Driving Habits

Be honest - are you a good driver? Do you get road rage? Do you hate driving, or avoid it altogether?

Arizona's drivers are pretty oblivious. No one users their signals, they speed 20 miles over the limit. On top of that, we get the snow birds who migrate here for six months of the year who drive 45 miles an hour on the freeway and 30 miles an hour on the city roads. Awful.

That being said, I'm a pretty vocal driver. I don't necessarily yell at other people, I just kindof yell in my car and use hand motions. It makes me feel better.

To be entirely honest, anyone who has driven with me has told me I'm a very good driver. Even my psycho backseat driver father admits it, after I wheedle him enough.

With that said, I'm a very fast driver. Like, no less than 85 mph on the highway/parkway unless there is a cop nearby. A safe driver, for sure, who always checks their blinds and uses their blinkers, and I never speed in small residential areas, but a fast driver everywhere else, regardless. That's why I'm called the cautious lead foot of the family. XD

I drive a lot, because of constant commuting. When I go back to college, I'll be commuting almost 2 hours everyday. So I'm so completely fed up with asshole drivers. I used to just deal with people who cut me off in 4 way intersections. I used to never honk my horn and just be patient. Smile and drive off.

No more.

Now I blare my horn at them like a giant BMW driving asshole. I think it's the fact that I have a new car, a brand new 2010 Toyota, so now I'm super defensive. People on Long Island can't drive and my Dad will murder me if this new car is damaged in any way.

I tell off people who park too close. I blare my horn. I scream at people who nearly side-swipe me. I don't care. The last thing I need is my beautiful red car to be damaged, especially by some inferiority complex who is driving some beat up piece of crap and wants to hate on people with nice cars. I swear, people really are like that. I see it all the time, in parking lots, assholes parking an inch away from a Benz and scratching their door on it when they get out of the car, just to be spiteful. Makes me sick to my stomach.

And just as I typed that, I realized I truly am my father's child.

ITT everyone maintains they are superb drivers and everyone else is a useless blind/drunk chucklehead

I'm an excellent driver when I have a tank. Everything else gets right the smurf out of your way, I can tell you.

I drive like a flaming moron. People don't like to be my passenger. *shame*

I stand corrected. Amanda's candidness sideswiped me.

I think I'll have Jeremy drive me around when I go to California sometime, now! XD

I am an awesome driver, ridiculously bad at parking, and since I'm from LA, I was raised to fuel the inner road rage. ROAD RAAAAGE!

I try not to honk/flip off old people though. They may be the worst drivers, but c'mon. You can't yell at old people.

I got a ticket for speeding in Arizona by those cameras. Totally ignored it. You ain't getting my money, you god awful state!

Yeah, that's my one thing I can't do, yell or honk at old people. I'll freak out when I let someone ahead of me and then they drive 30 MILES AN HOUR ON A HIGHWAY, but then when I see they're a little grandma/grandpa, I just go around and play nice.

But dammit, I'll honk at minivan moms driving 30 mph on the parkway. I don't care if you have a little league soccer team in your van. DRIVE THE LIMIT OR GET OUT.

EDIT: I'll add that while I'm OK at parking, and really good at reversing into spots super evenly, I am absolutely the worst at parallel parking, since you don't have to do it in the suburbs, so I never really practiced it. I actually tried it outside of a road test once, and drove away in shame when I couldn't. XD

I'm an excellent driver, in that I can handle a car like a beast. I'm not exactly the kind of driver you'd probably like to be on the road, but I'm always very in control of my car.

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Originally Posted by I'm my own MILF

I stand corrected. Amanda's candidness sideswiped me.

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My driving record is not something that can simply be ignored.

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Originally Posted by Rye

I think I'll have Jeremy drive me around when I go to California sometime, now! XD

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That's probably for the best. Jeremy is a good driver and he knows all the best places to go better than I do anyway.

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Originally Posted by Miriel

I try not to honk/flip off old people though. They may be the worst drivers, but c'mon. You can't yell at old people.

