Are you a safe driver?

[Ohio Joe]

Most of the time I am but sometimes I do drive like an asshole.

I just heard on NPR a "Good news" report on highway safety. Only 33,000 people were killed on the highways last year. The lowest number since 1950 something (I forget the exact year, sometime on the 50's) and when factoring in miles traveled it is the lowest number ever.

uh... holy shit. I knew a lot of people died every year driving but I had no idea the number was that high.

[Brickbat]

1. Nope, and I'll fully admit it.

[Skink]

2. Must be from Texas

[Brickbat]

4. Nope, Minnesota.

[Jackpine Radical]

10. That explains it.

I swear most of the accidents in Wisconsin are caused by Minnesotans and FIBs racing through on our interstates and colliding with erratic Cheesehead drunks and farm tractors. The entire populations of Minneapolis & Chicago must change places three times a week.

[Brickbat]

15. Minnesotans' big thing is they never, ever get out of the left lane. Drives me up the freaking wall.

I am not a native Minnesotan, BTW. I don't "drive like a Minnesotan." I am a very distracted driver, however, with high faith in my own capabilities.

[damntexdem]

18. Hey, I resemble that remark!

And driving out on the road with all those pickup drivers, I'm surprised anyone survives a trip.

[MineralMan]

3. I dunno. I've never had an accident since I started driving in

1963. One ticket, in 1974, for a late left turn at a light (I was in the intersection before the light changed, waiting for traffic to clear). My car insurance company thinks I'm a safe driver, but what do they know?

[Skink]

6. These days if tou don't do that you are risking your life.

[bigwillq]

5. Sometimes.

I am a distracted driver at times (cell phone, texting, smoking, eating, drinking). I really don't drive like an a**hole..pretty cautious that way. I do speed a bit but the posted speed limits are always too low, imo.

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

7. I always thought the number would be much higher.

[Warpy]

8. I think a lot of people are driving slower to conserve gas

I know there are fewer people trying to drive up my tailpipe when I venture out onto the interstates these days.

Unfortunately, the carnage around here is mostly due to drunks going the wrong way down the highways and they don't seem to be slowing down their alcohol intakes, at all.

[Ohio Joe]

11. That happened in Ohio all the time as well

Back when I lived there, people driving the wrong way on the highway seemed to be on the news all the time. I was always like... WTF? It's not like it is easy to get on the highway wrong around Columbus but they managed to do it anyway.

[hobbit709]

22. You're not driving in Austin then.

Around here people think the posted speed is the MINIMUM speed and if they're not so close you can't see their license plate in your mirror then they are too far back.

[Hello_Kitty]

9. I drive very safely

Both hands on the steering wheel, follow the speed limit, no cell phone, signal turns and lane changes. No drinking and driving, ever. Driving is serious business. You have the power to kill people in your vehicle. Nothing pisses me off more than aggressive, inattentive, and unsafe driving behavior. Put the fucking phone down, pay attention to the road, and if you want to speed and weave in and out of lanes, rent some time at the racetrack. If you're always running late, practice better time management and leave earlier.

[tallahasseedem]

16. I'm the same way!

Especially with turning signals...I will do it even if I'm the only one on the road.

[leftofcool]

12. Hubby says no but I have never had an accident, not in 48 years.

[Quantess]

13. I read that people tend to overestimate their own driving skills.

The majority of people, when questioned, said they thought they were a better driver than average. Even people who had been in several accidents viewed themselves as a better driver than average.

[damntexdem]

No, I drive a car. A safe is too heavy and doesn't have wheels.

The 33K killed last year IS a low number -- it used to be over 40K every year.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

14. I sometimes drive like an asshole but I'm a FOCUSED asshole.

Haven't had a ticket in 25 years. One accident where I got T-boned and it wasn't my fault.

[Turbineguy]

17. When in Florida.....

I roll through a stop sign, cut off two cars, make a left without signaling, and then turn on my blinker and leave it on while going straight. And I wear a hat.

One must fit in. I prefer not to be noticed.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

19. ...Dad?

[damntexdem]

20. Yeah, but Florida keeps raising the bar on you.

From now on, if you're not shaving your pubic hair while driving, you'll stand out. ;-)

[One_Life_To_Give]

21. I am an A-hole behind the wheel

Why should I be any different on the road?

Wife says I have two modes. Little Old Lady and Race.

[Urban Prairie]

23. Yeah, I am a very safe driver now...

Since I no longer can afford to own a newer vehicle, but I never drove much if I had a choice,when I turned 40, Boosh was selected, and gas leaped in price. I actually drove my cars for cheap aimless pleasure while listening to R&R FM radio on weekends, and just to cruise the main drags of my city during my teens and twenties in the 70s-80s....does anyone who is not wealthy really do that anymore???

[safeinOhio]

24. #1 safe driver

I'm old and drive slow so all the youngins hold up one finger as the speed around me, letting me know I'm the #1 safe driver.

[taterguy]

27. Seriously, driving slow does not equal safe

If you're driving at a significantly slower speed than the other traffic then you can cause an accident.

[safeinOhio]

28. I don't care how fast anyone drives

If they are going 5 mph faster than me they are maniacs and if they go 5 mph slower than me they are idiots.

[taterguy]

29. Are you Zombie George Carlin?

Hope I never run into you on the roads.

:scared:

[KittyWampus]

25. I honestly try but occasionally do something stupid.

[grantcart]

26. I read somewhere that surveys that ask the question

"Are you an above average driver" always generate an 80%+ response.

[cali]

30. Yes. I'm a safe driver and and excellent driver.

[progressoid]

31. Our vehicles also have a LOT more safety features now

Dam guvmint regalashuns.

[sylveste]

32. sort of

safe but aggressive. although one person's safe is another person's wreckless.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

33. I'm one of the ones not included in the 33,000... but then you already

knew that.

[slampoet]

34. I am safer than the average Rhode Island driver. Then again there are serial killers that are safer

than the average Rhode Island driver.

[HopeHoops]

35. Except when I'm on the phone, putting on makeup, eating, smoking, and shaving my privates.

But I don't do any of those things in the car except on rare occasions.

I drove like a real asshole when I was young and bulletproof. That changed when my wife got pregnant over just over 19 years ago.

[Jonathan_Collins]

36. Safe

Rating self as a safe driver will vary from person to person. I would definitely rate myself as 'safe' :). Most of us do, right? My insurer (Hartford), my wife, my friends (barring a few) think so too!