Lady at my new insurence company stated to me that I have a beautiful driving record. Yes they keep our history. It doesn't really get you any credit on cost of insurence, like it should. Guess I have applied myself over the years and maybe been a little blessed as well. Driving big rigs of various kinds for many years taught me a lot. Have you done well over your driving years excercising good judgement as best you can? Its easy to slip up sometimes and miss something. Part#2..A bad accident here this afternoon took the life of 1 and sent 4 others to the hospital. Seven cars involved. The area is well known for congestion and people driving aggressive. I was 10 miles north in a 15 mile back up. I wonder, if anyone waiting in that long line gave a moments thought to driving safety so as this would not happen to them. Even people who weren't involved, weren't out on the interstate in the mess, likely knew of the accident and that someone had died. I wonder if for just a second, they gave thought to operating safely? And then just a hour past the accident clean up, I could hear the locals decking the throttles of their muscle cars, old 4x4 trucks with loud exhaust, a mix of drivers going about like nothing happened. I take it there is nothing to learn from such events and sometimes, it can truely be a accident. Would a bad road accident like I described make you think?

My son is 15 and is about 20 hours worth of driving into his permit.

Among my several professional hats, I am a NC law enforcement driving instructor.

I have been involved in Fire/EMS/Police for 22 years. I have seen a lot of death.

I think about it all the time. Frankly scares the hell out of me, knowing my son will be driving on his own soon and seeing the near-daily fatal wrecks in the county.

I have had two tickets (one speeding ticket in 2002 that was a prayer for judgement, another fully dismissed) and two at-fault single vehicle fender-bender wrecks in well over a million miles and 22 years. My insurance is still stupid high, in my opinion.

Man thats tough to read Chongo. One thing that must be ingrained into young folks learning to drive, there's no longer any freedom to operate among other drivers with anything less than their full attention. Not friends riding along, cell phones, a whole host of things people do while behind the wheel. They must be taught hard. Then there will be time for all the other shit, after they've arrived safely. I could never do your job sir.

I see people playing on their phones daily. I point it out to my teen. I also tell him of all the wrecks I worked as a cop. I hope that some of it will seep into his noggin and he drives defensively.

I’ve seen plenty of dead drivers and passengers and injured people who were not doing anything wrong, it was just some asshat driving like a fool that started the incident.

I’ve gotten a dash camera and hope I never need it. I drive safely and keep the limit, I follow the rules of the road. But I know after being a cop for 18 years, they it’s just a matter of time before the odds begins to stack against you.

I drove a tractor trailer for the last 35 years. Zero accidents, zero citations.
Most companies I would be considered gold. My company didn't give a shit about me,
just an ass in the seat. I kept an eye on traffic all around me, I could spot poor drivers, distracted drivers,
people cutting me off. I learned a long time ago to just let it go, don't get mad. Too many aggressive drivers out there.
I've been with State Farm since I was 16. Never shopped around, maybe I should.

quote:

Originally posted by David Lee:
Lady at my new insurence company stated to me that I have a beautiful driving record. Yes they keep our history. It doesn't really get you any credit on cost of insurence, like it should. Guess I have applied myself over the years and maybe been a little blessed as well. Driving big rigs of various kinds for many years taught me a lot. Have you done well over your driving years excercising good judgement as best you can? It’s easy to slip up sometimes and miss something. Part#2..A bad accident here this afternoon took the life of 1 and sent 4 others to the hospital. Seven cars involved. The area is well known for congestion and people driving aggressive. I was 10 miles north in a 15 mile back up. I wonder, if anyone waiting in that long line gave a moments thought to driving safety so as this would not happen to them. Even people who weren't involved, weren't out on the interstate in the mess, likely knew of the accident and that someone had died. I wonder if for just a second, they gave thought to operating safely? And then just a hour past the accident clean up, I could hear the locals decking the throttles of their muscle cars, old 4x4 trucks with loud exhaust, a mix of drivers going about like nothing happened. I take it there is nothing to learn from such events and sometimes, it can truely be a accident. Would a bad road accident like I described make you think?