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Agreed. Though, contrary to what my driving skills might suggest, I do not carry the road rage gene.

I agree with not terrorizing old people on the road. As much as I might want to.

I actually refuse to get my learner's permit. Ever. :bigsmile:

I've not gotten a ticket, and people tell me I'm a fairly good driver. I've been pulled over twice but flirted my way out.

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Originally Posted by Laddy

I actually refuse to get my learner's permit. Ever. :bigsmile:

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Um... why?

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Originally Posted by NorthernChaosGod

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Originally Posted by Laddy

I actually refuse to get my learner's permit. Ever. :bigsmile:

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Um... why?

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I'm scared. :cry:

I can parallel park and I reverse into my parking spots whenever possible for practice. If you forced me to get my license again I'll ace the test NP.

Am I good at driving? Meh, probably not good to you. I am Asian, after all.

\ _ /

I get conflicting reports about my driving. Some people say I'm awful. Others say I'm pretty good. Personally, I think I'm a pretty smooth driver who could work on braking earlier. I don't speed much because I'm all about fuel efficiency and conservation, so I try to keep the revs low. As a result, I rarely get above the limit, but on long stretches of straight road (which Sydney has surprisingly little of), my little Corolla might just creep into the 70kmph zone.

I am a damn good parker though. Parallel, reverse perpendicular, on a slope. I am smurfing awesome. Parking sensors are for n00bs.

I hate these types of drivershttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...these_guys.jpg

I need to add that I have severe road rage attacks. Everybody pisses me off and when I want to drive fast nobody drives fast enough ><

I'm a great driver. I drive 3 MPH over the speed limit and hit CRUISE CONTROL. Everywhere.

I'm a good driver, but I tend to speed. This is exemplified by me getting a speeding ticket last week and still being very unhappy about it, and not appreciating how paranoid I am now about my speed.

I get angry a lot when I drive, but it's not really road rage. I'm too civil about it. "Well, he is making a very poor decision right now!" One of these days I'm going to snap and rip off a windshield wiper and beat someone with it.

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Originally Posted by Clo

I get angry a lot when I drive, but it's not really road rage. I'm too civil about it. "Well, he is making a very poor decision right now!" One of these days I'm going to snap and rip off a windshield wiper and beat someone with it.

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You've just described me exactly. There have been times where I quietly seeth when I'm in a bad mood and someone does something jerky, but most of the time, I give people the benefit of the doubt and tell myself "oh well, maybe he's in a hurry.." or "maybe he was fiddling with the radio.."

I'm a great driver!

Provided I'm not singing at the top of my lungs, I yell and scream and swear like a lumberjack when behind the wheel. Good drivers piss me off. In spite of that, I like to think I can drive about without endangering any lives. I haven't had an crash or run someone down yet so, so far so good.

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Originally Posted by Mo-Nercy

I hate these types of drivershttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...these_guys.jpg

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However if someone does this to me, I will drive 10 centimetres from the car in front to stop them from getting in. :D

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Originally Posted by Mo-Nercy

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Originally Posted by Clo

I get angry a lot when I drive, but it's not really road rage. I'm too civil about it. "Well, he is making a very poor decision right now!" One of these days I'm going to snap and rip off a windshield wiper and beat someone with it.

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You've just described me exactly. There have been times where I quietly seeth when I'm in a bad mood and someone does something jerky, but most of the time, I give people the benefit of the doubt and tell myself "oh well, maybe he's in a hurry.." or "maybe he was fiddling with the radio.."

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Hey look it's me!

Uh yeah I'm not a fantastic driver. I'm sure I'll be better with practice. At least I'm not likely to cause any accidents, unless there are roundabouts involved. Those things elude me.*

* I don't mean your typical three or four exit things. I mean ~7 exits, possibly lights, a big view obstructing thing in the middle and double lanes with impatient city driving bastards who can't handle a 2 second delay to make sure I'm not going to t-bone anybody. But I manage.

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Originally Posted by Laddy

I actually refuse to get my learner's permit. Ever. :bigsmile:

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Good for you!

