Do you take your ability to drive for granted?

To the point you don't regularly think about it when you do things that others would probably not have been able to do?

Case in point. I was on my way back to work from the house today, and I took a route that I normally don't take to get to work. Anyway there is a set of curves near the house, and the inside lane is pretty messed up. Not thinking anything of it, I went into them at the speed limit 45mph. Halfway through the first one the passenger rear caught a groove/divot/lip whatever and kicked the rear out to the drivers side, like way out and it started to slide a bit. Quick countersteer and it was back in line, barely crossed the centerline and I continued on my way to work.

Apparently the car behind me was an unmarked. I hadn't thought anything of looking for the po-po considering I get accused of driving like a grandpa on the street more than anything else lately. But he pulled up next to me at the next light and commented to me about it being good work recovering like I had back there. I thanked him for the compliment and we parted ways.

It got me thinking. I thought nothing of it, is it really that impressive to non car people when you employ what should be basic vehicle recovery maneuvers? Would the layman really loose it that easily?

Makes me kind of sad to think of it. What's the age limit on those street survival schools? I think I know a few people I want to send.

That was one of the selling points that was used to recruit me to work as an instructor for the Tire Rack Street Survival school. We tend to take for granted the skills we have learned from years of driving, especially auto-x and road racing.

BTW- the age for the TRSS school is 15-21 years old. They should have an affordable driving school for adults too!

Yep. I tend to forget how hard I work to be a decent driver, until I ride with someone else. I usually find myself trying to let them know about things I see coming that perhaps they aren't paying attention to.

For example, watching traffic 4 or 5 cars up the road and telling them to brake much earlier than they do because they are focused on the taillights ahead of them. Or watching cars around us jostling for position to change lanes, I tend to spot them before they even turn their signals on or actually make the move.

I think one of the best compliments I received was when I was indoor karting once and had a guy come up to me afterward and comment how smooth I was and how little speed I lost through the corners.

The more I drive, the more I realize that fully automated cars for the mouth breathing masses will show up long before decent driving skills are properly taught to the public.

Hard for me to answer. I consider myself to be a pretty E36 M3 driver.

It's amazing how many people get through driving with so little practical training in how to handle a car. My dad taught me to drive on dirt roads starting when I was 13 or so. Slide recovery was part of the training. It freaks out most people but I commonly throw the back end of the Mustang out on turns occasionally just driving to work because it's fun. I had a friend in high school lose his E36 M3 because I managed to get my toyota sideways in the rain when we were late for school. He said "I thought we were gonna DIE!!" It took me a minute to figure out what the hell he was talking about. A few years back I took my BIL out in the wife's Cooper S to show off a little. He was a county sheriff at the time. I hauled ass down some two lane country road and when we turned around to go back I handbrake turned the car (badly I might add) where a sideroad met the main road. He seemed cool at the time but my Dad later told me he talked for days about how crazy I was driving and how he was shaking and could barely walk when he got out of the car. And he's been through police defensive driving training.

The other thing that freaks me out about average drivers is their complet lack of spatial awareness related to their vehicle. My wife drives so that her seat is in the middle of the lane. Which means the passenger tires are on the white stripe. I've tried to explain but it does no good. One day she'll hit something sticking out that she never even saw. Just yesterday I saw a guy in an F250 with his towing mirrors extended catch a mailbox. Blammo, $300 in destroyed mirror because he wasn't aware where his vehicle was. I had to dodge mirror bits skittereing across the pavement.

My wife is by all reckonings a better-than-average driver. I never have a problem riding with her when she drives. But if we're out in, say, the Miata, and there's any sliding at all, she's sure we're going to die. She just doesn't recognize that as part of driving, on a conscious level - which is funny, because I've watched her unconsciously deal with it in the snow, etc.

Spinout007 wrote: ...Would the layman really lose it that easily?

Yes.

Nope, I know how awesome I am

Watching the mayhem from the minor snowstorm in Atlanta last year, it had never occurred to me that there were people who had never experienced a wheel lock up or a car slide to some degree.

Swank Force One wrote: Hard for me to answer. I consider myself to be a pretty E36 M3 driver.

So do I sadly.

My wife never notices that I hold the oh-'@#$%' handle when she drives. As I get older I tend to get a little motion sickness from all the small 'unnecessary' inputs. Good grief! My girls (ages 12 and 9) always want Daddy to drive.

I popped a curb with the right rear going around a 90º turn with my girls in the backseat about a year ago. Got pulled over! Was driving the FX16. When the officer came up to the car he looked at me and said "How old are you?" Told him the girls liked to maintain speed around corners. Still got a warning for reckless operation of a motor vehicle.

My wife became a much better driver simply by paying attention. When I met her, driving was just a thing that moved you around. Sure, you put wheels up on the curb sometimes, but that's how things go.

