Community poll forum: What is the biggest threat to safe driving?

Beyond the gadgets and kids to distract drivers, the biggest threat to me on the road is drivers that are just plain jerks. So many drivers are rude, ignorant and lousy to everyone else on the road that they appear to be trying to kill the other drivers. From cutting you off, running up your back bumper or driving like on a race track oblivious to everyone else's presence, it can be a survival test just navigating the highways around town.

Accidents happen and people sometimes slip-up and don't see something, but that is inescapable. I would rather get these jerks off the road than do away with cellphones and radios. A little common decency and consideration would make the rest of the problems easier to deal with.

I agree about the attitude, but it's worse than that. The jerks don't know what they're doing. It's not that they cut you off, but that they reduce everybodys' risk window by reducing the amount of following space for the driver they just cut off. Four wheel drive gets you into trouble twice as fast, but the brakes that get you out of trouble are the same. Imitating the commercials is a sure fire way of bending the ride. Have any of these people taken a course where they practice driving to the limits, so they know what the limits are?

Couple that with inattention by having the stereo so loud that it would take a Bagdad bomb to overwhelm it (have you ever seen one of them directly in front of a fire truck that's using it's horn as well as the siren?), and multi-tasking with a cell phone/eating/drinking coffee/doing their cosmetics/babling with a crowd/reading something, and they are primed for a collision.

Ask any of these people what safe driving "looks" like, and you'll get a blank stare. Ask them what safe driving "feels" like (particularly in bad weather), and they'll start doing something else. See if they ever check their rear view mirror when driving forward. Ask them while they're driving if they know what's around them, and what the others are doing.

For the power trippers, ask them what four wheel drive is actually meant to do. Ask them what it's not good at doing.

In short, the amount of proficiency that's demanded of them is so little that it's scary. Once licenced they're supposed to improve their performance by experience, without any supervision.

So to answer the question, it's actually all of the above. The only question is how the dolt we're talking about is combining the risk factors to determine their personal collision index.

I agree with much of what you said. Which is one reason why I made a point of taking my children out to the local parking lot after a substantial snowfall and making them experience trying to stop quickly and other maneuvers in our 6000 lb conversion van. You CANNOT appreciate what a trucker has to deal with until you get behind the wheel of something large yourself. I can't tell you how many times I had to hit the brakes so hard I left skid marks to avoid rear-ending someone who cut me off - at 35MPH! Auto drivers don't understand what it takes to stop a 6000 lb vehicle and don't respect what a large van can do if it DOESN'T stop! One time in particular I'll never forget ... bad thunderstorm, stop lights were out, street lights were out, and it's a 3-way intersection where I needed to turn left. Oncoming traffic wasn't stopping at all, so even tho it was supposed to be like a 3-way stop sign, I sat there forever waiting for clearance. I finally started my turn just in time to have someone in this little Geo Metro come barreling thru, hitting my van square in the passenger door. I had a bashed in door, my kids were fine, but his car was totalled. It all goes back to driving defensively, anticipating the situation, and SLOWING DOWN!

Like someone else wrote about Mooses being a big problem in NH and VT and Kangaroos being dangerous in Austrialia, the problems vary on the location of where you are living. I grew up in NJ and have avoided tons of accidents by remembering what my awesome driving instructor told me back in high school. "Just assume everyone else on the road is a complete dumbass, cause chances are they either 1) are, or 2) will do something stupid as we all do from time to time." He was so right. I think more people fit in category 1, but we're all human and need to look out for our own errors as well as those around us.
I was going 45 down a 40 MPH road once and a very old woman pulled out infront of me from a side street. If I hadn't been looking ahead at all of the side streets I would have missed this and instead of getting the finger she would have gotten killed (I was kidding about the finger, she was old so that'd just be mean, but it makes the sentence flow better).
Now I'm living in MA and its a completely different game up here. There are more busses for one thing, which you must learn to avoid and pass quickly, and people are much more agressive drivers as the roads around the Boston area (around routes 2(A), 3, and 16) are awful. Again paying attention to the other idiots on the road has saved me a few times, same as people paying attention to my stupidity has saved them and me. You'd also better know the area or have someone else know the area as tons of strees aren't marked or marked well and present an additional hazard.
I don't know how it is in other parts of the country but we need harder driving tests to keep more idiots off the road in New England.

All the things you mentioned and BASIC DRIVING SKILLS like lane discipline!!