I don't have a licence, so yeah.. I guess I'm a bad driver. It's not like I had it taken away from me, though! I simply chose not to get one.

are you a good driver?
Mostly no one on the East Coast is a good driver. I mean c'mon. The best you can get is "okay driver" over here on a good day.

Do you get road rage?
Not really except when I have some where important to be and someone is driving really slow. The only thing I do though is go, "Wtf why is that person driving so slow?" My dad has extreme road rage. He got out of the car a few times to kick someone's ass and he proclaims to be an "excellent driver".

Do you hate driving, or avoid it altogether?
I don't hate it, but I'm not crazy about it. I tend to carpool and take a train since driving in NYC is hell.

I drove once in midtown Manhattan to pick up my father after he gotten into an accident at work, and it was the most hellish experience of my life. Only time I ever got pulled over by a cop, though I didn't get a ticket because he saw I had an injured father in the car.

All I can say is that none of you guys would be able to drive in Karachi....

I don't drive, well not legally in the uk though I have done some driving in the past, with an automatic I'm fine with a manual I just need more practice with clutching and changing gears. Because of my lack of liscence and therefore insurance when I have driven on the roads if anything I have been overly cautious with the car always obeying the speed limits and such.

However I will say I think I'm pretty damn fair cop at driving off road. In Egypt I got to drive a dune buggy, now before everyone says this is easily done I noticed all the instructions on the veichle warn that at speed it could tip at the slightest thing and that when it's stopped in soft sand it is likely to get bogged down. I was driving this dune buggy at maximum speed and due to the fact that we were in convoy I had to stop in soft/deep sand, I ended up bogged in but instead of getting assistance or getting out and pushing my dune buggy out I managed to accellerate and steer through the situation just fine maintaining full control over the buggy even when it eventually bit and then twisted off the standstill (well I was pedal to the metal at the time) even the guys who drove them all the time out there were like "nice going you did well, especially when we saw your buggy get bogged down back there" I felt soo smug especially since my ex was going on about how she could've done better.

I am a pretty good driver but I get massive road rage due to the amount of ridiculously retarded drivers that live in my city. I rant and rave, flail my arms around, and curse wildly while I drive down the interstate because people don't ever use their god damn blinkers.

I'm a pretty good driver. I don't think I'm great, but more so just that the vast majority of people are retarded, and therefore are retarded drivers. I speed a bit, and usually don't get much road rage beyond momentary irritation. I use turn signals for every turn or lane change and constantly watch my mirrors; most importantly, I also stay right and pass left.

I consider myself a somewhat worse driver than my dad. I can parallel park well, but he's better. He's also more patient on the road, likely due to having to drive very long distances all the time.

I think im a mediocre driver, I can reverse perpendicular park really well but suck at foward perpendicular parking. I dont get angry on the road very often, Im ok with people cutting me off as long as they indicate before they do it so i can let them in or slow down and get some distance. I dont go over the limit since I feel going the limit is a true test of mental endurance, anyone can speed, it takes a person with strong will to go the limit for a month without going mad.

Then again I catch the train whenever I can so maybe my relaxed attitude hasnt been worn away by years of driving.

I still freak out at yellow lights though when Im not sure if i should slow down or keep going.
Also sometimes I forget to turn my lights on at night if there are alot of street lights around.

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Originally Posted by Clo

I'm a good driver, but I tend to speed. This is exemplified by me getting a speeding ticket last week and still being very unhappy about it, and not appreciating how paranoid I am now about my speed.

I get angry a lot when I drive, but it's not really road rage. I'm too civil about it. "Well, he is making a very poor decision right now!" One of these days I'm going to snap and rip off a windshield wiper and beat someone with it.

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I smurfing love you.

Also, who wants to go drifting with me? :cool:

When I was a kid, my parents were driving down the interstate in California and some dude with really bad road rage cut my step-dad off. In response, he cut the dude off a short time later. In response to that, the guy tried to attack my parent's car with a sword.

