Bad Driver, am I right?

[Souk24nior]

I'm curious as to what dictates a bad driver? Do car wrecks determine if someone can drive or not, or do tickets make the distinction? What if someone never gets a ticket or into a car wreck but they constantly are running into stuff (slow collision) can't park without hitting curb, can't park correctly, can't stay in their lane, etc? There are people that get tickets all the time but never in a wreck.... I dated a girl that was a terrible driver, she was always distracted and she would drift out of her lane or just not paying attention for other cars. It was so frustrating.

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[Integra23]

1. At fault wreck counts
2. Distracted driving really should be tied with above
3. Damage from bumping into stuff
4. Speeding tickets..use Waze

 

[SilverRocket]

Driving is like an extremely complicated game of chess and the grand masters are those that can see potential dangerous situations many seconds ahead of them actually taking place. On the other side of the spectrum you got the bad drivers who have the time to react to a situation that they could have easily avoided in the first place and yet they still cause an issue, even if it doesn't result it a crash.

Details like minor bumps to the car or at fault accidents are symptoms of the bad driving, not what makes them bad in the first place.

On that note, I'm about to get really politically incorrect but as a rule of thumb, the more of these you check off, the more likely I believe they are prone to bad driving. There are without a doubt many exception to the rules, and any single one of these traits on their own gives no real indication but let's just say I wouldn't bet against it once you get to 3 or more.

In no particular order:

1) Driver is not Caucasian
2) Driver is a woman
3) Wearing a hat while driving
4) Wearing glasses
5) Driver is old enough to be retired
6) A really unkempt car
7) Driver is hesitant to complete basic maneuvers

So if I were to see an Asian grandma with coke bottle glasses and a hat, struggling to get over a lane, I'm putting them out of my sight ASAP.

 

[bvanlieu]

While there are stereotypes observed in certain areas, the fundamental thing is:

Thinking driving is some sort of inherit right, not the privilege that it is.

The above leads to everything that makes someone bad at driving, not caring about others, being distracted, not taking it seriously, not concentrating at the task at hand.

We can universally agree: if you see a nissan altima with a bent wheel and flappy fender doing 90+ coming up behind you, get the F out of the way and let that maniac go

 

[SlippyFist]

i think the foundation of what makes someone a "bad" driver is obliviousness. completely unaware of what's going on around them, in particular how their driving is affecting others around them- and they usually have a complete and utter lack of spatial awareness as well

 

[SilverRocket]

We can universally agree: if you see a nissan altima with a bent wheel and flappy fender doing 90+ coming up behind you, get the F out of the way and let that maniac go

Agreed...and if you see a nice car of similar performance, you roll beside them, honk the horn three times and see who's faster (joke)

 

[koatic]

Seen some crazy stuff over the years and OMG, the dash cam vids on YouTube!!!
Yes accidents happen but some people should NOT EVER be behind the wheel of anything motorized. I don’t count it an “accident” when it was caused by blatant stupidity.

insurance stats on a bad driver are shit. I would rather be on the road with someone that has plenty of Speeding tickets than someone that has never been in an accident but probably caused plenty of them because they do the minimum speed on the highway.

 

[onepointsix]

I usually just keep an eye out for particular makes/models, and that usually gives me a good idea of what kind of driver I'm dealing with. I'm speaking mostly for the ones north of border, some are probably the same state side...

- Toyota (Corolla, Camry and RAV4): slow, almost always seem lost and have bad driving habits
- Honda (10th gen base model or touring civic): usually aggressive for no reason, don't have any understanding of good driving habits
- Hyundai/Kia (Elantra and pretty much all Kias): same as above
- Dodge (Caravan and any variations): almost always the slowest vehicle in traffic.

 

[SilverRocket]

I usually just keep an eye out for particular makes/models, and that usually gives me a good idea of what kind of driver I'm dealing with. I'm speaking mostly for the ones north of border, some are probably the same state side...

- Toyota (Corolla, Camry and RAV4): slow, almost always seem lost and have bad driving habits
- Honda (10th gen base model or touring civic): usually aggressive for no reason because the car begs for it. Don't have any understanding of good driving habits care to be model citizens, what speed limits...
- Hyundai/Kia (Elantra and pretty much all Kias): same as above *Korean Toyotas*
- Dodge (Caravan and any variations): almost always the slowest vehicle in traffic until there's bad weather. Then they drive too fast for the conditions.
- German/British Luxury brands. Will knowingly inconvenience everyone because they're better than you. If I say no turn signals, you know exactly what brand we're talking about.

ROFL. Pretty on point. Made some small changes/additions.

To the point about Hondas, when I drive my Civic it's like I have a devil on each shoulder.

 

[onepointsix]

ROFL. Pretty on point. Made some small changes/additions.

To the point about Hondas, when I drive my Civic it's like I have a devil on each shoulder.

Forgot about our German/British friends lol

Unfortunate you guys have to deal with the same crap we do. The driving schools we have up here have are robbing people and not educating people at all. Licenses get purchased outright instead of being earned in some cities. It's all a huge mess.

 

[ITSDAD]

Forgot about our German/British friends lol

Unfortunate you guys have to deal with the same crap we do. The driving schools we have up here have are robbing people and not educating people at all. Licenses get purchased outright instead of being earned in some cities. It's all a huge mess.

OMG I say the same thing to my wife all the time, its like people just driving around town with purchased fake IDs.

 

[onepointsix]

OMG I say the same thing to my wife all the time, its like people just driving around town with purchased fake IDs.

Just yesterday I was on the highway (401 WB) and there's a driving school vehicle sitting in the passing lane doing about 80 KM with the their blinkers on. She was trying to change lanes for a good 2-3 minutes. A lane opened up for the entrance onto the express on the left side of her, so I quickly move over and drove up to see what was happening. This lady was soo close to the steering wheel, there's no way she'd be able to see her side mirrors. Her instructor? She could barely see over the dash and was wearing something over her head that would have made visibility worse. The best part was the license plate was "TOPDRVR"

 

[Integra23]

I usually just keep an eye out for particular makes/models, and that usually gives me a good idea of what kind of driver I'm dealing with. I'm speaking mostly for the ones north of border, some are probably the same state side...

- Toyota (Corolla, Camry and RAV4): slow, almost always seem lost and have bad driving habits
- Honda (10th gen base model or touring civic): usually aggressive for no reason, don't have any understanding of good driving habits
- Hyundai/Kia (Elantra and pretty much all Kias): same as above
- Dodge (Caravan and any variations): almost always the slowest vehicle in traffic.

Nissans aren't on your list? Altimas- leave lots of room.

 

[onepointsix]

Nissans aren't on your list? Altimas- leave lots of room.

To be honest, I hadn't thought of them really other than the videos I come across on Youtube. The Nissan phenomenon seems to be an American exclusive. Some of my fellow Canadians here might be able to chime in with their experiences on the road with them. I'll say this though, the stuff I've seen with the owners of those cars (Altima, Maxima, and Versa) is some of the best entertainment to watch on the internet.

EDIT: Shoutout to the G35/37 drivers, you guys are special.

 

[ITSDAD]

Yeah, same I didnt even know that the Altima thing was a 'thing' until I saw some YT shenanigans from the US.
I have run into a ton of agressive Merc and BMW drivers, I guess "luxury bad drivers" fall into their own category. Definitely an uptick in shitty Tesla drivers, however since EVERYONE drives one, or autopilots?, that was bound to happen lol.

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