It wouldn’t make me think for a second because I know how many people drive around in LaLa land not paying attention or on their phones.

I speed every time I get in my car and I’m the only person I know over 55 who has never been in a moving car accident in my life so speed has very little to do with it.

I can’t even ride with most people because of their lack of attention at hand. A lot of it is probably from so many years of motorcycling.

I know this is a little off topic of the OP but I sure appreciate you guys driving the big rigs because I see an awful lot of people driving real stupid around you. I wouldn't last minutes doing what you do.

quote:

Originally posted by 1s1k:


I can’t even ride with most people because of their lack of attention at hand.

When I rode with my ex, I kept my eyes closed. Made me too nervous. Plus we had a deal
whoever was driving controlled the radio. I'm sorry, I don't like country music.

When I used to work in the trucking/transportation industry, we absolutely used the SMITH SYSTEM LINK during drivers orientations.

No exceptions, every new driver, either a trainee fresh out of school, or a grizzened old veteran with decades of safe driving experience, was required to take, learn, and pass the test.

It greatly reduced accidents.

In a nutshell, what is taught is a constant eye movement and thinking of what if, what that, which one, etc, could possibly be done by another driver, from a bike, motorcycle, bus, car truck etc, might do.

As the shift safety manager, I can't tell you how many phone calls I'd have to take about a horrible accident.

And BTW, my personal saying is "There are few to no true accidents. They are all "whoops".

So many people out there are legends in their own mind about how good of a driver they are and they will tell you will be able to avoid other vehicles and not get in a wreck..... Following behind other vehicles less than a car length off back bumper at the speed limit or faster scares the hell out of me with these yahoo"s crawlinling up my backside....... Self centered and do not care about others on the road. .... drill sgt.

Excellent thread. I, among other LE things, was a truck cop, enforcing state law and FMCSA laws.
I came across so many good dri ers,and of course a number of clueless knuckleheads.
But, as mentioned by Mr. Lee, the professionalism of the old school truck jockeys is astounding.
I, of course wish it was industry wide, but of course it is not.
As to dri ing generally, I ha en't had a ticket since 1975.
It is not that hard, slow down, be watchful and be courteous. It could all change tomorrow, but that is my plan.

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:
When I used to work in the trucking/transportation industry, we absolutely used the SMITH SYSTEM LINK during drivers orientations.

I've been through the Smith System for 40 years. At first you think this is just another safety class.
But after going through it so many times it gets ingrained into your head, it does work!
Aim high, keep your eyes moving, leave yourself an out. You do these things without thinking about it.
Saved my ass many times.

I can’t even ride with most people because of their lack of attention at hand. A lot of it is probably from so many years of motorcycling.[/QUOTE]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I used to take the “Motorcycle Safety Foundation Advanced Rider Course” every few years to keep my defensive driving skills up to date. I have not had an accident on the street since 1958 - I, too, attribute that to riding motorcycles.

I truly believe that lack of attention caused by distractions, especially cell phones, is the most common cause of accidents on the street.

I too, attribute my driving record to my motorcycle driving and what it taught me, but I've been in 2 major accidents.

In #1, a 17 year old girl blew through a stop sign without even slowing down on a blind intersection and I T-boned her. No impact on my insurance.

In #2, another 17 year old girl decided to go the wrong way down the freeway while high on drugs and alcohol and totaled another car for me. Again, no impact on my insurance.

But it sure is scary. If I'd been on my motorcycle for either ne of those, I'd be dead.

50+ years driving, no at fault and 5 or less tickets.
I drive very defensively by always checking when I cross any intersection.
Years ago we had friends riding back seat and the light turned green and I started to go. One of my back seat passengers saw and warned that a big Cadillac ran through the red light with no clue. If I had continued it would have hit me in the door at about 60. I wouldn't have been at fault then either. End of story.

Since then I've been keenly aware that fault isn't that important, just staying out of accidents counts for anything. There are a lot of not great and terrible drivers out there.

