Good or bad driver?

[Guest]

Earlier this week, I had an "uh oh" moment on the way home. I was in the right lane of a 2-lane road and was trying to get over into the left lane. I kept checking my rearview mirror and glancing back to see if anyone was coming, but a Ford Explorer kept speeding up and slowing down such that I wasn't able to get over. In the meantime, the minivan ahead of me suddenly slammed on its brakes ... apparently because someone else had slowed down to turn right onto another street. At the time that I looked back ahead of me (I had been checking the rearview mirror), I panicked ... and hit the brakes, thinking I was going to hit the minivan. My '87 MC LS screeched to a halt (much to my embarrassment, of course) ... and I stopped well enough away from the minivan.

While the "shakiness" had gone away, I was still a bit unnerved by the situation when I spoke to a friend later that night. I was convinced that I was the "bad driver" in this case for failing to watch in front of me. But, she quickly pointed out a couple of things. 1) She said that, in the times that she has been in a car I'm driving, she has noticed that, if anything, I'm an overly defensive driver ... and not very agressive. 2) She pointed out that a bad driver would've actually crashed into the minivan ... and NOT stopped before hitting it.

What do you think? I mean ... I get so frustrated with myself when I have one of those "uh oh" moments. I've been rather lucky; yet, in the back of my mind, I keep thinking that someday that "inattentiveness" is going to get me in a heap of trouble in terms of losing one of my MCs to a crash ... as well as higher insurance premiums, etc. Heh ... the ironic part is that I'm always concerned about the "other" drivers ... you know the type ... the ones that are so aggressive that they race up next to you right before a 2-lane road turns into a 1-lane road ... and then try to sneak in front of you. I had that happen that same morning on the way to work ... I actually almost did hit the guy because he cut in front of me and then tapped his brakes. Grrr....

So ... what say you? When/how/where is that "fine line" crossed between being a good driver with bad luck and just a bad driver?



Cort:33swm."Mr Monte Carlo.Mr Road Trip".pig valve.pacemaker
PICS:lego.HO.model.MCinfo.RT.CHD = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort
"The curves around midnight aren't easy to see" ... Rosanne Cash ... 'Runaway Train'

 

[JimL]

It has been my observation that the bad drivers are always in the other car, not in my car.

 

[WayneGM]

It's definitely a fine line. I think drivers who are too cautious and just as bad as those drivers who are too aggressive. Often it's the combination of the two on the same road at the same time that results in an accident.

 

[Lisa in Katy]

I think that bad drivers usually think that they are good drivers. I also think that we can all be bad drivers at times. I also agree that overly cautious can be as bad as overly aggressive - especially in Houston traffic.

I had an acquaintance who turned her head for a minute to check out the fighting kids in the backseat and, like you, turned around in time to notice that the car in front of her had quickly put on its brakes and then stopped to turn left. Unfortunately, she hit the car without really slowing down, causing one of her children to have permanent injuries. It's really sad, but I don't think she was necessarily a bad driver in this situation. Sometimes it just happens. All accidents are avoidable, but there's always alot of "ifs" involved in order to avoid them. If her children hadn't been fighting, if she hadn't turned her head, if the car in front had slowly braked, if she had a little more time to react.....

 

[twinmaker]

I think that most bad drivers have many, many more of those moments that you just described than good drivers do. Of course, I don't think bad drivers realize these moments. Good drivers like you do realize them...and tend to worry more about them. When good drivers have these moments happen then I feel that the accident is just that...an accident. When bad drivers have these moments, I don't think they should be called accidents. It's just finally caught up with them. And we have to pity the poor people on the other end of the bad driver. LINDA

 

[Guest]

It has been my observation that the bad drivers are always in the other car, not in my car.

*chuckles*

I've often felt this way, too ... especially in BAD weather. Yet, well, I don't know sometimes .



Cort:33swm."Mr Monte Carlo.Mr Road Trip".pig valve.pacemaker
PICS:lego.HO.model.MCinfo.RT.CHD = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort
"I've had enough" ... REO Speedwagon ... 'Time For Me To Fly'