Those interesting drivers are still out there!

[Frank Lee]

Well... yeah... but some rural people do have emergencies that are best served by hauling *** to town rather than waiting for ? to 1: FIND the place 2: get there.

[jtbo]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Well... yeah... but some rural people do have emergencies that are best served by hauling *** to town rather than waiting for ? to 1: FIND the place 2: get there.

Sure, some are indeed such, like injuries by accidents etc.

But getting there should remain ahead of going as fast as possible, at rural area one should have skills in defensive driving for those cases.

If there are close accidents, others have to jump on brakes etc. then one is doing it wrong, no matter what the emergency is.


I wish that information of these kind of clips would be available readily to every driver. In UK advanced driving is term, I don't know if in US defensive driving contains this part too, but basic idea is to go fast without trying to go fast.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Yqyv7XR1kU

When doing emergency driving one must be smooth, never try to go 100%, leaving enough time for surprises, I like to do all my driving this way planning ahead even I do hypermiling under speed limit, especially on our hills speed is decreasing with almost every driver here, there is always few too busy to think that don't slow for anything.

If better driving is anyone's interest, then I recommend watching rest of videos from that Advancedbiker youtube user, there is many good points in them, even those are for motorbikes, it is pretty much same with cars.

If everyone would apply those points to use, then there would be a lot less close accidents and other surprises on road.

edit: Oh yes, with circuit racing, I did learned early that going slower is going faster, braking early, making apex applying power earlier makes a lot, again it is opposite what initially my emotion tells, but so it always is.

[itjstagame]

Originally Posted by jtbo

I have just healthy self-esteem so I can ignore anyone around me

That sounds better than the mega-apathy that I exude :-).

On a side note, thinking about it, it's easier to avoid wild animals because at least they're predictable....

[Soichiro]

The problem here in the US is that getting a license is far too easy. Compared to what I've heard of driving tests in Europe, where if you make one mistake, you fail, here in the US, you can make a bunch of mistakes and basically pass as long as you don't run a red light or get in a wreck. (Ironically, there are STILL a decent number of people here who manage to fail the driving tests...) Americans suck at driving, basically.

[ps2fixer]

Originally Posted by Soichiro

The problem here in the US is that getting a license is far too easy. Compared to what I've heard of driving tests in Europe, where if you make one mistake, you fail, here in the US, you can make a bunch of mistakes and basically pass as long as you don't run a red light or get in a wreck. (Ironically, there are STILL a decent number of people here who manage to fail the driving tests...) Americans suck at driving, basically.

Agreed, If I remember right, the Michigan test you can loose 6 points. So if you can park a car well, but can't drive, you can pass fine. Or if you can't park and don't get caught doing too many things wrong, you pass. I think the parking section is like 7 points if you fail everything and the road test is only when you make mistakes, speeding etc.

[99metro]

"Americans suck at driving, basically."

All our driving rules can be summed up to: "Do what everyone else does".

If a cop were to secretly hide with nearly every driver, and hand out a ticket for every infraction... each person could get dozens of tickets over a very short commute. Yes, Americans in general are very lazy and very bad drivers. Very.

[Flakbadger]

I just had an "interesting" driver yesterday. I was doing the traffic-jam accordion game, trying to keep a constant speed. I'm getting very good at it, mind you (trying hard to not have to play with a clutch all the time helps!). This guy in his giant F-2150 whips out of the left lane and floors it in the right lane, zooming up on my bumper at about 40 mph while I am driving 15 or so. He proceeds to get RIGHT on my bumper, flash his lights, then move even closer when I blink my brake lights as a sign of acknowledgement.
When he whipped back into the left lane (almost taking a portion of my bumper with him) and my lane continued to move, while his stopped a short time later, I waved at him.
It was actually pretty scary, because I figured getting into a collision with him wouldn't end well.
But what did he want me to do? Tailgate the car in front of me?
At that particular time, there were only 2 or 3 car lengths between us, and the gap was closing.
It's unfortunate that people in gargantuan pickups sometimes lack big-picture thinking skills, and more unfortunate still that people like this are allowed to drive on our roads.

[rollercoaster]

Originally Posted by Flakbadger

It's unfortunate that people in gargantuan pickups sometimes lack big-picture thinking skills, and more unfortunate still that people like this are allowed to drive on our roads.

My rule of thumb is, "the bigger the vehicle- the more incompetent the driver". Although I usually apply this exclusively to SUV drivers. (aka women)

[Soichiro]

Originally Posted by rollercoaster

My rule of thumb is, "the bigger the vehicle- the more incompetent the driver". Although I usually apply this exclusively to SUV drivers. (aka women)

Nope, in my experience it applies equally well to people who drive pickups. I've been run off the road before by a pickup driver (stereotypical redneck) who cut me off, and last week I got hit by a woman driving an SUV who ran a red light because she was on her cell phone. Who also didn't have insurance.

The ironic part is that her car ended up with practically no damage, while my car's body is completely messed up. >_< There is no justice in the world.

[user removed]

Originally Posted by Flakbadger

I just had an "interesting" driver yesterday. I was doing the traffic-jam accordion game, trying to keep a constant speed. I'm getting very good at it, mind you (trying hard to not have to play with a clutch all the time helps!). This guy in his giant F-2150 whips out of the left lane and floors it in the right lane, zooming up on my bumper at about 40 mph while I am driving 15 or so. He proceeds to get RIGHT on my bumper, flash his lights, then move even closer when I blink my brake lights as a sign of acknowledgement.
When he whipped back into the left lane (almost taking a portion of my bumper with him) and my lane continued to move, while his stopped a short time later, I waved at him.
It was actually pretty scary, because I figured getting into a collision with him wouldn't end well.
But what did he want me to do? Tailgate the car in front of me?
At that particular time, there were only 2 or 3 car lengths between us, and the gap was closing.
It's unfortunate that people in gargantuan pickups sometimes lack big-picture thinking skills, and more unfortunate still that people like this are allowed to drive on our roads.

Especially ironic since the mega truck driver has the visibility to better anticipate the oscillations in traffic flow. Of course visibility does not compensate for the perfect vacuum between his ears.

regards
Mech