well im 16 so theres no chance im a good driver. but i know how to drive my car, i dont trust anyone else who drives, and the WORST experience ive had driving = classic understeer in the rain.... was a dumbass and tried to drift a 90 degree 15 mph turn at about 30, happened. ended up regaining traction as soon as my fronts hit the gravel and i avoided the barrier, but **** it scared me. im not dumb anymore

 

I would love to race some of you guess the girls need to plan a roadtrip once I get some more mods

 

2 accidents - neither were my fault.

3 tickets - somewhat my fault. its difficult to follow the speed limit when driving 350 miles home from college... as long as i have some new music or a dvd or something, i am fine

 

managed to spin 2 full rotations in the snow at 35-40mph and not hit anything (not intentional) and keep goin.

 

A DVD? Now that's nuts! A buddy of mine, who drives a max too, btw, keeps a portable dvd player in his car. He says he "listens" to the movies. Come to think of it, though, that would be a good way to pass the two and a quarter hours I drive to get to ma folks' house. Guess I couldn't be watching Charlie Chaplin, though.

 

Driving since about 12-13(occasionally), legally since 15 (Florida) So in 16+ years Ive gotten...
2 accidents, both paid me as they werent my fault.
1 speeding ticket in 1991.

 

I think I am a good driver, but I have only been doing it for almost for years!

 

You can go drive at Lime Rock if you want with NASA, your car, two days plus instruction ~$400. Some groups are a little more expensive. You end up on track for about 2 hours each day in 20-30 intervals. And believe me, it's more of a challenge than you think driving like that for 20 minutes in a row.
There's PDA, sometimes SCCA, EMRA, Com-(something, forgot sorry), BMW club, Miata club, probably some I forgot and some I don't know about. Porsche club is by far the cheapest, but you have to have a Porsche, that's the only club I know of that discriminates.
Most all have novice instruction, and it's worth it to do it at least once.

 

I was born in Germany so I was born a great driver.

 

I'm so good that your girlfriend wants me to teach her how to drive.

 

when i owned my old max i drove like an ***
but now i obey the law......most of the time.havent got one ticket since
i bought my current car....knock on wood

 

I never say anything about this outloud or I'll jinx myself!

 

Does it count if you type it?

 

Most people think they're great drivers until their first track event. Very humbling yet educational experience.

 

You mean quarter miles or circuits?

 

Auto-X helps alot with knowing the limits and knowing how the maxima reacts to certain things....i think it helps me be a better driver....i also want to do and instructional course at Watkins Glen

 

I was kinda crazy with my Maxima, as it was my first car and I was just learning how to drive, but now I'm much more refined and way more aware of my surroundings. I would venture to say that I've alway been a "good" driver, but I'm at the best I've ever been right now and am hoping to tag along with my parents the next time the BMW Ultimate Driving Experience comes to where they live so I can learn even more. I'm highly considering race school.

 

Good luck with your goal, however remember one thing, on the road we are looking for better drivers, not faster ones, you can learn lots from a racing school on car handling and characteristics, but time spent behind the wheel will make you a much safer driver and afford you the experience of being able to read most drivers and foresee potential hazards.

Your on the right track, however don’t discount your own learned experience over time on the road than what a race instructor might teach you. As you venture out more in life, you will find that everything you may have learned does not always apply to different situations, hazards, environments and location situations. Daily driving is an everyday classroom, just follow the rules and hope for the best. Good Luck…

 

It's not how good of a driver you think you are; it's how good you react to the other guy.

 

Does that make sense?

 

I think the statement should be that how good a driver you are depends on how well you react to the other guy. I'll buy that for a dollar.

 

I'm an alright driver, but I would love to go to a driving school and learn some new things.

 

I agree. You're a good driver if you can predict what other stupid drivers is going to do and avoid an accidence.

 

im a defensive driver..get in an accident and it changes your perspective

 

it means that you have become a good driver...jk

 

I guess im a good driver People are so STUPID! Ok im only 17 and have had my liscence for 9 months. I think I am better than at least half the drivers out there no matter what age. Ive never been in an accident or a ticket. Heck Ive never been pulled over.

Ive been in plenty of situations where I had to react quickly. Example, when I had my 240 my rear broke lose but I was able to keep it under control. A stupid guy on a bike crossed the street when my light was green. I scarred the **** out of him . Plenty of instances where I stopped an accident from happening because some other idiot did something wrong.

I dont drink and drive (DUH!) Of course one of my friends doesnt understand that...4 DUIS!!! Ill admit I do speed sometimes but hey no one is perfect. At least I know WHEN to do it even though it can always be dangerous. I do it A LOT less now. Ive been in an accident with my mom driving and I know what can happen if your not careful...But sheesh IDK how some of these drivers passed te driving test...

