Your driving record

In My Humble Opinion
1

How is your driving record on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being a great driver.

I will rate myself a 9, I am not a 10 because sometimes I drive when tired.

I have had two traffic tickets in my years of driving, with the last one being over 10 years ago. My 1st ticket was legitimate–picture brand new '86 Mustang Convertible, top down, trip to visit parents after 2 years absence, long stretch of road in middle of desert. Ah perfect setting for a cop, the two positives was that he wrote me up for doing 75 instead of 90 (speed limit 55) and he was driving a '86 Mustang. The second is a long story and cop and I disagreed on if I should get ticket. I did not have ability to contest ticket (another long story).

The only accident I was in was when I was 18. I was at a stop sign and an elderly gentleman rammed a motorcycle into the front of my car. It was not my fault. I know I am lucky not to have been in more accidents.

2

In about 18 years of driving, I’ve been pulled over by a cop once. I’ve never gotten a ticket. I’ve never caused an accident. I have bumped a bumper once or twice - no damage. I don’t DUI. But like you I sometimes drive when I’m really tired, which probably isn’t wise. So do I get a 9, too?

I’ve been in one accident - I was rear-ended in heavy traffic in my college years. Obviously he got the ticket.

3

I would give myself a nine (9) as well, since nobodys perfect. (But I’m damn close).

I got one ticket after 1 year of driving. My '87 Dodge Shadow doing 95 in a 55. All bad. 8 points (11 = no license), I had to see a judge (mandatory) to set my fine and decide if I get to keep my license. He was nice, and just gave me the points, a $150 fine, and a stern warning.

I had one accident also during my first year of driving. A guy in a van stopped at a stopsign perpendicular to me (I didn’t have a stop sign), and then pulled out in front of me as I came to the intersection. He didn’t even have a license (suspended) and got arrested after he fled the scene (I memorized his plate no). I got to fill out police reports, and identify him when they found him about 30 minutes later in his girlfriend’s car, it was fun. Then his parents threatened me and stuff (he had to be about 30), and a D.A. called me to tell me I may need to go to court (they’ve been meaning to put this guy in jail). But I’m getting off on a tangent.

I’ve been driving for 5 years now, no more tickets and no more accidents. I’ve avoided about 4 accidents due to quick thinking and an uncanny ability to read other drivers’ minds and see things before they happen.

-1 point for being aggressive.

4

I consider myself an adequate but not great driver. Had a number of speeding tickets when in college, but nothing since. Also, never in a significant accident. Which is interesting since I never drive below the speedlimit, never come to a complete stop at stop signs, and have, er, on occasion driven after imbibing. Mrs D says I’m a crappy driver. Something about not keeping a constant speed or something. I refuse to try top understand what she’s talking about. (That’s the sensitive, understanding side of me wimmen love).

Had a couple of close calls while in college. Received one speeding ticket with an ounce of shrooms in my shorts.

Another time got pulled over on my way home from a wedding. I was so blind drunk I could not figure out how to pull over to the side of the road, and once there, I could not find my wallet for some time. After I told the cop I was coming from a wedding, he inexplicably let me go with a verbal warning. Musta gotten a blow job his last stop. Or maybe I gave him one and can’t remember?

The best/worst was when I was driving home from college, about a 2 1/2 hour drive thru central Illinois, with 2 friends. We had a case of beer and plenty of smoke for the drive. At the time I had only one working headlight, and my registration was expired. I was clipping along well above the limit when I saw a cop headed the other direction on the interstate. Watched in the rearview mirror as he pulled the u-ey, turned on his lights, and came up behind. I’m yelling at my buddy in back to ditch the beers. He does not respond. I keep yelling and he finally responds, “I’m talking to my beer.”

Cop asks me to get out. Shines his light in the back seat, opens the back door, and a bag full of empties falls out. Paws around a bit under the winter coats, but does not discover the full beers. I can’t imagine where Mr. Beer conversationalist stashed them - later he says they were right there under the coats. Cop tells me to get in his car. At this point I KNOW Ima gonna be sleeping in a central Illinois jail. I’s shitting bricks, as are my friends in my car in front of us.

