I was thinking that most people think they're quite good at driving. Yet where I live I see tons of stupid things done in a 3,000 lb 30 mph vehicle. Those are, of course, the silly masses and I was just wondering if the community of metacritic was aware of their own abilities behind the wheel.

I will admit that I am a rather a poor driver, though, I am 18 and I don't have much experience. I do, however, go the speed limit and I'm probably one of those drivers you speed demons out there get annoyed at. I ain't no grandma, though.

Ok, this isn't fair, but I've been driving for 35 years, and although I've had my share of "problems", I've been in no accidents and gotten no tickets in the last 19 years. (Well, I got one for speeding in New Zealand two years ago, but I won't count that ) I have gotten so into checking every mirror non-stop, so I pretty much make sure I know where I am and everybody else is. I really believe that's the key to being a good driver. I always pick out several people around me who are serious concerns for my safety, and as long as I avoid them it seems to work.

My flippin' speeding ticket in NZ was a result of a road with lots of up-and-down curves and an overly-overachieving cop. There was no reason he should have given me a ticket; when we went to check his "radar", the plug had pulled out and there was no number at all!! But, he made me feel welcome by telling me that "it doesn't matter." My wife made me pay the sucka; like I wasn't going to be allowed back into Nirvana if I didn't pay!

Am I a good driver? It would depend on who ya ask, I suppose. I, personally, think I'm a wonderful driver. I've never been involved in a collision (that was MY fault, anyway). I've gotten a few speeding tickets, but they were on back country roads where the urge to speed is a tad hard to resist. It's also been over 10 years since my last ticket. Not since I was a teen. I also have pretty good reflexes. HOWEVER, I was a delivery driver for nearly 10 years & I'm very comfortable behind the wheel. I pull some maneuvers that look dangerous or crazy, but I always have control. It's these maneuvers that would probably have some people say that I'm a terrible driver. Once again, though, I haven't been at fault in a single crash since I've had my license 13 years now & my record is still clean. My wife has had hers, 8 years & she's had at least 3 accidents that I know of! All her fault.

Please go to the chat!

Might as well own up to my car problems. The day before my driving test, my mom, worried that I would fail like my sister did 2x, drove me up to the DMV and we followed around the tester and testee. Then, on the way back, I'm trying to pull out into the street and another guys is trying to pull in and we nudge each other going at 1 mph. It was my fault. The only problem was: we were across the street from a police station (i'm not sure what monkey boy in this situation) and the other guy was a county worker. I got off with a warning from the police officer who was very nice, monkey boy. Talk about karma.

A few weeks ago, I'm driving my sister and her friends somewhere and I'm taking a right out of my driveway. On the other side of the street is a mail truck that is just sitting there. My driveway has a nice bush that obstructs the view somewhat. So I pull out and boom half a second later the neighborhood slut (sorry but true) going 50 mph (in a 25 mph zone) hits me because she had to pass the mail truck. I didn't even see her. I figured though she was in the wrong because she is not allowed to pass a federal vehicle and enter the wrong lane and she was going 50 mph. 3 strikes against her, right? Nah, the cop pinned it on me. So now our insurance company has pissed in their pants because they're so excited that an 18 year old male got into an accident and our rates are very nice. So now I don't like driving much. It probably was a little my fault but come on!

My wife & brother both have had the same type of thing happen to 'em. My brother was pulling out of the grocery store parking lot & a guy who was speeding ran into him. My brother was angry that it was deemed his fault because he would've made it if not for this jerk speeding in a 35 mph zone. My wife, very stupidly, decided to go to the bank. Why was it stupid? Our bank happens to be in front of the baseball & football stadiums (Kauffman Stadium) & there was a football game going on. She had to take a left to get into the bank, but this required her to have to cross 2 lanes of 45+ mph traffic & there was alot of traffic because the game was just lettin' out. I don't know what she was thinkin' exactly, but when a driver stopped to wave her through, she never considered that there was a car in the other lane who wasn't as considerate. Right when she goes to make her turn, WHAM! She called me to tell me what happened & that it wasn't her fault, but I told her how this was gonna go down: It was her fault. Yep, she was mad at me for telling her that, but I wasn't wrong. She also hates that I'm never wrong, too !

As far as speeding tickets go, I've picked up a couple, the last one being eleven years ago.

Wrecks- none caused by me. My 2000 Toyota Camry seems to be a wreck magnet though. Two rear end crashes and two parking lot hit-and-runs. Plus one metaphysical, supernatural, Twilight Zone-like pseudo-wreck in Illinois that I may never understand what really happened.

quote:

one metaphysical, supernatural, Twilight Zone-like

please continue. you really shouldn't cliffhanger something when you make it sound so interesting, even if its one of those alien like abduction stories that is in the back of your mind that it might have happened and there is some physical evidence but you really don't know if it was a dream. still, lay it down.

He has mentioned it previously. I believe it involves something similar to the scene from Grindhouse's Death Trap where a car basically decapitates several people. Somehow it passed through crazed's car and body and went off to the UFO Hall of Fame, but it's in the basement Top Secret Wing.

