Home › Forums › Stay Dirty Lounge › ETCG1 Video Discussions › Are You a Safe Driver?
- This topic has 9 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 7 months ago by Jason White.
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April 4, 2016 at 2:10 pm #855595
I realize some of us may think we’re safe drivers, but are we really?
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April 4, 2016 at 5:19 pm #855602
I try to be, but at the end of the day I’m a mistake prone human being despite using all my experience, and attention maintaining techniques to effect good driving habits. I can’t change what other people do on the road and generally don’t get angry about it and try to leave plenty of time for my journeys so i’m not in a hurry and it’s easy to brush these things off , if i do get too angry i pull over and try to get the anger out my system. I also prefer to give way let people go, trying to do my bit to put other people in a better mood and hopefully make the roads a little bit safer.
Too many of the speed limits are a joke, The 85% percentile rule has given way to crazy low speed limits designed to make peoples attention drift making the roads more dangerous.. To make things worse the day i actually speed particularly when i don’t want to be making a journey or when i’m late is the day i get caught in a speed trap, last time very recently over a 1km away braked immediately when i saw the van parked in that layby, however with no other traffic on the road going the absolute minimum speed the trap can catch me they got me just coming into vision. there goes my clean driving licence for 4 years and £60. Typical.
April 4, 2016 at 7:08 pm #855608Am i a safe driver? i guess that depends on the persons opinion.
As far as city driving is concerned I suck, there have been a couple of times i have almost been in accidents because i don’t drive in the city much and all the hustle and bustle confuses me. It seems everyone in the city just turns their situational awareness off and just does as they do, while i want to know everything that is going on at once, and in the city that is a lot to process, so i get myself in trouble sometimes, but i have never been in a accident that has been my fault.
the second thing is i am a lead foot, but typically in town or when there are people around i find i am a more conservative driver out of all my friends, i stop earlier for the most part anyway, but as far as my driving on my favorite country back roads are concerned i guess you could say i am an animal of a different kind at that point, i like to test the corners when the roads are dry, late braking, ill take the turns hard… and there have been a few times i have had the car up to speed on those old back roads that i know really well where no one ever is.
also on the freeway i just match the speed of the fastest car, 80-85MPH is typical in that case, but here in Michigan especually in the detroit area that is common traveling speed, especially in the Detroit area where you can be pulled over for going the speed limit, and everyone is bumper to bumper at 90MPH
April 4, 2016 at 8:02 pm #855617I like to think so. But I think part of being a safe driver comes along with how you maintain your vehicle. I have some people where I work — specifically this guy with a BMW — wears his tires to the cords, guns his engine right after starting it, etc. He drives like an idiot and maintains/treats his car poorly. When you have a blowout on the highway cause your cords have been showing for a month, you become an unsafe driver. A car with a blown tire at 70MPH is hard to hold on to by any standard of measurement.
April 5, 2016 at 6:16 am #855655All I could think during this video was “wow! That fairmont has some amazing visibility.” There isn’t a car around nowadays that gives you that view from all sides.
April 5, 2016 at 2:12 pm #855659[quote=”abair0321″ post=163119]All I could think during this video was “wow! That fairmont has some amazing visibility.” There isn’t a car around nowadays that gives you that view from all sides.[/quote]
Good point.
April 5, 2016 at 2:16 pm #855660I’ve been reading through the comments here and on the video and it seems many of us are of the same opinion. Most of us consider ourselves ‘marginal’ drivers. There are certain times where we obey the laws, and others where we don’t. Mostly if laws are broken, certain circumstances need to be met.
I got a lot of different feedback on tailgating. That seems to be an area where many people differ.
I even had a few people tell me they think less of me now that I’ve talked about my driving habits.
At the end of the day it seems many of us think alike. I think that’s pretty cool.
Thanks to everyone that’s contributed an opinion on this one.
April 5, 2016 at 8:52 pm #855690well here is my opinion eric.
Most of the traffic laws such as speed limits I think in the city are reasonable, because the human body can only react so fast to an emergency, so the speed limits are very reasonable. some kid runs across the street in front of me, i want to stop the car instantly, and i can feel it, if i go any faster than the speed limit through most parts of town, i wouldn’t be able to stop the car fast enough, and then i would probably kill that kid, and his parents would be damaged for the rest of their lives, and i would have to live with that guilt.
On the other hand, the country back roads…. i think sometimes the speed limits could defenetly be faster! when their are nothing but corn fields for miles and miles… and the speed limit is only 55… that was speed limits set back when cars had drum brakes, tires half as wide, and weighed twice as much, some had no power brakes, and didn’t have near the safety features they do today! and no one goes 55 anymore, its always 60 and the police don’t give a crap, and on the freeways as said before, everyone is already going 90MPH at times, go the speed limit and you can get pulled over. The issue we now have is some people again are just stupid drivers, can’t drive a car to save there life, texting and driving for example, see people do it all the time, wish people would stop, because all it takes is that split second when you aren’t looking on your phone and something happens and you’re dead.
April 6, 2016 at 5:36 am #855745NOPE!! It’s not to say that I don’t want to be. In most cases I want to be I’m not going to lie. I like to keep my car in good shape. I just don’t have the time in the day per say. I have training in driving past the normal person. It is not an excuse. I just use that to my advantage. I know how to be safe but I drive fast. I need to get to school on time and to work. I am a full time student and full time worker so any time I get a chance at free time I take it. One day I am sure I will be eventually but time is money at this point.
April 12, 2016 at 10:02 am #856145The DMV and my insurance company think I am so that’s good enough. I haven’t been in an collision nor have I caused any in a very long time, probably 15 years. I haven’t had a ticket in I think 8 years. I am an assertive driver. I do drive fast, corner hard, I may tailgate (It’s Atlanta) but I have room to stop. Always have an out of every driving situation. Trust nobody, and assume they are going to try to plow into you.
I know people who swear they are great drivers yet have lots of accidents. Then there are those who never are faulted but seem to get into accidents all of the time. 0 defensive driving skills.
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