I've been driving for about 49 years now. I was involved in 3 relatively minor accidents, all technically my fault. Two when I was a teenager still learning how to stay alive behind the wheel. Both were the result of my not paying sufficient attention. The 3rd was about 10 years ago and happened because of my impatience. I was in the parking lot at work, in the morning, in the dark, backing into a space. Another car came into the lot and stopped, waiting for me. His headlights were in my eyes and nearly blinded me. Instead of waiting for him to move, which he really couldn't do because I was blocking his way, or getting out and asking him to turn his lights off, I kept backing up without really being able to see where I was going. The camper tiedown on the end of my rear bumper put a long gouge down the side of the car in the next space. My insurance paid for the damage and yes my rate went up, for several years.

When I was in my 20's I decided to do something I had long wanted to do and learn to fly. My instructor taught me something - similar I think to the Smith System mentioned above - that has always stayed with me, both flying and driving. Head-on-a-swivel situational awareness and a lot of "what if?". What if that guy runs the stop sign? What if a piece of junk bounces out of the back of that pickup? A distant relative of mine got killed that way, following too close behind a dump truck and a rock bounced out and landed in her lap. Always assume that that other driver might be about to do something colossally stupid or that he might have a tire blow out and lose control.

I wish there was a way to totally disable all the damned cell phones in a vehicle whenever said vehicle is in motion. The "hands off" systems in newer cars go a long way toward making calls safer, although IMO answering (or making) a call is still an unnecessary distraction. But all the time I see drivers surfing, texting, tweeting, whatever, with one or both eyes on their phone instead of on the road. I try to give them a wide berth.

I’ve been driving for a long time too. I’ve had one speeding ticket, many years ago when I had oversized rear snow tires on my Camaro. I saw the state trooper and thought I was within his grace zone for speeding; he had me 6 mph faster than I thought I was going. I’ve never had an at fault collision, and can barely remember the last accident I was involved in where the other driver was at fault. I have only two pieces of advice: Maintain your vehicle, and pay attention.

If you’re not affected after passing a bad accident then you’re likely amoral and have your head up your ass.

I have worked every type of fatality from trains to motorcycles to commercial motor vehicles.

While I am at the scene I not only have to "work" the wreck, I also have to keep my eyes out for passing traffic/drivers.

I know it shouldn't but it never fails to amaze me that people are idiots. There you are working a fatality, and people are driving aggressively to get by/through the scene.

It is the same with people walking with blue tooth/ear buds in. The sheer number of people hit in DC/Northern VA walking is a amazing.

I used to love to drive but not anymore.
I am planning a trip to see my folks just outside of Orlando and I am dreading it.
Heck I dread driving 10mins to the store.

I've got an almost spotless record. 2 speeding tickets. First was 1979 when I was in college, and I deserved it. Big, wide boulevard posted at 25mph in an unfamiliar town and I was looking for a certain street. I was doing just over 30. The second ticket absolutely was not earned, just a revenue maker for Silverton, Colorado.

Only accident was when a guy bolted out of a parking lot across 5 lanes of traffic and t-boned me. Definitely not my fault.

quote:

Originally posted by DoubleAdobe:
But, as mentioned by Mr. Lee, the professionalism of the old school truck jockeys is astounding.

We were just discussing this last night with my mom who lives in England. Too many young hot head truck drivers these days. Traffic density is much higher than it used to be, too.

When I was teaching my kids to drive I emphasized the "Driver In Command" idea, taken from the aviation world of "Pilot In Command".

Absent some bizarre unforeseeable event like a wheel falling off which causes the vehicle to be uncontrollable, the Driver in Command is directly responsible for it either being a safe or unsafe situation. No excuses. If you are the driver, you are controlling where the car is going and how fast.

Many external events happen, but we can still anticipate the possibility and we can take protective actions.

In the old days we called it Defensive Driving. In the aviation world it is called Threat Error Management. Identify potential threats, and then action to minimize them.

As a motorcycle rider, I see a lot of drivers using phones and GPS units while driving. It is a shocking percentage.