While driving.

On the interstate.

Going like 90 mph.

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Originally Posted by Bunny

When I was a kid, my parents were driving down the interstate in California and some dude with really bad road rage cut my step-dad off. In response, he cut the dude off a short time later. In response to that, the guy tried to attack my parent's car with a sword.

While driving.

On the interstate.

Going like 90 mph.

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That dude is just full of win.

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Originally Posted by o_O

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Originally Posted by Mo-Nercy

I hate these types of drivershttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...these_guys.jpg

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However if someone does this to me, I will drive 10 centimetres from the car in front to stop them from getting in. :D

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Agreed. Nobody should allow him / her in if that is done. He/she can stay there all day if he wants.

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Originally Posted by ShlupQuack

I drive like a flaming moron. People don't like to be my passenger. *shame*

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I was a passenger in your car at least three times, and I didn't notice any bad driving. =O

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Originally Posted by Bunny

When I was a kid, my parents were driving down the interstate in California and some dude with really bad road rage cut my step-dad off. In response, he cut the dude off a short time later. In response to that, the guy tried to attack my parent's car with a sword.

While driving.

On the interstate.

Going like 90 mph.

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Best story ever, everybody else go home.

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Originally Posted by Clo

Best story ever, everybody else go home.

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Yeah, well so is your face.

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Originally Posted by Bunny

When I was a kid, my parents were driving down the interstate in California and some dude with really bad road rage cut my step-dad off. In response, he cut the dude off a short time later. In response to that, the guy tried to attack my parent's car with a sword.

While driving.

On the interstate.

Going like 90 mph.

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http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...af0c1bc8a8.jpg

Before I got my car everyone expected me to have the worst road rage ever, but i'm actually more patient whilst driving than I am anywhere else. I'm so empathetic to every other driver on the road, I just can't get angry at them, I just accept it as an honest mistake and drive off :)

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Originally Posted by o_O

Provided I'm not singing at the top of my lungs, I yell and scream and swear like a lumberjack when behind the wheel. Good drivers piss me off. In spite of that, I like to think I can drive about without endangering any lives. I haven't had an crash or run someone down yet so, so far so good.

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Originally Posted by Mo-Nercy

I hate these types of drivershttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...these_guys.jpg

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However if someone does this to me, I will drive 10 centimetres from the car in front to stop them from getting in. :D

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Men after my own heart.

I'm a speeder known to reach speeds of 95 especially if I'm on a major interstate like 95 or 40, but I do not speed in residential or business areas. Basically if there's a sidewalk, I won't speed. I use my signals, I check my blindspots, I drive with my mirrors, I follow the 2 second rule and I don't cruise in the passing lane. I move out of the way for emergency vehicles and I don't try to beat them to the punch. I do tend to keep my radio up too loud.

But God help you if you piss me off. I have road rage in a way that would make your daddy cry. For example, driving out of the city I work in back towards my house there are 3 ways to go. One is an interstate. One goes through town, the other goes along the river. There is a lane closure on the interstate, so the other ways get majorly backed up, and the one I take home most often (through town) is no exception. There was a lady tailgating me today. Some comments.

"Why the smurf are you so close to me?"
"Stop riding my smurfing tailgate you heinous bitch."
"What the smurf is wrong with you? Did your smurfing cell phone kill off what was left of your goddamn braincells in your smurfing misshaped head and lead you to lose your spatial reasoning?"
"smurfing bitch, if you're going to climb up my ass you should buy me dinner first."
"WHAT THE smurf IS WRONG WITH YOU YOU GODDAMN PIECE OF :bou::bou::bou::bou: MORON???? DID YOU LOSE AN EYE AND YOUR DEPTH PERCEPTION?! smurf YOU!"

And then I brake-checked her and threw and apple core at her. Someday, I will get murdered for this.

I think I'm a good driver. But hugely aggressive. And if I want to drive fast, and someone is preventing me from doing it, I start swearing at them. I also applaud people who do dumb stuff on the road.

