How I Drive

Earlier today I was sharing my method for driving with a few others and it made me think ‘I should share how I drive and see if anyone else drives the same way’, or if I am one of those weird people that drives the way I do.

I call it ‘Predictive Driving’. While I’m out and about, if I see other cars on the road, I try and predict what their move is going to be. Luckily when it comes to driving, there’s only so many things you can do, speed up, slow down, stop, turn right, turn left. I tend to do this with all the cars that are relevant to what I’m going to do.

Example

Driving with 5 miles to go before my next turn on a two lane street

Scenario: I am in the right lane when suddenly it slows down below the speed limit. I know there are multiple stop lights between my current location and my next turn.

Predictions

• I notice the lane is slowing down because of the car two cars ahead of me. Based on how he is slowing down, I think he is going to make a right turn.
• The lane I am in will slow down, coming to a halt, and I will be stuck at the immediate next light. To prevent this, I’ll look at the left lane and determine if the cars in that lane are going to actually move faster than the lane I’m in. If there’s a semi, school bus, moving van, or truck with a heavy load, I will avoid the lane as these types of vehicles tend to accelerate slower and when we get caught by the light, they will be the slowest to move, but the easiest to get in front of.
• The lane I am in will momentarily speed up once the car two cars in front of me finally makes the right turn I predicted he would make. If he makes the right turn, this lane will then speed up and so it makes no sense to leave the lane.

So I’ve noticed, generally, people tend to slow down when they are about to make a turn. If I can see why my lane is going slow, I will try and predict what others will do so I can move to a spot where I’m not surrounded by people who I classify as relaxed drivers.

Types of drivers

• Relaxed

These drivers tend to be on the road and simply have no impetus to go the speed limit. They are not rushed by the passing of time. They accelerate slowly and slow down slowly. They are terrible at changing lanes or getting into turn lanes.

• Rushed

These drivers are always in a hurry, cannot decide on a lane, will change lanes at the drop of a hat and have no problem forgetting to use their turn signal. These are notorious for going outside of the normal actions you take while driving (ie. cross multiple lanes of traffic, random U turns, turning left when signage dictates otherwise).

• Rule breakers

Similar to rushed, they have no respect for the rules of the road and will take whatever shortcuts necessary to get to what might be their destination.

• Lost souls

There are many drivers who simply get on the road and have no idea where they are going or how to get there and hope to find out while they are driving. They turn on their signals, and then turn them off, they will get onto your left only to pass you and exit on your right when they could’ve just gone right in the first place.

• Trolls

These are the drivers that seem to have some ‘game’ to be played. Wether it’s following closely, going slower if you accelerate too fast behind them, or generally turn driving into a game that you have found yourself invovled in with the odds stacked against you (the game is played by troll-based rules).

• The Distracted

The largest growing population of drivers. These drivers are so confident in their multi-tasking capabilities that they have no problem risking their life and the lives of those around them to see pictures of cats, order a grande Frappuccino from Starbucks, like or share some content on Facebook, take selfies, or a number of other smartphone related tasks. These drivers will randomly slow down, accelerate, and their behavior is the most sporadic over a short distance. Other distractions include applying make-up, reading newspaper, shouting at children, fumbling for something that fell between the seats, and admiring oneself in the mirror.

• The Angered

This driver is similar to rushed, but somehow you can end up as their ‘target’. They will flash their brights, honk their horn, yell, flip you off, and be as obscene as possible to prove a point with a random stranger.

• The Asshole

This driver has a tendency to clearly see others wanting to change lanes, clearly see what others intend to do and turn others’ actions into a vendetta against those others to ensure said actions are prevented. They will speed up, slow down, ride side-by-side or whatever is necessary to be an asshat.

• The loss of driving consciousness

They either passed out at the wheel due to fatigue, being drunk, or another set of circumstances that results in the car pulling slowly to the right or left, followed by a sudden jerk either from them regaining consciousness or an exaggerated jerk caused by their body while losing consciousness.

• The ‘Oh-My-God something is falling from the sky’ driver

These drivers generally live in an area where precipitation (rain, sleet, or snow) is common and yet they continuously forget how they drove the last time said precipitation fell upon their path. They can be dangerous and are prone to braking excessively and for some reason, randomly forgetting where they were going.

• The better than everyone else driver

The largest group of drivers (yours truly included). This group exhibits all of the above drivers depending on context. They generally claim to make few mistakes while driving, but fail to identify their flaws as they are so focused on noticing the mistakes of others. Although generally judgmental, they can be known to exhibit qualities of:

• The nice driver

This driver has been there and knows how much everyone hates driving when it involves traffic. They will let people in front of them. Politely use their horn only when necessary. They even might smile through it all.

There are actually way too many types of drivers to list, but generally, each of these drivers has a set of behaviors that I use to try and ‘predict’ what a driver is going to do. I then generally react to whatever I think these predictions suggest.

I’m usually correct when I’m focused on driving and where I am going.

Then there are days where I am completely ‘over’ driving and just go with the flow. I consider this to be what ‘auto-pilot’ mode in cars will one day be.

Overall, I try to be a safe & conscious driver. There are a few times I have had some close calls, but when it comes to driving when others are driving around me, I tend to pay attention to what others are doing and then react.

I’m curious to hear how others tend to drive. I’m sure everyone has some ‘system’ when it comes to driving, but I wonder if anyone else tries to predict what nearly everyone around them is about to do.