How Are Your Driving Skills?

ClassicRockr

ClassicRockr

Well-known Member
We keep up with traffic whether on a street or on the freeway. We use our turn signals. We stop at Stop signs.
We don't: tailgate, weave in and out of traffic, go at a NASCAR speed, run Red Lights.

I would consider both of us very safe drivers b/c of what we do and don't do!

I remember when my wife's mom, at age 80, was still driving, but........extremely slow! She would get into the Carpool Lane and traffic would start backing up behind her. With horns blowing at her, she would just keep on driving. People would have to get out of the Carpool Lane and go around her and then get back in. She never got ticketed or reported..........just horns and headlights going off and on. After an accident at age 85, she decided it was time to "turn in the old D.L.".

So, how are your driving skills and what "erks" you about todays drivers?
 

What irks me about today's drivers, easier to answer what doesn't irk me, what doesn't irk me, nothing about the driving habits. I'm happy to not be able to drive anymore for medical reasons, but, I also cringe most times if I pay attention to the road as a passenger. It's scary out here and even more so in FL.
 
I consider myself a safe and defensive driver. Like you CR, I keep up with traffic, don't tailgate or speed, or run red lights. I've never received a traffic ticket, although I may have deserved one at times in my younger days. :p I don't love to drive, but I have experience on dirt back roads and paved highways. Hubby does most of the driving, especially when on vacation in our truck. :drive:

What bugs me most nowadays is people texting while driving. They'll sit at the light with their heads down, and a car length away from the crosswalk. Then when the light changes, if and when they wake up, you may or may not make it if you're behind them. One woman almost ran us off the highway at 70mph, while yacking on her cellphone. She was completely oblivious to the fact that she went so far into our lane, that she almost forced us into the median, which would have cause a serious, if not fatal rollover. :mad:
 

This reminds me of a story.
I was once chatting to some people about driving. When this lady said.
My friend is a very safe driver. She drives very slowly so as not to break the law. In fact she is so safe that people overtaking blow there horns flash there lights and wave.
I had no answer to that.:D:D:D
 
I learned to drive when I was 12, we had a big property so I was able to drive around it. I passed my driving test when I was 17 in 1967, the legal age to drive on the roads. I have never had an accident, parking ticket or speeding fine, the latter more luck than judgement!:rolleyes: I don't think my driving is too bad, and my children haven't complained, as they would if they felt I wasn't safe on the roads. I don't drive at night as my night vision isn't good. I reckon I will give it another ten years and then probably give up driving.
 
Driving a bakery truck for many years, we were required to take safety driving courses yearly. To survive on the roads today, you must drive as if everyone out there is trying to kill you. I am still comfortable with my driving skills but will turn in my license as soon as I feel that I am losing control.
 
Reminded me of this old classic.


Grandma is eighty-eight years old and still drives her own car. She writes:

Dear Grand-daughter,

The other day I went up to our local Christian book store and saw a 'Honk if you love Jesus' bumper sticker.

I was feeling particularly sassy that day because I had just come from a thrilling choir performance, followed by a thunderous prayer meeting.

So, I bought the sticker and put it on my bumper.

Boy, am I glad I did; what an uplifting experience that followed.

I was stopped at a red light at a busy intersection, just lost in thought about the Lord and how good he is, and I didn't notice that the light had changed.

It is a good thing someone else loves Jesus because if he hadn't honked, I'd never have noticed.

I found that lot of people love Jesus!

While I was sitting there, the guy behind started honking like crazy, and then he leaned out of his window and screamed, 'For the love of God!'

'Go! Go! Go! Jesus Christ, GO!'

What an exuberant cheerleader he was for Jesus!

Everyone started honking!

I just leaned out my window and started waving and smiling at all those loving people.

I even honked my horn a few times to share in the love!

There must have been a man from Florida back there because I heard him yelling something about a sunny beach.

I saw another guy waving in a funny way with only his middle finger stuck up in the air.

