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Your Driving Habits

sammich

sammich

macrumors 601
Original poster
Sep 26, 2006
4,306
268
Sarcasmville.
Couldn't find a similar thread on this topic (I'm actually surprised there isn't one).

So What driving habits do you have, good or bad, common or not?

I'll start us off, in no particular order:

  • When reversing (auto or manual), I'll switch into drive or a forward gear without first bringing the car to a stop.
  • When there aren't any/many cars around (usually at night) I'll use up as much of the road as I feel like.
  • I drive carefully with passengers (ie not taking corners too fast), generally just slower around bends/turns because I don't want to make their ride to rough. Even with mates, who think I drive way too slow.
  • That's not to say I drive slowly. I use my iPhone to check my speed and sit at the upper 'no ticket' limit (here <5 km/h over is safe).
  • Check all the cars I get into so see how accurate their speedo is with GPS.
  • In traffic, I duck and weave through lanes of traffic constantly (not excessively, courteous to drivers generally). Trying to squeeze every second out. It's like an optimisation game to me.
  • Clutch slipping, engine braking (manual and semi-autos).
  • Study traffic lights at every intersection; jump the lights as they change.
  • Go into empty lanes at the front of the lights just to blast off, even if I'm not in a rush.
  • Lightly rest my foot on the clutch (very light, but apparently this still might be riding it).
  • Forever annoyed at people who can't park. I also take photos of really bad examples.
  • Always admire my good parking :)

This is by no means an exhaustive list. Now it's your turn (the non-exhaustive part too).
 
People Who Drive Slow in the Fast Lane

"I cannot even begin to describe how much i hate these idiotic people. They just enrage me. Anyone who has been doing 85mph+ on the highway and then has to slow down to under 70 knows what I mean.

Today I was doing 90mph+ in the far left lane, for miles everyone moved out of the way for me. Then all the sudden I come up on this minivan with "Baby on Board, "I Love Children," "Being Nice is the #1 Rule," etc. bumper stickers and magnets. The woman was doing under 65mph would not move out of my way (and there was plenty of space). When I tried to push her, flash brights, honk, etc. she decided to brake check me. Now, not moving over is one thing, but trying to teach me a lesson when I tell you that you're in my way and that you can move over, is just asking me to screw you over.

I drove behind her for a few miles, and then when the opportunity stuck, I shot a gap to pass her, made sure she couldn't move over to another lane (besides the service lane) and I slammed off my brakes (I swear I saw a squirrel run across the highway), she had to veer off of the road to avoid hitting me. I guarantee she'll never try to brake check someone or force the speed limit on them again. I seriously hope she or her damn baby got whiplash. (NO LECTURES PLEASE, THEY WILL ALL BE IGNORED)

I seriously wish that .50 cal guns would be options on cars so that I could just blow up people like her."


Seasons Greetings :D
 
I usually drive about 160kph (100mph) in the middle lane and always watch out for people cruising by me in the fast lane at 220-240kph (140mph).

I hardly ever see going the recommended speed of 130kph (80mph).
 
acidfast7 said:
I usually drive about 160kph (100mph) in the middle lane and always watch out for people cruising by me in the fast lane at 220-240kph (140mph).

I hardly ever see going the recommended speed of 130kph (80mph).
Click to expand...

Hard to drive more than 10 over the speed limit in the USA. When people get on the highway, they go directly to the passing lane. If there are more than 2 lanes, about 70% of the traffic sits in the middle lane and doesn't move. It usually easier to pass in slow lane than the passing lane.

If you get behind someone cruising along in the passing lane, they refuse to move over. I guess they believe if you want to pass you should go around them.
 
ericrwalker said:
Hard to drive more than 10 over the speed limit in the USA. When people get on the highway, they go directly to the passing lane. If there are more than 2 lanes, about 70% of the traffic sits in the middle lane and doesn't move. It usually easier to pass in slow lane than the passing lane.

If you get behind someone cruising along in the passing lane, they refuse to move over. I guess they believe if you want to pass you should go around them.
Click to expand...

