawn’.
I’m cautious, and plan ahead. 27 years behind the wheel without any kind of accident whatsoever.
I’ll admit I am an aggressive and impatient driver. I fudge on the speed limit by 5-10 mph and I’ll try to beat the light when it changes as I hate just missing a light and having to wait out the full red light cycle. I tend to take more risks when making unprotected left turns and pulling out into traffic, that is, I’ll make them with less distance than other drivers might. I don’t do this to be a daredevil or to scare the other drivers, but just because I hate to wait any longer than I have to. Slow drivers irritate the hell out of me. I do try to be cautious, however, and not follow too closely or zig-zag my way through traffic past the slower drivers if traffic is heavy. I’m also very attentive to my driving. I regularly check my mirrors and I look well ahead of me. I watch all the guages closely. I seldom, if ever talk on my cell phone while driving, and when I do it’s only when I am out on rural highways. I haven’t had a ticket in over four years, which for me is pretty good. I’ve actually moderated my driving habits since I was younger. I used to regularly drive 70-75 in a 55 zone. I had racked up several speeding tickets and I was on the verge of losing my license when I finally decided that maybe I’d better slow things down a little. I’m 33 and still single and childless, but I know that if I had kids I’d certainly be more careful with my driving for their sake.
I’m somewhere between Johnny and Blank, with a side of taxi. Empty space in front of me, always somewhere right or left to sideslip into, in case of insanity. I don’t like making left turns across three or four lane roads, so I do floor it enough to break a rear wheel loose at that point.
Highway speed for me is 75-80… and that’s maybe five MPH faster than traffic flow in commute. Keep your eyes on the cars ahead of you, watch where they go, and where they come from.
My great vunerability is the road surface itself… keeping an eye on the cars means I don’t see potholes as well as people who never look up.
I did get a ticket recently, and I won’t say much about it except I violated two of my personal rules on a beautiful spring day and got cited for 100 in a 55. I wasn’t doing 100… the gentleman tried to pace me and failed.
It’s my first ticket in three years, and I’m a bit curious as to one thing… the ticket says “100 in 55 zone” and it was, in fact, a 45 MPH zone. Does this, in NY State, invalidate the ticket? (Yes, I have pictures)
I drive like Carlos Sainz.
Actually, Johnny kinda sumed up my style in the OP. But I have almost no respect for traffic laws and drive to suit the conditions. If it is clear and traffic light, no weather of adverse conditions, I’m gonna be hauling ass if I’m in one of my good cars or motorcycles. If there are conditions that call for slower speeds, I slow down. I drive pretty slow in the 65 Ford (but god help the idiot that decides to hit me in that! They built them solid back then). I guess I would call myself an “active” driver. I pay attention to whats going on and am always thinking ahead.
The line about “having to go about the same speed as traffic” to get on the freeway cracks me up! What is it with people that try to pull into traffic at 25 mph, or worse yet, get to the end of the merge lane ** and STOP!?!** You want in? Freakin’ step on it!
Another observation: Motorcyclists make better car drivers, generally. One theory is that they have been operating a motor vehicle for much longer. I rode dirtbikes for 10 years before driving a car, and the transition went very smooth. I also learned to drive a car in the snow, so I learned quick about vehicle control in skid situations. Used to have a ball in big vacent snowy parking lots skidding around and practicing regaining control.
I can be a road rage type person. However, for the most part, I can still remain level headed while screaming at people (they can’t hear me most of the time). I’m a very impatient driver who hate people that go 5-10 mph+ below the posted speed limit.
Yesterday I was almost in an accident because I just didn’t see a car in front of me stopped. I just somehow looked right above it while I was looking for a restaurant. It was a red car and sometimes red cars (it was a darker red color) are hard to see, or at least to me. I missed him/her though.
Hmm…trying to figure out who Intentionally Blank is, since he races and is in the Denver area. But, I’m drawing a blank. 
Anyway, I race cars, too. I consider myself an excellent driver. I’ve avoided accidents that I look back at later and think, “how the heck did I get out of that.” Never been in accident that was my fault (and only one other). I’m reasonably aggressive.
I didn’t learn to drive til I was 30. I was petrified of getting behind the wheel, so I took lessons. In Manhattan. Stick shift.
Once I got my license I discovered my lead foot; got 3 speeding tickets the first month. My biggest challenge to this day is staying *reasonably *beyond the speed limit.
I’m a very thoughtful and aware driver, always conscious of the cars around me, always subconsciously figuring trajectories. I’m also a very assertive driver, but always sensitive to other drivers’ right of way.
But it bugs the hell out of me when people do really stupid, thoughtless things, as if they’re driving in a vacuum - like people who block traffic rather than use a turning lane, or people who never signal, or people who refuse to clean snow off their windows, or people who don’t turn their lights on when it’s murky and raining.
