Are you a good driver?

Steve059

After 37 years, I would still only rate my myself as good. I take pride in driving legally and safely, but there's always room for improvement.

Alikay

Average, I guess. I'm pretty compliant regarding rules and speed limits etc and err on the side of caution rather than take risks. Not great at parking or tight manouveres though, and will plan routes to avoid roads/junctions I find challenging (aptly-named Snakey Lane is a local one I will attempt only during off-peak daylight hours when there's no R in the month!:D)

SailorSam

The poll results show nearly everyone is high up in the ratings, well where are the people i see on the roads around here every day.

WTFH

I'm not that good a driver.
I use my mirrors and indicators. I try to drive in a manner appropriate to the conditions - of me, my car, the road, the weather, the time of day, other vehicles, etc. I try to observe and anticipate.
The speed side of things is less important, because if you're aware of what's going on around you, you'll be driving at a safe speed.

I did my IAM exam over 20 years ago and have been trained by a police examiner.

andygb

I would say that the most important thing in driving is to know your own limitations, and drive according to the conditions at the time.
I have ridden bikes and motorbikes, driven cars, and raced on bikes, and taken fast bikes and cars on various tracks.
Nowadays, I pretty much stick to the speed limits (never break the 30 and 40mph ones), I ALWAYS indicate, particularly when passing parked vehicles and cyclists, and I pull in slightly to let motorbikes past.
The key to not having accidents, is anticipation, reaction and courtesy to other drivers - and of course hoping that nobody else stuffs up when you are near them.
I would class myself as average to good, always room for improvement.

real1314

Iceweasel wrote: »

OK - I see what you mean - although I didn't interpret it exactly as you do.

But ..... if someone was accepting and managing the level of risk on a deserted motorway and then chose to exceed the speed limit - would that still be sign of a good driver?

No traffic, clear view, good conditions - yeah, fine to exceed and still be rated as a good driver. There are plenty of drivers that the law accepts can, will and should do this, and they are regarded as good drivers.

All the examples you quote - yeah, they don't stop you being a good driver, and as above, the law accepts, allows and endorses drivers to do so.

Many countries allow the equivalent of a "left turn on red" - we don't, so does that stop all their drivers from being classed as good drivers?

Good driving (imho) is the ability to control the vehicle within the conditions, and in some ways, the faster/harder you can do that, the better a driver you are. Speeding doesn't necessarily make you a bad driver, just a law breaking one.

And as for a lawless society - I think that in many areas of life we don't have specific laws, many of us behave on the basis of "the right thing" without laws binding us to do so.

Iceweasel

real1314 wrote: »

No traffic, clear view, good conditions - yeah, fine to exceed and still be rated as a good driver. There are plenty of drivers that the law accepts can, will and should do this, and they are regarded as good drivers.

All the examples you quote - yeah, they don't stop you being a good driver, and as above, the law accepts, allows and endorses drivers to do so.

Many countries allow the equivalent of a "left turn on red" - we don't, so does that stop all their drivers from being classed as good drivers?

Good driving (imho) is the ability to control the vehicle within the conditions, and in some ways, the faster/harder you can do that, the better a driver you are. Speeding doesn't necessarily make you a bad driver, just a law breaking one.

And as for a lawless society - I think that in many areas of life we don't have specific laws, many of us behave on the basis of "the right thing" without laws binding us to do so.

I think this is called Anarchy - good luck with it.

Fine in theory - but try putting it into practise.

Joe_Horner

I haven't rated myself because I know my attitude to driving is good to excellent, and I know my car control is good. But I don't see that I can judge how well I put those together on the road.

I don't get stressed or annoyed at others mistakes, instead I try to anticipate and avoid them. I guess I'm doing ok at that because I haven't found myself in an "emergency" situation for over 20 years - a few close calls, but no full-on avoidance action.

I try to avoid harshness - if I find myself braking harder than a "normal" stop then I take that as a personal failure to anticipate (no matter what caused it) and try to work out how I could have avoided doing so. Similarly, if I find myself leaning hard on the tyres round a corner, then I've done something wrong.

I don't follow speed limits religiously, but will often be well below them if conditions dictate. I consider driving too close to be the cardinal sin that most people commit on the roads, and avoid doing it at all times.

Cars only ever crash into each other by getting too close to each other, and sitting half a second off someoone's rear bumper is NOT going to get you there any quicker. So you may as well back off and give yourself a safety bubble - uses less fuel, saves wear on the brakes etc, doesn't lose any time, and increases your chance of avoiding things that "weren't your fault" exponentially.

I'm happy to use all of the performance of what I'm driving when it's appropriate but equally happy to tootle along behind someone who isn't.

I try to make my intentions clear to other drivers at all times - their anticipation may not be as good as I hope mine is, so if they don't anticipate me when I do something unexpected that's MY fault for springing it on them.

I see driving very much as a privilege rather than a right and, as such, I have no more righht to the road than anyone else on it.

I can drive on tarmac, mud, snow and floods without losing control, and I've played enough off road to know that I've got a good chance of regaining control if I do lose it. But I'm happy that that sort of thing is NOT for a road which others may be using.

But I have no idea how many drivers I've upset or left taking emergency actions because of my mistakes. I'm not aware of ever doing so, but if my awareness is less than I aim for then I wouldn't be, would I?

So all I can say is that I aim[/] for excellence but I can't have any idea whether or not I achieve it..

goonarmy

Obviously the vast majority of people are average, thats how average works. Regardless of what quality that average standard of driving is. Any way, the maths say that over half think they are better than average so far. Therein lies the problem.

Iceweasel

goonarmy wrote: »

Obviously the vast majority of people are average, thats how average works. Regardless of what quality that average standard of driving is. Any way, the maths say that over half think they are better than average so far. Therein lies the problem.

Ah, but I'm thinking the below average or poor drivers wouldn't even dream of logging into a motoring forum.

Chiefly because they already know everything that's worth knowing.