I show the cop the receipt for having paid for my registration the day before, and he tells me, “I’m going to have to give you a warning.” I don’t think I have ever been as relieved as I was at that moment. That is the closest I came to having a (well deserved) criminal record. I kept the written warning for some time. MAN, it had a lot of writing on it! Still can’t imagine why he didn’t give me any of the numerous possible tickets?

5

After 30 years of driving, zero tickets (other than parking tickets). 3 accidents, all three times (lucky me) some one plowed into the back end of my car, they were ticketed.

Do I drive drunk? not even slightly. Do I drive while tired? I’m the mom of a teenager - so I’m simulataneously tired and hawklike damn near all the time

, When the weather is awful, I stay off the roads. Have managed to avoid accidents/problems while driving on ice, having a tire blow out at 70 (not fun, by the way), and after my asshole (now ex) husband put a ‘cigarette load’ into my cigarette, so it blew up while I was driving (back when I was a smoker).

6

Techinically my driving record is near flawless. No incidences since high school 10 years ago. That involved an accident with a police car on graduation day. what a mess!
Anyway, while my record is at a 10, my driving is not. I’m like Mr. Magoo when I drive. I lack proper concentration sometimes and narrowly miss disaster. I shudder to think what I will be like in my old age… if I live that long.

7

Dinsdale, I bet I know what your wife means. We used to go out with another couple and the husband usually drove because he had a nice big BMW and we had a diesel Rabbit. Anyway, he was one of those drivers who takes his foot off the gas for a moment whenever he has a passing thought or is briefly distracted by something. Of course as soon as he notices that he’s losing speed he accelerates again.

The driver doesn’t notice, because he is the one in control of the speed. The poor passengers, on the other hand, are trying to keep from ralphing. It really is a very unpleasant sensation.

8

I have a completely clean driving record. Like pezpunk I’m not the best driver. My mind wanders, I get very angry at other drivers, and I speed constantly. I was doing 100 on the way home from a trip friday, and didn’t realize I was. The only consistent exception to this rule is school zones. I refuse to speed through them at any time.

I’ve been pulled over twice. Got let off with a warning once, and the second time, another girl thought the highway patrolman was after her and pulled over as well. He waved us both on. No wrecks, my fault or otherwise(knock on wood :p).

So, I give myself a 9 for record, but a 6 for actual driving practices. And I think the second counts more than the first.

9

I’m a very considerate driver, someone who knows the signals that truckers use, someone who always lets others cut in when merging onto a limited access highway, someone who never drives in the left hand lane at a speed lower than traffic in the right land lane … you know, just nice. Still, I don’t think I’m a very good driver. I can count on getting a speeding ticket once a year. After never having an accident, I got into two in the past two years – both involving SUVs that rear-ended me., causing a lot of damage to my car but no damage to the vehicle that struck me. On a scale of 1 to 10 – probably a 5.

10

8.5
There was that one 100+ mph jaunt…

11

Geez, you people are too careful – what’s life without a little risk?

In my misspent youth, I

  1. wiped out in my mom’s Buick once on an icy road back in Ohio; cracked a tie rod and took me half an hour to rock it out of the ditch

  2. rearended a guy who was stopped on a federal highway with no taillights

  3. backed into my dad’s pickup in our driveway (he pulled in behind me between the time I got in my car and the time I actually backed up)

  4. backed into another truck just outside my parents’ driveway

  5. got T-boned trying to sneak through an intersection, totaling my car and the guy who hit me, and seriously damaging a car that my car was knocked into; cited for failure to yield

  6. was cited for 82 in a 55

  7. sideswiped someone trying to turn on a one-way street

  8. triple-rolled my car after going off an unexpected curve racing a couple of other guys; cited for reckless op

  9. rearended a halfwit who started to pull onto a road and then slammed on her brakes suddenly, in front of me.

For all that, I’ve only had three actual citations (5, 6, and 8), but one of the three was for reckless op (8) and I lost my license for a month. Makes it hard to rent a car with that on your record. I’ve never been hurt except for slight bruising, and have only hurt one other person, a passenger in my car (the fool!).