After driving for years in the US, and then in Germany for the last few, I have to say that while the speeds are much higher here, the drivers are much more attentive. I almost never see anyone not pull over if someone is behind them. Every time I drive in the US again, I find the road manners (and general road conditions) appalling.
 
rdowns said:
I drove behind her for a few miles, and then when the opportunity stuck, I shot a gap to pass her, made sure she couldn't move over to another lane (besides the service lane) and I slammed off my brakes (I swear I saw a squirrel run across the highway), she had to veer off of the road to avoid hitting me. I guarantee she'll never try to brake check someone or force the speed limit on them again. I seriously hope she or her damn baby got whiplash. (NO LECTURES PLEASE, THEY WILL ALL BE IGNORED)

I seriously wish that .50 cal guns would be options on cars so that I could just blow up people like her."
Click to expand...
Wow, that's called road rage, and slamming on your brakes like that - you could have killed her and her child :rolleyes:

Do you really need to get to work or your destination that fast, its not worth your life or someone else's
 
maflynn said:
Wow, that's called road rage, and slamming on your brakes like that - you could have killed her and her child :rolleyes:

Do you really need to get to work or your destination that fast, its not worth your life or someone else's
Click to expand...

That's not rdowns' story. He was quoting a classic MR thread ;)
 
Ohh - sorry Rdowns, I hadn't realized.

After reading that post, I didn't bother reading the link - my bad :eek:
 
I have a habit of forgetting to put my lights on at night. Done it three times now... insane.

Got real bad road rage a week ago. Some stupid woman decided to park in the middle of the road, blocking the entire road, so that she could go and pick her kids up from school. There were queues stretching back for miles both sides. So I drove up to her car bumper to bumper, turned my car off, verbally tore a strip off her when she came out with her kids and stated that I wasn't moving and she had to convince everyone behind her to reverse.

Ugh, it still makes my blood boil. Her pitiful excuse was "I've tried parking on this road three times now." Stupid woman. Took forever for her to sort the mess out.
 
roadbloc said:
I have a habit of forgetting to put my lights on at night. Done it three times now... insane.
Click to expand...

When I'm particularly safe driving area, I turn off the lights just to see how ridiculous it is driving without any front lights (when it's nite time, no street lighting and yes, highway speeds). It's absolutely insane, and takes me about 1.5 seconds before I've basically **** my pants. Mind you've I've only done this twice ever (twice too many you could say) but it's something to alleviate my boredom and curiosities.

Also, I get immense pleasure from flashing people who've forgotten they've left their high beams on. Half because I'm never sure if it's just high beams or just bright headlights, and half because, it just feels good correcting people :)

Finally, on more than one occasion, I've had the pleasure of driving in front of someone with their high beams on. Each of those times, it didn't strike me to slow down to let them pass me, reason escapes me.
 
I sing along to the music as I drive, then if anyone spots me I have to pretend I was talking on the hands-free...

AND.. I laugh at BMW drivers who get stuck in heavy snow as I sail past in my Landrover....

I also practiced for driving in Greece by driving for miles along the wrong side of the road in the UK....

Sad, innit? :D
 
Turn Signals: If you do not use them, I get to ignore you. If you are attempting to merge onto a highway and do not use a signal, I will not move over to let you in.

Tailgaters: I begin by going the speed limit. Then I drop it by 10 mph. Then another 10, and another. When You start to pass, I floor it.

People Who Make Me Slow Down: If I am driving down the road and you pull out in front of me, forcing me to slow down, I consider you to be a horrible driver. I am now allowed to tailgate you.

Curves: I tend to speed up, when going around curves. It’s more fun.

Bicyclists: You are supposed to be riding WITH traffic and obeying traffic laws. When I see you sail through a red light and I then have to pass you, I will do so with uncomfortable closeness.

Red Light Rappers: If while waiting for the light to change, the bass in that gawdawful racket you call music makes my windows shake, I will retaliate by playing Spongebob’s FUN song... LOUD.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

I drive it like I stole it.
 
You use your iPhone to check your speed!!?!?:eek:


sammich said:
Couldn't find a similar thread on this topic (I'm actually surprised there isn't one).

So What driving habits do you have, good or bad, common or not?