I asked my young teenage grandson in the back seat what that meant.

He said it was probably a Hawaiian good luck sign or something.

Well, I have never met anyone from Hawaii , so I leaned out the window and gave him the good luck sign right back.

My grandson burst out laughing.

Why even he was enjoying this religious experience!!

A couple of the people were so caught up in the joy of the moment that they got out of their cars and started walking towards me.

I bet they wanted to pray or ask what church I attended, but this is when I noticed the light had changed.

So, grinning, I waved at all my brothers and sisters, and drove on through the intersection.

I noticed that I was the only car that got through the intersection before the light changed again and felt kind of sad that I had to leave them after all the love we had shared.

So I slowed the car down, leaned out the window and gave them all the Hawaiian good luck sign one last time as I drove away. Praise the Lord for such wonderful folks!!

Will write again soon,

Love, Grandma
 
If you are a 100% defensive driver then you should be OK on the road.
Im teaching the 15 year how to drive and I keep repeating to her
"You have adsolutely no idea what that other driver near you is going to do,so treat all of them as impaired drivers,drunks,on drugs,retarded,etc until you're absolutely sure what that driver intentions are.Any one of them can kill you in seconds".
 
Davey Jones said:
If you are a 100% defensive driver then you should be OK on the road.
Im teaching the 15 year how to drive and I keep repeating to her
"You have adsolutely no idea what that other driver near you is going to do,so treat all of them as impaired drivers,drunks,on drugs,retarded,etc until you're absolutely sure what that driver intentions are.Any one of them can kill you in seconds".
Click to expand...

^ All true. I had a perfect driving record as far as my own license was concern, well except for the ticket I received back in NJ for when I was stuck in the snow in front on my home due to a major snow storm and wasn't able dig myself out in the dark of night so the next morning there was a ticket on my car. grrrrrrrrrrrr.

As far as accidents, I've been a passenger several times over my lifetime where someone has hit a car I was in and when I was driving was twice in major accidents when someone has done severe damage to my car and they received a ticket and they had to pay out. I'll never forget that semi that slammed into my car and ran me off the road NJ when it decided it wanted to turn off the road int a strip mall and took me with it and the cute little old couple that sent me into a tailspin when they made a left as I was going straight through a traffic light on green. I continued to drive for several years after, but when I moved back to NY, I really had the excuse of pretty great transit to get around where I didn't need to drive and then in time, was no longer medically deemed able to drive to my delight. :D Well, to my delight for the most part, I do miss driving, now living back in FL, it's quite inconvenient not having that independence, but, yes, every time you get on the road, the risk are high. Here in FL, they just as well remove the car turn signals and make them optional on new cars. :rolleyes: My stomach isn't always in my chest when I get in a car, as long as I'm otherwise engaged in thought and not focused on the road, I'm fine as a passenger. It's when when I have to look up and pay attention, mostly when I'm helping the driver find a location, navigate a map or some such driving task, I become a nervous mess even though I wont let on. I don't want my negative vibe to rub off to the driver, I need them to stay in control for both our sakes. LOL

In case it's not clear, I hate driving or even being a passenger, (I didn't always at all times,) but, it's one of those necessary evils.

Very grateful to all you that are safe drivers. I would like stricter laws regarding mobile/cell phone usage while driving and for sure no texting.
 
pchrise said:
Idaho drivers ranked rudest in the nation Some not so nice here either CA, Not all.



http://www.idahostatejournal.com/ne...cle_52edd788-42f0-11e4-b7e9-0319fd40a2b4.html

As I get older it seems people get more mean because I try to be safe, I avoid driving when I can and less people on the road and major holidays. Will give it up altogether soon. My nerves cant take it
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Not to worry,Florida drivers cant tell their left from right,2-3-4-lane roads you can always find them in the left lane.
 