And don’t get me started on the subject of cell phones.
Too bad those chiming in are generally above average drivers. I wish my commute had the kind of good drivers we’re getting here.
I’ve very much a fast driver. I’m not too agressive but I will pass on the right if I can.
I normally go with the flow in traffic, or do a little “path finding” in light-moderate traffic and I’m almost always in the left lane passing everyone on the right. I will always pull to the side if I spot anyone who can keep up/pass me (happened twice -ever).
I drive at all times at about 7/10s and merge ASAP (never forcing myself in). I basically try to make whoever I’m in front of not have to use their brakes.
My pet peeve is people who ride their brakes, who don’t yield on the left lane, and the dreaded “rolling road block” accelleration I always find myself behind. I hate it when 3 cars all slowly accelerate from a light and all 3 keep this blocking posistion for several KMs. Grr.
BTW, never had an accident (knock on wood) and have never lost control (although I have slid to a stop once on snow). I have had 2 tickets but that’s hardly an indicator of how good a driver is.
(Pssst www.millerville.cc 
Spent most of my non-parental life boogieing around Second Creek)
Well, about eighty percent of all drivers think they’re above average.
Me, I took a few Skip Barber classes, I do my little turn at Lime Rock, I study a bit of theory now and again. I’m no Michael Schumacher. I’m no RALPH Schumacher.
But I’m decent on the road, cause I’m paranoid.
This is PRECISELY how I adjust my mirrors, and it works beautifully. It’s scary, though, how many people just give me a weird look when I tell them to try it. “I can’t believe you think that much about your mirrors.” YIKES! Needless to say, I volunteer to drive when I go anywhere with them.
I too am a driver with a few of the skills, techniques, and experiences of both Johhny and Blank, though, I’m sure, not quite as extensive since I’ve only been driving for 15 years. I have never had a ticket nor have I been in any major accidents. I have been rear-ended twice (while at a stop!), each time by a Left Seat Zombie. “Oh, I wasn’t paying attention.” or “I was in a hurry.” Yeah, right … try again, idiot. Anyway, over the last 10 years or so I have been an active participant in my local SCCA autocross competitions. For those of you unfamiliar with these events, they are usually set up with traffic cones in a large parking lot. Each competitor is timed through the course, which can range from a very tight, twisty course that favors 1st and 2nd gears to a longer course where it’s possible to hit 3rd for a short period. The best part is that they are run rain or shine, and that you can run either your daily driver or a specially prepared car. In addition to being an absolute BLAST, I am convinced that it is a great way for anyone to learn the dynamics and the limits of their cars. It’s a safe way to really push a car so that you can become familiar with how it behaves when you get it out of shape. It can finely hone emergency reactions, and car control abilities. Incidentally, for those of you in the north east, Mazda is currently sponsoring events where they provide instruction and the cars for a timed autocross event. The best part is that you get to really drive the p*ss out of a brand new Mazda 6! http://www.mazdarevitup.com or, for SCCA autocrosses, see http://www.scca.org.
I think I’m about like Johnny. Also a pilot since about the same age. Being a pilot teaches you about defensive flying - and driving.
I like to drive relatively fast. But I only do so when safe. Here in Alberta, there are lots of places where it’s safe. The flow of traffic on Highway 2 between Edmonton and Calgary is about 80-85 MPH. That’s about how fast I go. We have a lot of flat, straight, empty roads. And a lot of distance between places to go.
However, I’m also hyper-aware when I’m driving. I make sure I’m never in someone’s blind spot. I’m careful to not stay on the right side of large trucks. When I approach an intersection I scan it for cars coming the opposite way even if I have the right of way. Etc. And I’m courteous. I’ll always let drivers in, I never accelerate to try and cut in front of people when lanes are closing if I can slow down and smoothly tuck in behind them. That sort of thing.
I believe being aggressive selectively is safer than being too slow. I HATE people who slow down when merging into fast traffic. It’s dangerous. When I want to lane change I shoulder check, and I also accelerate a bit because A) it’s fun, and B) it adds a little bit more margin between me and the person behind me who I may be moving in front of.
I like to accelerate out of corners, because the vehicles I like to drive typically understeer a bit, but switch to oversteer with power application. So accelerating out of the corners makes the car ‘tuck in’ and track better. It just feels ‘right’.
I have a perfect driving record. No accidents, no speeding tickets. 24 years of driving experience.
I have one major flaw, and I know it. I like to listen to music fairly loud. It doesn’t distract me, but it does drown out the sounds the vehicle is making. If the engine starts to knock, I won’t hear it. If a mechanical component starts to fail, hopefully I’ll feel it as vibration, 'cause I won’t hear it. Same with squealing brakes. Of course, if I’m really ‘performance driving’, the music goes off. But commuting to and from work is done with the tunes blaring.