 

i've been in 2 accidents 1 not my fault 1 hit a tree in the snow from driving way too fast but that was a rare instance, i felt like i was invinceable. had 1 speeding ticket although pulled over a handfull of times. hit 5 deer but those are just unavoidable sometimes. i think i'm a pretty good driver. many times i've started sliding when wet and pulled it out. just have to make minor adjustments, nothing harsh

 

My driving is pretty good. I just participated in the Ultimate Drive Experience. BMW provided 6 E90 330i SP's, 2 Audi A4 3.2 Quattros, and 2 G35 Sports. We did trial runs with professional drivers, then we got to drive each car several times on our own. The people in my car including the professional said I was pretty good.

It was amazing how the G35 was severely lacking in the handling department based on how the course was setup--no steering feel, the car pitched at every corner, it was crazy because the car was beautiful. The Audi was not close but way better. Even in Quattro flavor it's basically a FWD car.

At the end they took us for a "hot lap" which I caught on video. That's when you realize that professional drivers are like professional skiers--no matter how good you think you are, you don't compare. They pushed the E90's to the limit, where it was basically a controlled slide throughout the whole course. Luckily the tires were provided by Bridgestone, as for this autocross event they only last 50 miles and get replaced daily. OUCH.

 

I am officially taking myself out of the "can hold my own" catagory. I just totaled my new Frontier. Thought my turn light turned green when it was only the "straight" lanes. I pulled out into oncomming traffic and got hit head on. I am now labeling myself as "the type of driver to stay away from".

 

Bummer dude! I feel your pain.

 

I'd like to see a companion thread to this entitled, "How bad do you think other drivers are?"

What I have observed is that for every 10-15 drivers who practice good driving habits, there will be that one driver who does something dumb like cutting you off, running a light, tailgaiting, going way too fast or way too slow, and so on.

What really shocks me is how many drivers (and the range of drivers such as school bus drivers, semis, dump trucks) that run stop lights when they are five or six car lengths from the intersection when the light changes red. What they are doing is taking advantage of the built-in delay between one side and the other.

I know that I drive too fast, but if you try to do the speed limit here, you get run over!

 

So what do you call "cutting you off?" Some people drive as if they get offended if you get in the lane they're in (not "their" lane). I mean they could be travelling at 55 mph. You're at about 65, so you get in that lane to pass someone doing about 60 or so, but they decide to speed up because you got in front of them. And all of a sudden they're riding your tail cause they think you're slowing them down. As far as I'm concerned, as long as someone getting in front of me does not cause me to have to take my foot off the gas, click cruise cancel, or hit the brake, they're all good. (That's when someone changes from a lane farther to the right into a lane that I'm in.) That is in fact, what your understanding of "cutting off" is, right?

 

I'm referring to the latter you described: situations that would lead to a major mishap had I not been able to execute an avoidance maneuver or panic stop in time.

I don't mind if someone pulls out in front of me when there is a sufficient space between us, and keeps up with the traffic flow. I'll even give someone the benefit of the doubt if they made a judgement call and misjudged when and where to go.

But, when I am the ONLY freakin' car on a 3-lane road, and someone pulls right in front of me so that I either have to panic stop or switch lanes, you can bet the bozo was on his or her cellphone and not paying attention...or caring, either.

That is, until you blow your horn, and then they blow their horn in retaliation and give you a look like, "Who the hell are you?"

Now, if that happened in Miami, somebody's gonna get a cap busted on their head!

 

I'll eventually go to the barber racing school and then I will be the best.

 

I just wanted to post! I haven't done anything spectacular except travel this distance in a 96 maxima(GLE i believe) @ whatever the model tops out at! if i had to guess we,my buddy with me at the wheel, were doing about 150(the speedo says 140). came about 30 yards from be pulled over! (no radar detector just decent eyesite). This occured a couple years ago. it was about 9pm EST. cant remember how long it took us to travel that distance but it was fast needless to say!

okay i dont know the actual speed i was going but the speedometer says 140 i would guess the car goes 145-150 tops. also the cop thing was just a blessing that i didn't run into any trouble dealing with him i'm sure he could've tagged me doing however fast i was going but didn't on account of at least my effort to respect his presence on the road. thank goodness for me.
And also just for debating's sake. most cars do go faster than the meter reads i had my buddies '00 civic si(driving w/one passenger). chasing after me behind the wheel of a 4-door (with 4 people) chevy metro!
believe it or not it's the truth.

 

150? hm not good, anyways what do you mean you were going 150 when your speedo showed 140?

 

Maybe his body was going 150 when the car was going 140?

 

I thought he was saying he had to needle at or past 140 and he thought he was probably going 150 in actuality.

 

If I were in Vegas I'd lay down a fat chip that the story is untrue. 150 in a '96, GLE or whatever, highly doubtful. The 4th gen gets shaky at 115+, you don't cruise at 150, see a cop with your eagle eyes, and then back it down like it ain't no thing. my .02......

 

Either that or your car is just slow as hell.. j/k..