Are You A Good Driver?

As I mentioned in my last hub, the northeastern states of the United States of America witnessed the worst blizzard for over a century this month. I observed the drivers who drove by my house during and after the storm. Both men and women seemed to be guilty of taking serious risks and endangering the lives of other motorists.

Before the blizzard a male driver in his eighties or nineties drove to a drive through restaurant for breakfast. Instead of hitting his brakes, he pressed the accelerator, so he crashed into the building. He exited his car, approached the counter and proceeded to order his breakfast. He could not understand why he was unable to get his breakfast.

In another incident, a woman bought her groceries at the supermarket. She pulled up to the building so that she could easily load her groceries. After loading her groceries she placed the gear in reverse instead of drive, so she mounted the sidewalk and crashed into the poles.

We know that women have had the reputation of being the worse drivers, but after what I saw last week I wonder if this is really true. Some men did some really weird things that I did not even know was possible. Many vehicles, including sports utility vehicles were stuck in the snow even for hours, and some drivers deserted their vehicles.

Motorists traveled with their snow shovel in the back of their vehicle and they got out when they got stuck and shoveled the snow around their tires so that they could continue driving. One driver got stuck in my driveway. I could not understand how that happened. I watched from my window as other people got behind the sports utility vehicle and pushed with all their might. It occurred to me that the vehicle could actually slide backwards and injure the people behind it. Before I could rush outside to warn them it slid backwards. Fortunately, they moved in time so no one was injured.

Let's take a look at how other people drove.  What do you think?

I am convinced that drivers who obey the traffic laws are likely to drive well on any road conditions including ice, snow, mud and excessive rain. I encourage drivers to be focused on driving and nothing else while driving. As a passenger,  I have observed how easily drivers can be distracted by their cell phones, food (or drinks) they consume while driving, grooming, or just staring at or gesticulating to other drivers (usually of the opposite sex). Some would drive too close to the vehicle in front or they exceeded the speed limit even in residential areas.

Here are examples of people who were apparently distracted while they were driving.

What about you? Do you obey the traffic signals? Do you drive within the speed limit? Do you know how to parallel park without stalling traffic? Can you reverse adequately?  Do you stop at the crosswalk so that pedestrians can cross safely? I would like to hear from you, whether you are an expert or not.