After living with someone who takes driving seriously, she's improved a lot. Even without the effects of track time, just having someone around who pays a lot of attention to the mechanics of the act itself has made her so much better. I don't think she's run over a curb in years, and she is much more focused on what's going on. Meanwhile, her sister is a bit terrifying, as he's a combination of aggressive and distracted as well as unskilled.

Ironically, as I type this, she's at a driving safety class put on by her company. It's not skid control, it's defensive driving and backing into parking spaces. Still, every little bit helps. I tried to get her to wear her helmet and driving suit but no.

Anyhow - I suppose my point is that we all set an example to the other people in our lives. Want to make someone a better driver? Don't harass them to learn skid control. Be a role model.

I genuinely think they should teach a whole course on vehicle dynamics and behavior, as well as teaching all the traffic laws and rules. Most of the stuff you learn in racing has direct application to city streets as far as safety goes.

Want to make someone a better driver? Don't harass them to learn skid control. Be a role model.

I'm going to go ahead and take that as an endorsement to go sideways everywhere I go. You know, being a role model by demonstrating my excellent skid control skills.

Just kidding, I do that anyway

I'm just happy when the driver ahead of me on the freeway sees me approaching and moves over before I have to slow down.

It also seems if you are not texting, putting on makeup, or reading a newspaper you are already ahead of half of the drivers.

In reply to Spinout007:

Anymore, my usual commute just happens and I sometimes don't realize how I made it home.....

Subconscious or the car itself evidently has autopilot.

I have some talent. Unknowingly scared several passengers over the years or impressed others. Just in the last several years the average driver skill level/awareness has dropped dramatically. Thanks smart phones

In reply to Spinout007:

Wait, you had a cop complement you? Knowing my luck, he would of pulled me over for something.

I think I'm an OK driver. I don't use the phone or other distractions while driving. I try to be aware of people around me and can usually spot trouble before it happens. I drove RWD vehicles for years until I bought a 4wd truck. Sure, I berkeleyed up a few times. But I learned from it. Could I be a better driver? Absolutely. There is always room for improvement. I'd love to get into HPDE. My last unit sent people to a combat readiness program which included combat driving (think bodyguard/VP security). I didn't get to go

The cop was probably just glad he didn't have to clean up the mess.

The way i often tend to think about this is being frustrated that we refuse to force people to learn how to drive remotely well but we are spending a lot of time and energy figuring out how to automate it.

Driving is in all seriousness my favorite thing to do in the world. I cant help but feel a lot of resentment towards the many people out there who DREAM of a world where we dont have to drive our own cars, because i fear eventually they are going to drag me into that false utopia as well, and i will either have to relocate my life somewhere else, or become a very bitter and unbalanced person that everyone will hate.

I was just having a discussion with a couple of co-workers about the oncoming potential for winter weather the next couple of days and the general lack of intelligence behind the wheel found here in the Pacific NW.

I've taken the ProDrive Skid Car course three times, competed in two 24-hour endurance road races as well as many autocrosses, track days and generally spent my life at race tracks. So when I say that I'm not going to be driving in that if I can avoid it, that should tell you how scared I am of my fellow drivers in this town when it comes to inclement weather.

When I was a kid I had my driver's training classes in January on snow covered roads in Minnesota, in a '72 Ford LTD. I think every kid should learn to drive on snow and ice.

I drive fast and haven't had an accident in 20 years, or a ticket in 10 years. I live in my mirrors and like to think I have really good traffic awareness so never come over into someone in my blind spot or whatever. I find my eyes moving all over the place when I drive, scanning cars ahead, behind, to the sides and what they're doing. I also think I can judge what other drivers are going to do just by the way they're driving, or how their car is aligned in their lane, or where the driver is looking, or even what they're driving, so I can predict when I need to brake to avoid a dumb move, or move over for the guy on his cell phone, or whatever. I think a lot of this awareness comes from racing, since with other cars on a track you always need to know where they are, and how they're driving, to avoid a wreck. I also have good confidence in what precisely my car can do in various conditions, and never get surprised by that - whether it be outrunning someone on a highway entrance S-curve, or rescuing stranded 4x4 drivers during snowstorms (WRX with wintersports), or dealing with gnarly DC traffic and oblivious drivers.

But I think being aware of what's going on around you is the key to good street driving. I know I can control MY car in various conditions and speeds. But I know that other people can't, and I drive with the expectation that someone else is going to do something stupid, so I have a contingency move when they do. And so far, I've avoided countless accidents by expecting the other guy to be a dumbass.

I think I'm an OK driver, but I really notice how bad other people are when I ride with them. Specifically my dad... he is the opposite of smooth, a tailgater, and now that he's older he doesn't pay attention like he used to.