I'll start us off, in no particular order:

  • When reversing (auto or manual), I'll switch into drive or a forward gear without first bringing the car to a stop.
  • When there aren't any/many cars around (usually at night) I'll use up as much of the road as I feel like.
  • I drive carefully with passengers (ie not taking corners too fast), generally just slower around bends/turns because I don't want to make their ride to rough. Even with mates, who think I drive way too slow.
  • That's not to say I drive slowly. I use my iPhone to check my speed and sit at the upper 'no ticket' limit (here <5 km/h over is safe).
  • Check all the cars I get into so see how accurate their speedo is with GPS.
  • In traffic, I duck and weave through lanes of traffic constantly (not excessively, courteous to drivers generally). Trying to squeeze every second out. It's like an optimisation game to me.
  • Clutch slipping, engine braking (manual and semi-autos).
  • Study traffic lights at every intersection; jump the lights as they change.
  • Go into empty lanes at the front of the lights just to blast off, even if I'm not in a rush.
  • Lightly rest my foot on the clutch (very light, but apparently this still might be riding it).
  • Forever annoyed at people who can't park. I also take photos of really bad examples.
  • Always admire my good parking :)

This is by no means an exhaustive list. Now it's your turn (the non-exhaustive part too).
Click to expand...
 
rdowns said:
Dmac77
Click to expand...

Well remembered! :D

The 'I don't want my neighbours to park in front of my house' one was good too!


I think my own driving is OK. My car has a puny engine, so I do tend to drop gears and drive at higher revs a fair amount. I also drive at the top of the 'just about get away with it' speed - 85mph. I've never been stopped by the police and I've had a clean licence for 22 years.

I'm pretty good at lane discipline and switch lanes quite a lot so that I'm in the 'slowest lane' (apart from in super heavy traffic, where that's just a PITA and I'll sit in the middle matching everyone else's speed). I have 'undertaken' the occasional doofus who decided to sit in the 'fast' lane (most times this has been on a completely empty motorway... so I have no idea what they were thinking).

My only real 'controversial' driving habit is to listen to wear earphones when I'm on the motorway. My car has quite high road noise - and I find that this drops the volume, increases my alertness and decreases fatigue. Back when I had a motorbike I used to wear foam ear defenders to completely block all sound, so I don't think it's that big a deal.
 
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I usually do tone down my driving when I have passengers. I'll slow down in corners and shift for smoothness rather than speed. I also do some hypermiling tricks, such as throwing it in neutral and coasting down hills or a long slope. I think the extreme hypermiling people are crazy, though.

My biggest problem is that I get road rage quite frequently. Most of the time, I don't act on it, but I do get very ticked off. I really hate it when someone passes me, then slows down once they get in front of me. I used to rage about people not using turn signals, but I gave up in defeat. It seems most Americans have no idea what that little stick by the steering wheel does, or that it is in fact, capable of moving. The one that really grinds my gears is when someone jumps into the left lane at 65 MPH to pass someone going 64 MPH and proceeds to execute the world's slooooooowest passing move. I have no problem with people going below the average speed of traffic, but if you get in the left lane, PASS SOMEONE AND THEN GET OUT OF THE LEFT LANE!
 
Aeolius said:
People Who Make Me Slow Down: If I am driving down the road and you pull out in front of me, forcing me to slow down, I consider you to be a horrible driver. I am now allowed to tailgate you.
Click to expand...

You are actually the horrible driver in that case. If someone slows down, it's usually done to improve safety. Or will you just hit the throttle and hope everything goes well?

Yes, I'm in driving school right now. The worst drivers are the ones who don't understand that not every driver is as good as they are. The speed limit is the maximum speed you can drive. There is no such thing as minimum speed. Sure, driving 20km/h in a highway is very dangerous, but there is nothing wrong with driving 70km/h in 80km/h zone, especially if the weather is tricky.

If you want to be a good driver, then let the others drive on their own, don't make it any harder for them. The most dangerous part is when you concentrate on teasing the other driver and forget that you two aren't alone in the traffic.

Besides, it doesn't give me a license to bully you if I happen to be better than you at something.
 