But I think speeding laws are ridiculous, because speed hasn't killed anyone. Crashes kill people. So, surely you should be tested on your driving ability and the speed limit should adjust to that? I like this idea.

foa, you sound exactly like me on the highway. You've written down some of my exact thoughts while driving. XD

I scream them. You should too, it feels good to get all of my pent up frustration out.

I find the most frustrating thing driving is when I'm in a dual carriageway, and there are 2 cars driving side-by-side, so basically no-one can overtake.

You guys drive slow. I've been known to reach speeds of 110+ on freeways or even local roads.

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Originally Posted by champagne supernova

But I think speeding laws are ridiculous, because speed hasn't killed anyone. Crashes kill people. So, surely you should be tested on your driving ability and the speed limit should adjust to that? I like this idea.

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The biggest problem with speed limits is that they're designed so that people speed, so that cops can pull over people whenever they want. It's a cash cow. Many traffic laws, especially speed limits, are a tax, not a safety measure.

I actually looked into this once. The studies I found (including cited on some state DoT websites) show that the safest speed limit is right around the speed that the 85 percentile of drivers would cruise at. It's telling that almost no one except maybe 0.01% of people actually goes under the speed limit. If speed limits were increased ~10 mph on most highways, you'd have much more people going a more similar speed (the standard deviation would go down, meaning less people passing at greater speeds, meaning increased actual safety).

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Originally Posted by Raistlin

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Originally Posted by champagne supernova

But I think speeding laws are ridiculous, because speed hasn't killed anyone. Crashes kill people. So, surely you should be tested on your driving ability and the speed limit should adjust to that? I like this idea.

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The biggest problem with speed limits is that they're designed so that people speed, so that cops can pull over people whenever they want. It's a cash cow. Many traffic laws, especially speed limits, are a tax, not a safety measure.

I actually looked into this once. The studies I found (including cited on some state DoT websites) show that the safest speed limit is right around the speed that the 85 percentile of drivers would cruise at. It's telling that almost no one except maybe 0.01% of people actually goes under the speed limit. If speed limits were increased ~10 mph on most highways, you'd have much more people going a more similar speed (the standard deviation would go down, meaning less people passing at greater speeds, meaning increased actual safety).

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I would imagine that's why there is also the whole "go with the flow of traffic" thing, at least in California, they have going on.

Is the state or local governments sponsoring that? Because that would surprise me... as that actually makes sense and would help increase safety.

I've always had a "go with the flow of traffic" mentality, which is almost always 5 miles above the speed limit. There's a road I drive down constantly during the summer, and repetition has made it clear that everyone is going to go 50 when it's 45 and 45 when it's 40 when there is traffic.

Of course, this same mentality leads me to think, no one in front of me = DRIVE, DRIVE, DRIVE!

Woo was in a car accident ~2 hours ago. Got rear ended on the freeway :monster: I wasn't driving so you can't even pretend it was my fault :colbert:

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Originally Posted by champagne supernova

I think I'm a good driver. But hugely aggressive. And if I want to drive fast, and someone is preventing me from doing it, I start swearing at them. I also applaud people who do dumb stuff on the road.

But I think speeding laws are ridiculous, because speed hasn't killed anyone. Crashes kill people. So, surely you should be tested on your driving ability and the speed limit should adjust to that? I like this idea.

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A good idea in theory but impossible to govern.

When driving on interstates, highways, and roads that don't get heavy traffic, I typically go ~5 miles over the given speed limit. I also go slightly lower than the speed limit at night, as my vision isn't perfect and the area around here is densely populated by deer and other suicidal wildlife.

I've yet to get in an accident or be pulled over by a police officer. I have had a few near accidents involving other cars but those were, more often than not, the fault of the other person. There has been a few times where I got distracted by an attractive girl in a bikini or very short skirt though.

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Originally Posted by Raistlin

Is the state or local governments sponsoring that? Because that would surprise me... as that actually makes sense and would help increase safety.

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I'm pretty sure it's state since the subject is on the written portion of the license test.