I recently was in a minor accident and it woke me up to the fact that my reflexes aren't what they used to be. I need to be more careful when turning or making lane changes. I try to stay in one lane, prefer the center lane of 3 lane roads so the merging traffic can go to the right of me and the speed demons can go to the left. I use cruise control and try to keep at the speed limit. If there is someone with me in the car, I draft them to check out the traffic situation to the right as that is my weakness.
 
Since we know that today's traffic will go 10 mph over the speed limit on both streets and freeways, we will do that as well. Like I said "we keep up with traffic". But, as far as going over that 10 mph over the speed limit, we won't and we've had folks whiz by us going 15 to 20 mph over the speed limit. Slower traffic, some going under the speed limit and others keeping their speedometers pegged right on the speed limit, can be very dangerous on today's freeways. Don't know why folks go that slow, even in the so-called "slow lane", but most drivers on the freeway must wonder "why in the heck are they going that slow?" Like I said, "it can be very dangerous.".
 
AprilT said:
What irks me about today's drivers, easier to answer what doesn't irk me, what doesn't irk me, nothing about the driving habits. I'm happy to not be able to drive anymore for medical reasons, but, I also cringe most times if I pay attention to the road as a passenger. It's scary out here and even more so in FL.
Click to expand...

If Florida drivers would just drive in the right hand lane where they are suppose to be, unless turning left, then there wouldnt be so many accidents. I drove passing all the stopped cars, about 15, in left lane waiting for a light change and Im first at the red light in the right hand lane....go figure.
 
Still top notch. I love to drive and have been doing it since age 14.

I've driven in drag strips and have driven all sorts of military vehicles while in the Air Force (besides flying).

I don't get in anybody's way and nobody gives me the Hawaiian good luck sign.

I have had no accidents and only two tickets; one parking and the other for going 98 mph in a 70 mph zone in the middle of the desert.
 
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At 80 I feel my driving skills are still intact. One accident in 60 years and three tickets. Lane changers and speeders are my pet peeves as I drive.
 
pchrise said:
Idaho drivers ranked rudest in the nation Some not so nice here either CA, Not all.


http://www.idahostatejournal.com/ne...cle_52edd788-42f0-11e4-b7e9-0319fd40a2b4.html

As I get older it seems people get more mean because I try to be safe, I avoid driving when I can and less people on the road and major holidays. Will give it up altogether soon. My nerves cant take it
Click to expand...


Where I used to live in a certain part of Nova Scotia, the drivers there would have to rank as the most considerate! I'm not kidding. When we first got there we were totally amazed at how many times this would happen:

Let's say I'm waiting at a light that has turned green and I want to turn left and there is oncoming traffic who want to go straight through the intersection. Instead of making me wait until they have gone through (and then I turn left after they are through), they too often sit there on the other side of the intersection.....waving me through! I am serious. And they would sit there until you/I turned! I know, accident waiting to happen right but it occurred fairly regularly. Don't ask me who taught those people to drive!
 
Classic Rocker, why should I have to break the law to "keep up" with the people who don't? I just don't understand why some people insist on pushing the limit. I have been known to speed up or slow down to let people get around me, or to get around those that are moving slower, but if we all followed the rules of the road (yes, I know, Utopia) things would be much safer.
 
I have to say I'm a very good driver...not just me saying it, everyone who knows me says the same thing. Never had an accident in all the years I've been driving ( touch wood I'm not tempting fate here)...I do like speed when it's road appropriate, otherwise I tend to keep to the speed limits.

I don't drive in Central London , it's an absolute nightmare as are most densely populated cities in the world, but I do use the motorways every day around the peripheral of the city, as well as all our very narrow one car width country lanes..
 
Visiting Ireland some years back,I had no idea what a roundabout was till I got caught in one,the guy that invented that should be shot.
 
Most people have never been in an accident, I personally have never been the cause of a car accident. I have a perfect record as a driver. It's always great when, you've been able to get through life unscaved (as in I've never had this happen to me,) that doesn't make those that were in accidents bad drivers, Imagine most people that have had people plow into them believe they were great drivers too and likely still are. :)
 

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