I wouldn't mind using the .50 cal machine guns on rubberneckers. People in St. Louis are the worst. They will slow down for anything. Here's what goes through the head of the average St. Louis driver:

An ambulance with its lights and siren on going the opposite direction on a divided highway? I slow down, the ambulance might crash through the concrete median to make a u-turn.

Minor fender bender off to the side of the road? I gotta slow down because I've never seen a dent in a car before.

Cloud in the sky? I should play it safe and slow down, that cloud means that at some point, some where, it might start raining.

Someone's mowing the grass on the side of the road, I should slow down to see how good of a job he's doing.

My rule is that unless you see a white sheet covering something the size of the average human being on the ground, don't slow down and look.

Hellhammer said:
You are actually the horrible driver in that case. If someone slows down, it's usually done to improve safety. Or will you just hit the throttle and hope everything goes well?

Yes, I'm in driving school right now. The worst drivers are the ones who don't understand that not every driver is as good as they are. The speed limit is the maximum speed you can drive. There is no such thing as minimum speed. Sure, driving 20km/h in a highway is very dangerous, but there is nothing wrong with driving 70km/h in 80km/h zone, especially if the weather is tricky.

If you want to be a good driver, then let the others drive on their own, don't make it any harder for them. The most dangerous part is when you concentrate on teasing the other driver and forget that you two aren't alone in the traffic.

Besides, it doesn't give me a license to bully you if I happen to be better than you at something.
Click to expand...

I disagree. If I'm doing 60mph (the speed limit) on the highway and someone pulls in front of me going at a slower speed and requiring me to slow down, that means that they likely pulled out in front of me without even looking to see if I'm there, otherwise I'd probably have enough room to move to the left and pass them. I also do think there is something wrong with going under the speed limit (assuming good weather and road conditions). If you're going too slow and everyone has to pass you, that's increasing the likelihood of accidents. People don't have accidents on the highway when they stay in their lane, accidents usually happen when people are changing lanes and don't see another car. If you're going 60, and everyone else in the same lane is going 60, no one has to pass. But if you're doing 50, you're causing people coming up behind you to slow down or change lanes, and that's what leads to accidents.
 
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steve2112 said:
My biggest problem is that I get road rage quite frequently. Most of the time, I don't act on it, but I do get very ticked off. I really hate it when someone passes me, then slows down once they get in front of me. I used to rage about people not using turn signals, but I gave up in defeat. It seems most Americans have no idea what that little stick by the steering wheel does, or that it is in fact, capable of moving. The one that really grinds my gears is when someone jumps into the left lane at 65 MPH to pass someone going 64 MPH and proceeds to execute the world's slooooooowest passing move. I have no problem with people going below the average speed of traffic, but if you get in the left lane, PASS SOMEONE AND THEN GET OUT OF THE LEFT LANE!
Click to expand...
Just chill-out about it.

I usually just find myself laughing at people like that. Anger isn't a helpful emotion to have in that scenario - and it won't get you there any quicker or more safely. Just think yourself lucky that you only have to deal with their stupidity for the 30 seconds they're in your vicinity on the highway - unlike the poor b******s in their life that have to put up with them 24/7. That's pretty amusing.

Hellhammer said:
Yes, I'm in driving school right now. The worst drivers are the ones who don't understand that not every driver is as good as they are. The speed limit is the maximum speed you can drive. There is no such thing as minimum speed. Sure, driving 20km/h in a highway is very dangerous, but there is nothing wrong with driving 70km/h in 80km/h zone, especially if the weather is tricky.
Click to expand...
Hmm. Lots of countries do have a minimum speed limit - and driving way too slow is dangerous. Even in the UK where there's no formal minimum speed, you could get pulled over for driving slowly on a motorway - and the 'Highway Code' encourages drivers to pull over periodically if they're driving a slow vehicle and causing a tailback.

Everyone should drive according to road conditions of course... and that's often slower than the road speed limit.

If you want to be a good driver, then let the others drive on their own, don't make it any harder for them. The most dangerous part is when you concentrate on teasing the other driver and forget that you two aren't alone in the traffic.
Click to expand...
Simply put, no driver should cause others to take evasive action as a result of their own actions.
 
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