After No. 8 happened (eight years ago), I learned my lesson and have been perfectly clean ever since.

12

Overall, a 7. I’ve only had 2 tickets ever, for speeding. And I was, both times. Both times in speed traps on suburban streets, where I didn’t notice the speed limit had been reduced. Still my fault; it was marked, I just didn’t notice.

4 accidents, but none my fault and couldn’t have avoided them.

I tend to be a very courteous–and defensive–driver, but my mind can wander sometimes, especially on routine routes. My mind is more on work, etc. than on the road. And I drive when I’m too tired. This was particularly dangerous when my mother was ill, and I’d have to do the 450 mile drive to get home. Didn’t help that the interstate is straight as a die and dead flat. Talk about boring driving!

Veb

13

First of all, let me say that I recognize that I’m a bad driver. I give myself a 4, tops. To make matters worse, I ride a motorcycle. I survive this by remembering that I am a bad driver.

My record is currently perfectly clean. No accidents or tickets in the last 10 years. Before that:

  1. 60 in a 45.

  2. 80 in a 55. ( I was going closer to 90 - he didn’t get a good clock )

  3. 80 in a 55 ( freeway, on my way home ).

  4. Illegal right hand turn. Or something like that. The actual ticket was:
    a. Exhibition of speed and power
    b. 80 in a 45.
    c. No proof of insurance ( this was on a motorcycle, btw )
    d. Expired registration
    e. No proof of registration
    f. Driving with out a license ( I had lost the hardcopy)
    e. Driving on a suspended license.

When I finally decided I was tired of avoiding the police all the time, I went to take care of the first of my 3 warrants. I will never forget the judge asking “How many days in jail will it take to convince you not to drive with out a license”. I got a $500 fine, and a “break no law for one year or serve 5 days in jail” sentence. I learned.

Only one accident. I was on my bike, at a red stoplight, in the rain. A Cadillac Cimmarron locked up her breaks and slid into me, sending me flying.

14

If I have to rate myself as a driver, I’d say I’m an 8 out of 10. Which puts me in the statictical 85% of people that think they are better than average drivers :wink:

I get speeding tickets all the time. I’m no maniac, but I like to speed when the space is there. Since Holland is full of cameras, this is quite an expensive hobby at times. I usually drive 150 km/h, where 120 km/h is allowed.

I crashed my current car about a year ago. Read all about it. Legally, I was at fault, although there was no way in hell I could have avoided that crash.
I also crashed a rental car (belonged to the garage where my car was being serviced) on a very icy road: at about 5MPH, I slid sideways into a van. Since they neglected to make me sign for the “own risk” clause, I luckily wasn’t liable for the damage - some NLG 6000, or USD 2500.

My car got towed three months ago because I parked it at a corner.

Other than that, nothing spectacular. I’d say 8 out of 10 is accurate.

15

I’ve had my license suspended three times, twice for having three speeding tickets within a year’s time, and once for letting my insurance lapse when I was required to file SR-22.

In the 8 years I’ve been driving, I’ve had 9 speeding tickets, 2 seatbelt tickets, 1 failure to yield, and 1 driving under suspension, for which I actually spent a night in jail.

Keep in mind, I only speed when it’s a clear, open highway, never when it’s unsafe to do so, because when conditions are unsafe, I become really paranoid.

I’ve been in 2 accidents, neither of which were my fault. The first was shortly after I first got my license. I was driving down a 2 lane one-way street, and I was in the left lane, signalling to turn left, when some silly bitch pulled into the parking lane and turned left at the same time I did. She side-swiped me. Then, she drove off, I called the police, but they never found her.

The other one was when I was a junior in high school, I was actually ruled 70% at fault, but I wasn’t. I had a stop sign, the other guy didn’t, I stopped, looked both ways, saw nothing in motion, and proceeded. The other guy was parked in front of his house, which was right on the corner (I did see him parked there, I KNOW he was parked) and just took off and hit me, in a 25 MPH zone, hard enough to spin my car 180 degrees.

Anyway, other than the speeding problem, I think I’m a pretty safe driver, though I get nervous in high-stress driving situations rather easily, this comes from learning to drive in a small town without even a stoplight. The first time I drove on the freeways around St. Louis during rush hour I nearly had a heartattack.