Lane discipline?
Lane dis-ci-pline?
Would that have ANY relationship at all to SELF-discipline?
As a former Navy officer, scout leader, manager etc., I have found that too many people nowadays have grown up with NO real concept of discipline. When too many children can get their parents into trouble for so much as swatting their butts!
I am apalled!
NO body paid me or gave me ANYthing while I was raising MY kids. What gives them the right to try to tell me how to raise them? I never beat on my kids or sent them to the hospital; but they sure learned not to lie,cheat, steal or any number of other follies. They were NOT fond of my belt!
I may have to take it all back.
I may be entirely wrong.
It MAY be ENTIRELY thr problem that people can't HELP themselves for being jerks!
OMG!!
It may be too late for us good drivers!
The earth may soon be swallowed by obnoxious, toxic self-serving creeps with NO regard for ANYONE else!!
FLEE while you CAN!!!!

If people would do the institute of advanced motorists driving test, road accidents would be cut by up to 75%

Wake up drivers and save a life (YOURS!)

Harry

Don't blame all bad driving on teenagers.

I voted for Bad Drivers too. It's not that I consider myself a great or even good driver. I admit I am mediocre. At least I know the rules and try to follow them. But I see bad driving every day and my commute to work is only 2.6 miles! The bad driving I see is people who either don't know the rules or can't be bothered to follow them. When I pass someone driving bad, I take a quick peek at the driver. I have found that you just can't categorize bad drivers. They come in all ages, all genders, all colors, all socio-economic groups. Sure, I have seen my share of bad drivers who were preoccupied with their stereos, or a cell phone call, or smoking, or having problems with children in the car. Yet, the vast majority of dangerous driving I see fits into none of those categories.

So here's a list of bad driving habits that have nothing to do with technology:
1. Switching lanes near an intersection. I saw a woman killed once because another driver cut off a big rig that was trying to break for a red light. The big rig jack-knifed and killed a woman in a stopped car in the next lane. The driver who caused the accident drove away when the light turned green. It made the newspaper. They never caught the driver who caused it.
2. Not using turn signals to signal lane changes.
3. Not being polite enough to allow someone signaling to merge or change lanes.
4. Not knowing the rules regarding a 4 way stop or yield sign.
5. Tailgating.
6. Driving on the wrong side of the road.
7. Driving in the break down lane.
8. Zigzaging in and out of traffic on a multi-lane street or highway.
9. Making turns from non-turn lanes. (If you missed your turn, go around the block or make a u-turn at the next light!)
10. Driving too fast on curvy or wet roadways.

I could go on and on.

Your keen observation that most drivers are in fact "bad drivers" solidly rings the bell of truth. Carelessnees, lack of attention, egomaina, road rage and just poor judgement rank very high on the list.

That's assuming that your school system even has driver's ed any more. Various school systems in my area don't even provide it any more. Go figure.

The number one thing i have seen as a driver is people not using their turn signals, if you ever notice people on the road they never use them, as a driver it really irritates me me. I have almost gotten into many accidents because of this. I have seen people hit each other doing this. Just watch them. I use my signal all the time. It is not only a warning, it is a life saver. Trust me.

You talk about bad drivers being a problem and they are. But Drunk drivers are one of the worse. Bad and drunk drivers come in all ages and sexes. They need to be removed from the road. Driving with Cell phones has gotten alot of publicity but they are a small part of the problem. They need to be more careful but if you are drunk you need to be removed!!

A good driver can handle just about any distraction for a short period of time... if you are aware of your surroundings, it is possible to make or answer a call, change radio stations or insert a new disk. Bad drivers are the ones who belive that the call, or make-up, or coffee, or whatever is the most important thing they are doing, rather than navigating 2 tons of steel through congested streets. Problem is, bad drivers are bad even without distractions!

I agree wholeheartedly! As a retired military pilot I can tell you that if we had to "just fly the aircraft", we wouldn't have made it. Driving is a full time job too. The "so called studies" on cell phones being the cause of accidents aren't entirely true. I would like to see a study on everything around the driver..like a passenger they turn their head to talk to..kids in the back seat..hey, while we are on this, how about the other cars on the road? They are distractions too! Let's get rid of them. Let's get serious. Bottom line...drive like you want to get there alive. Take responsibility when you get behind the wheel. Look out for the other driver...and remember; to the other driver, you are the other driver!
Safe Driving....

The problem isn't the apliences it's the way they are used. But further more, the main problem is that people can't drive fluently. They keep breaking for the most silly reason you can think of( bridge, tunnel etc.). And then theres old people and scared girls, (not a real women yet) These drive so slow that even trucks have to hit the breaks for them. there the problem.