Yeah, me and the other driver intersected and psuedo-collided at the same point on the highway at the same time. I pulled over a few feet away while at the same moment she (the other driver) pulled over half a block away. I felt a strange calming Twilight Zone aura. When looking over at her, I could see insanity warping in. Two cars that had been a few carlinks behind me for an hour or so had pulled over. One driver was smiling a too blissful smile, The other driver was waving and pointing and shaking his head too dramatically. Much as I wanted to know what really occured, I decided against asking any questions to these people. There was too much strange behaviour going on in central Illinois that morning. So, I'm thinking maybe her truck phased through my car. Or maybe I'm a ghost in the metacritic machine.

http://s178.photobucket.com/albums/w268/nhazghaal/?acti...nWayneWasAFaggot.jpg

If any of you haven't seen Repo Man, shame on you go do it.

But to be serious, I like this topic. Because I've noticed going driving with (mostly my parents) people I know, almost every driver I'm with has a pension to yell at other drives...at least a moderate amount, so it occurred to me fairly early on "wait...so you're a perfect driver eh?" Seems to me the two acceptable attitudes are 1) I'm perfect at it so I can yell at every mistake I see (lawl) or 2) I'm not perfect so I should deal with it. I mean I know some things are just crazy and should be yelled at but this is like...that guy didn't let me in so he's an asshole, or that guy changed lines on a dime so he's a dangerous dick. Anyway, I hate humanity.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Nhazghaal,

I speed everywhere I go generally. I'm just not a very big supporter of mundane laws, and to me speeding is one of them. What's the difference if I go ten miles an hour over the 'suggested speed?' I think a lot of traffic laws are only tools that cities use to make revenue. Especially considering how prevelant quotas are now in law enforcement. I drive what I feel capable of driving, if It's poring rain, I generally go well below the speed limit, because that is what's safe, I drive according to my abilities and knowledge of the road. I've never been in an accident in my lifetime, but have gotten countless speeding violations. And don't even get me started on the 'click it or ticket' bs.

With regards to 'Road Rage' that Nhaz was describing, I think if something is blatantly ignorant, neither of your two points are valid. Like going against the notated flow of traffic in parking lots, speeding in inappropriate places (heavily populated parking lots), ignoring stop signs for no apparent reason, tailgating, and various other acts.

I will mention that driving is very similar to the internet in that people have a sense of disguise, and don't feel the need to be polite by 'letting others in' which I really hate. In this college town, you generally have to wait for no less than ten cars to pass before someone 'lets you in,'

Let me in!

I used to speed all the time but after a few too many speeding tickets, I now seldom speed. On the freeway I go exactly 60MPH, not because I want to go that fast but because there are just too many cops around to even enjoy speeding. Generally, when speeding, you want to let loose and enjoy the ride but when I keep looking at my mirrors or cars entering the freeway or checking the shoulder for a parked cop, well it's just not any fun.

The tickets people get in Texas are a lot more strict as well. I think after so many speeding tickets they will take away your license. I know some people that have over ten tickets in other states, if I had that many here I would be in jail.

As for "letting people in," I usually do it often. But it works like karma, most of the time people let me in as well. So maybe you don't let enough people in Mike!

quote:

Originally posted by Mike:

With regards to 'Road Rage' that Nhaz was describing, I think if something is blatantly ignorant, neither of your two points are valid.

I will mention that driving is very similar to the internet in that people have a sense of disguise, and don't feel the need to be polite by 'letting others in' which I really hate. In this college town, you generally have to wait for no less than ten cars to pass before someone 'lets you in,'

Let me in!

Well like I said, some things/people are just really, really dumb. And sometimes yelling and honking are called for. But I'm talking about mostly trivial things that everybody is guilty of doing, but hating everybody else for it when they're mildly inconvenienced by it (God forbid you get to your destination one car length later.) People are inherently selfish, see. I guess that anonymity/control of something much bigger and faster and heavier than yourself amplifies it?

quote:

Originally posted by Mike:
And don't even get me started on the 'click it or ticket' bs.

Oh, how I feel you on that one ! I used to think the tickets weren't a big deal, I mean, they're only 10 bucks! But one month I got 5 in a row! That was 50 dollars ! I am now a strict seat belt buckler. However, it did recently save me from getting hurt too badly when a dude rear-ended me. They don't tell you that even though a seatbelt will save your life, it will also leave a gigantic bruise across your chest! It hurt to breathe!

In California, the first offense is $80, and it goes up after that.

quote:

Originally posted by mark f:
In California, the first offense is $80, and it goes up after that.

I think I'm a decent driver. I almost got into a really bad accident a few years ago. I was pulling out of my buddy's neighborhood on to one of those roads with no streetlights and very busy (great combination, right?), and this guy flew by me going at least 50. I was just about to pull out when my friend yelled "stop!" It was about 10:30 at night and the guy (or girl) didn't have his lights on; I didn't even see him until he passed by, even then just barely. I still occasionally think about "what could've been" if my friend hadn't grabbed my attention in time.

And I'm a very intense driver. I have to remind my self to loosen the grip on the wheel every five minutes or so. My hands get blood-red by the end of my trip I feel like belting out "Airbag" ever time I step out of my vehicle.

I'm a good driver I'd like to think, despite being 16. I mean, I've got room for improvement sure, but I'm very smooth, go the speed limit, blah blah blah, no accidents/tickets blah blah blah.

I'm not doubting the honesty in all of the above posts but the purpose for me in starting this thread was to see if anyone would admit to being a poor driver. oh well... guess everyone thinks they're a good driver. have fun driving!

In 22 years of driving, two minor accidents and one major....somebody wannna work the hours/damage done ratio..