I’m told I’ve inherited the lead foot from my grandfather. Back when he was a travelling salesman, he was on a freeway outside of Chicago with his radio cranked and didn’t notice how fast he was going. Nor did he notice the many cop cars with lights and sirens blazing behind him. They finally had to set up a roadblock to stop him. I guess, when they finally had him stopped, they thought he was a bank robber…he was of similar build and was wearing a similar trenchcoat and hat as they guy who did it.

But I don’t know…going on skill and reflexes alone, I’d give myself an 8. Factoring in the speeding and inability to drive well under pressure, a 4.

16

I’d give myself a 9. Yes, I know, everyone thinks they’re better than everyone else. In 7 years of driving, I’ve had: 0 tickets and 0 accidents. (knock on wood). I think I’m a good driver because I’ve been in quite a few situations where a LOT of people would have gotten in accidents due to the other driver. I really watch the road, watch what other people are doing…their tendancies, speeds, direction…I often anticipate idiotic moves by other drivers before they happen. I make a few idiotic moves from time to time, but they’ve never had any consequences. My girlfriend also has a perfect driving record, but I’d give her a 7. She just doesn’t feel as comfortable behind the wheel, and has trouble gaguing speed and distance of other cars when merging. I’m just trying to say that a good driving record does not always say that you’re a great driver, but a poor driving record can usually say that you’re not.

Jman

17

I’ve had multiple accidents, well over 20 tickets (been driving 11 years), drive too fast…I’m better than I used to be (only one ticket in the last year) but I still have some bad driving habits. I’d say I’m about a 4 now, used to be a 2 or 3, mostly because I’d take lots of risks and occasionally drive drunk.

18

my driving record is 100% spotless.

This is mostly due to the fact that I’ve never driven a car in my life.

However, my pedestrian record isn’t so hot, though I’ve never caused or been involved in an accident - I just am a bit dozy when I cross the road sometimes.

19

I’ll lump myself into that 85% that’s above-median and rate myself a 9.

Honestly, I think I’m a good driver. I enjoy driving, so I concentrate on it and actually take pride in driving with precision, for lack of a better word. My attention is generally on what I’m doing, and I feel like I do a good job of anticipating what other cars may do.

I’m not timid, though, and it’s for the times that I can be a bit aggressive that I give myself a 9. Driving vice #1 for me is deliberately cutting off (by strategic positioning) cars that are weaving through traffic. Mostly by staying even with another vehicle, so that they can’t pass us. People who do that piss me off, and I take some pleasure in foiling them.

Got my license in '86. My “incidents”:

1 - (1988) Got T-boned by a car that blew right through (at about 35 mph) a residential street stop sign (I didn’t have one). My car did a 270 and stopped spinning when it hit a telephone pole. No one was injured, but my car was totalled. Hers didn’t look real good, either. It was ruled to be the other driver’s fault.

2 - (1990) Got rear-ended at relatively low speed. I was well back in a queue at a red light. The light turned green, people started moving, and then somebody up front stopped abruptly. Successful panic stops by everybody except the car behind me. :frowning: Moderate damage to both of our cars, and no injuries. It was ruled to be the other driver’s fault.

3 - (1992) Got pulled over on a Texas interstate for doing 77 in a 65 (I thought I was doing 75). Had no real excuse, was given a written warning.

4 - (1994) Got pulled over in California for having expired Texas registration. (Yes, they really will pull you over just for that.) Starting with 1995, Texas went to front window registration stickers, rather than license plate stickers - from behind, it did look like I had expired registration. After seeing the valid 1995 window sticker, the officer let me go.

My record’s clean - no tickets, no at-fault accidents.

20

I know I’m a great driver. I’ve got the trophies to prove it. :smiley:

Now my driving record is a different case.

In 16 years, I’ve had: 3 speeding tickets, a failure to stop, hit a tree, was rear ended twice, had a fruit truck drive over my motorcycle (luckily I bounced off the side), and backed out of the driveway square into my sisters car. Come to think of it, all of that happened in my first four years of driving.