Jalopnik - Recognizing a Good Driver

[Car54]

http://jalopnik.com/5947854/how-to-r...-a-good-driver

[nbennettksu]

Cool, I agree with most of them

[Transfer]

^^ Must be a bad driver.




Yes, it's stupid.

[swanson]

#5 cant be stressed enough. There are so many fkn idiots that dont use their signals to let other drivers know what they're about to do. I FKN HATE THESE PEOPLE!!! Its in the car for a reason. use it!

[PrimoM3]

Definitely agree with the passing lane one... All the others are meh.

[NemesisX]

Unfortunately from my experience the vast vast majority of people who frequent car enthusiast forums (like this one, and I'm including myself) are not very good drivers.

I drive aggressively from time to time and I know it makes me a poor driver. I keep telling myself that I should change, but the problem is that being a truly "good" driver would render daily driving sporty/sports cars utterly useless.

How many porsche owners accelerate smoothly, slowly, and predictably off the line 100% of the time? How many porsche owners drive at exactly the speed of general traffic flow (usually within +/- 5 MPH of the speed limit) 100% of the time?

Almost none, I'd wager. If you own a car like that, chances are you're going to "let loose" once in a while and drive aggressively on public roads.

Again, I'm no different, but I do recognize that these traits make us poor drivers.

[808@702]

That picture of the Lotus parked is friggin hilarious.

[SilverII]

slow drivers keep right

[Car54]

Originally Posted by NemesisX

Unfortunately from my experience the vast vast majority of people who frequent car enthusiast forums (like this one, and I'm including myself) are not very good drivers.

I drive aggressively from time to time and I know it makes me a poor driver. I keep telling myself that I should change, but the problem is that being a truly "good" driver would render daily driving sporty/sports cars utterly useless.

How many porsche owners accelerate smoothly, slowly, and predictably off the line 100% of the time? How many porsche owners drive at exactly the speed of general traffic flow (usually within +/- 5 MPH of the speed limit) 100% of the time?

Almost none, I'd wager. If you own a car like that, chances are you're going to "let loose" once in a while and drive aggressively on public roads.

Again, I'm no different, but I do recognize that these traits make us poor drivers.

This list had more to do with communicating with other drivers. We all do road shanigans from time to time...just don't do them around other people. I tend to drive 9 over the speed limit but then double the (yellow) speed limit on off ramps.

[NemesisX]

Originally Posted by Team Plutonium

I don't think speeding once in a while qualifies anybody automatically as a poor driver. Just don't drive like an ass clown.

Nah I think it does.

And again, I'm no different. On smaller roads where the legal speed limit is < 60 MPH, I'll travel at minimum 5-10 MPH over the limit and I'll occasionally drive even faster.

On 60 MPH freeways, I'm driving at minimum 10 MPH over (70).

On major interstate highways, it's not unusual for me to drive 85-90 MPH minimum when the legal speed limit is 70 (i.e. 15-20 over). I'll occasionally flirt with 100 MPH+ when the roads are clear.

The thing here is that I absolutely identify myself as a "poor" driver. I know I'm a poor driver even though I'll only speed "once in a while." I liken my need to speed to an addiction. I know it's wrong and I know that even speeding "once in a while" is irresponsible and unfair to those who follow the rule of law (who am I to excessively exceed the speed limit when others are following the law?) but it's been extremely difficult for me to change my ways.

I literally feel like I get withdrawal symptoms when I try and force myself to constantly follow the flow of traffic. Usually I'll last a couple of days of being a good driver but eventually I'll go into what I call "douche" mode and speed (occasionally and only when there isn't any traffic, but this isn't a good excuse - I still think this constitutes poor driving).

[ZuerstBMW]

The reason there is a speed limit in the USA is because people here CANT drive and dont practice good safe driving habits, like in Germany.
Germans are the only people in the world that actually know how to drive.

People here very rarely use their turn/lane change signals, they expect other drivers to read their minds I guess.
I always make room for people that put their blinkers on. If you dont have the time to put it on, then you can stay where you are at.

People dont know their left from their right I guess (left lane hoggers/think they own the left lane), so they stay in the left lane, which is the PASSING lane, which force people to pass on the right and causes accidents.
Its not hard people, you pass, then you get over.

The fact is people do NOT care enough about each other to respect other drivers. SAD... VERY sad.

[NemesisX]

One thing I should mention is that I am totally in favor of increasing the legal speed limit here in the U.S. by...a lot.

In fact where I live (TX) we already have an interstate highway with the highest legal posted speed limit in the U.S. (85 MPH). 95 MPH would be relatively "safe" on this highway (as 95 would be 10 over which is usually allowed).

Another thing I should mention is that it's not speeding in and of itself that makes one a bad driver. It's creating speed differentials between you and the general flow of traffic.

Let's say we're on a 70 MPH highway where the general flow of traffic is 80-85 MPH in the right lane and 90-95 MPH in the left lane (I've seen this situation multiple times).

Let's say there's one person who merges into the slow lane and starts traveling at 70 MPH while every car around him is traveling at 80-85 MPH in the slow lane (and even faster in the fast lane).

Despite the fact that the 70 MPH driver is the only one actually following the speed limit, I'd brand him as the bad driver in this scenario. Why? Because it'd be much safer to just travel with the general flow of traffic. If the flow of traffic in the slow lane is 80 MPH (and you'll know this if you find yourself constantly being passed in the left lane by people who then re-merge into the right lane in front of you), you damned well better be going 80 MPH.

Speed differentials cause accidents - not speeding in and of itself.

On the other hand, if the general flow of traffic is 80 MPH in the right lane (with a posted speed limit of 70) and the general flow of traffic is 85 MPH in the passing lane, a bad driver would be one that drives > 85 MPH in the passing lane and expects people in the passing lane to get out of his way.

If people in the passing lane are, you know, passing cars in the slow lane and they're already driving well above the legal speed limit (70), the guy trying to exceed the general flow of traffic in either lane is the bad driver.

Unfortunately, I find myself doing exactly this when I'm on a major interstate highway. Say the slow lanes are traveling at 80 MPH and there are 3 guys in the fast lane in front of me traveling at 85 MPH but with wide open empty road ahead of them.

I will often go into "douche" mode and try my best to get in front of these 3 guys so I can open up and go 95-100 MPH for that open stretch of road in front of them until I hit the next block of traffic traveling at 85 MPH in the fast lane. It's bad driving because I really should just stick with the general flow of traffic in the passing lane as long as they are passing cars in the slow lane.

Now, let's say the slow lane is traveling at 85 MPH and there's someone in the passing lane traveling at 85 MPH. Then, that guy is the bad driver because the passing lane should only be used for passing. There is no universal "de facto" speed one should be traveling at in the passing lane. It completely depends on the general flow of traffic in the slow lane.

[ZuerstBMW]

One of the main reasons I work the night shift is so I dont have to deal with these idiots trying to get to work, drinking their coffee, putting make up on, shaving, texting, clipping their toe nails, rather than driving and they wonder why they have accidents.