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Eh I could be better. I rarely parallel park and I'm not great at it, I also have little to no experience in snow/ice situations. I'm cautious in general but get complacent sometimes e.g. I try to actually come to a real stop at stop signs but I couldn't guarantee that I actually end up always doing it....
I've been close to a couple of near collisions, which I avoided simply by keeping a 3-second distance between myself and the car in front of me and by watching the line of traffic well ahead of me in both lanes.
But I have a question. In my driver ed days, long ago, I was taught that in bumper to bumper, slow moving rush-hour traffic in and out of Boston, I should only focus on the front of my car to avoid rear-enders. Was anyone else taught this? It seems to work. I was also taught that in the same kind of traffic, I should just signal my turn into the slow moving lanes, counter to three, and turn in without looking behind me. Same question.
In rush hour traffic, 99% of my attention is focused on what's going on ahead of me. There's absolutely no way that I'd signal and attempt to enter a lane of traffic without checking the mirror and looking over my shoulder.
I will be modest and not say the world because I know there are weekend racers, dragstrippers, pursuit trained police that I've not had an opportunity to either learn from or ride and drive with, so, I'm not THAT big headed.
But please, please, please, please... drive with a sense of purpose. If you're going to go slow, do not purposefully impede my way etc. I won't tailgate you, but let me drive around... thanks.
My answer is that it depends from what point of view are we being rated?
Being aware of traffic laws and knowing how to use them on the road, 8 - 9.
Being in control of my vehicle, knowing and utilizing its capabilities, I'd say 8 - 9.
From a defensive driving point of view, I'd give my self a 5 or 6.
From being aware of my surroundings and strategically driving to get where I am going, I'd say an 8.
In terms of being patient and willing to accept BS driving practices around me, I'd say a 4 - 5.
I have different driving styles for different situations. For the most part I've been more laid back lately though, just wanting to drive in the right lane with cruise control on doing the speed limit. Learning how to bite my tongue and count to ten! :-)
I'd say I also have different driving styles for different situations. Driving around town or in moderate to heavy traffic, I just go with the flow and am pretty laid back.
But if I get into a situation where there is very light traffic and road conditions are good, it's as if a switch was flipped, and my right foot suddenly feels very heavy. I get so few opportunities for that type of driving, which I love, that when the opportunity comes, it's impossible for me to pass it up.
When I go back to where I grew up and learned how to drive, I realize how much certain of my driving skills have atrophied. Back there, the roads are narrower, and much more parallel parking is required. Here, the roads are wider and I park in parking lots. I think that I've lost some of that pinpoint accuracy that I had in keeping my car in narrow lanes and around curves, without slowing down much or at all. Now I find it more difficult to drive on some of those roads.
Not very good, but I try not to do idiotic things, so that makes me an OK driver compared to most.
Driving on SR-99, from Bakersfield to Fresno, I probably witnessed the highest level of
driving-idiocy imaginable. Thusly, I was caught in 2 HUGE backups within 20 miles of each other. When I had the privilege to rubberneck the cause of the backup...........holy-cow, wrecked pickup-trucks that were not just totaled, but verging on being disintegrated.
Been driving for 24 years, only accident I've been involved in I was a passenger, no moving violations (1 violation: expired meter) and I have driven quite a bit. Been to 36 states by car. Driven probably close to 1,000,000 miles.
During a 1 month period in 2012, I drove about 12,000 miles.
I also pay attention to my limits, I pull over and sleep instead of trying to push through fatigue. I think that's a key aspect to being a good driver: knowing when to say when.
Status:
"In the words of Steve Winwood, Roll With It!"
(set 26 days ago)
Location: State of the closed-minded
296 posts, read 217,389 times
Reputation: 580
I will rate myself at between 5 and 10, self-respect tempered with humility.
In 1977, I had been a licensed driver for only 3 years, and learned a lesson that takes some people much longer to learn: a Stop sign means STOP, not just slow down and go on---a small town cop, sitting in the dark at night, saw me do this, and because I was driving my employer's van, embellished with advertising on the outside and shown up by the street lighting, it wasn't hard for the cop to know who this was, and he pulled up beside me a couple of blocks away to tell me about my running a Stop sign!
I don't remember how much the ticket was for, but once was all it took for me to understand that Stop means STOP, not just slow down and go on if the way is clear.
That lesson learned 42 years ago influences my driving habits to this day, and sometimes I get someone riding my butt, and they will blow their horn at me because I actually STOP!
If the cops would be more vigilant about making sure people actually STOP, this in itself could be a great source of revenue!
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