In the midst of the recently expired winter, a down-river friend sent me two newspaper clippings. One was a photograph of a pickup truck perched atop a substantial snowbank as two good ol’ boys — the befuddled male driver and his passenger — stood by, presumably trying to figure out how to get the vehicle back on the highway.
The other clip, yellowed with age, was a news story about a Gallup Poll conducted some years ago for U.S. News and World Report magazine and the Cable News Network concerning driving skills of American motorists.
The survey had led pollsters to two conclusions that likely ring as true today as when the poll was conducted. The first was that when it comes to assessing our driving skills we are quick to toot our own horn in praise of our proficiency. The second was that men have a more exalted opinion of their driving abilities than do women of theirs.
My pen pal had highlighted the paragraph about the researchers’ findings, circled the image of the truck atop the snowbank, stapled the clippings together and shipped them to me with a succinct note in which she wondered how that esteemed-male-driving-skills thing was working out.
The poll found that seven of 10 of us consider ourselves better drivers than most others on the highway and nearly half of us rate our aptitude behind the wheel as excellent. Considering some of the competition on the open road today, who wouldn’t?
“Excellent”’ is a relative term, of course. But you could be the rawest rookie in driving school on your first run with your instructor riding shotgun and still be several skill levels ahead of the modern menace to mankind that often approaches, cellphone to ear or tweeting apparatus at fingertips, his attention focused on anything but safe operation of his vehicle.
And who among us would not feel superior in driving ability to the impatient driver — late for work and riding our rear bumper up close and personal at 55 mph — her eyes on her rearview mirror as she combs her golden tresses or fusses with her makeup? Near cardiac arrest one might be, perhaps, in anticipation of the imminent rear-ending and the resulting whiplash injury. But superior-feeling nonetheless.
Likewise, what of Ma and Pa Kettle, out for a leisurely Sunday afternoon back-road gawkathon in their 1954 Chevy that has yet to break the 35 mph crawl barrier? Can there possibly be anyone holding a valid driver’s license who on his worst day would not consider himself to be in a different stratosphere, driving abilitywise, than this deadly duo that has traffic snarled for miles behind?
The Gallup Poll showed that 36 percent of Americans had routinely driven above the speed limit in the past year, although 91 percent who did so hadn’t been busted for speeding. The statistic brings to mind the old story about the fictional Yankee motorist who raced a freight train to a railroad crossing, and lost. The consensus at the man’s wake was that it’s exciting to go one-on-one with a freight train and win the contest, but hell when the game ends in a tie.
Pollsters found that the national share of motorists who possess dubious driving skills hovers around the 30 percent mark. Most drivers with any appreciable time behind the wheel likely have encountered their fair share of the species.
In addition to the Tweeter, the Cellphone Addict, the Slowpoke, the Congenital Speeder and the Glassy-Eyed Tailgater, the Yellow-Line Road Hog is certainly a hazard to navigation to be reckoned with. As are others, including the Spur-Of-The-Moment Lane-Changer, the Excruciatingly Slow Turner and his first cousin, the Turn-Right-By-Way-Of-Topeka Geek.
The latter breed is indigenous to The County. His signature move involves a grand drift leftward to get lined up for a sudden right turn into his driveway, occasionally taking with him some poor sap who — believing the impending turn to be to the left, rather than to the right — attempts to pass on the right before the maneuver is completed.
When executed properly, The County Turn is a thing of beauty. But if an unwitting trailing motorist should get faked out by the process and make a hash of things, well, that’s why God invented tow trucks.
BDN columnist Kent Ward lives in Limestone. His e-mail address is maineolddawg@gmail.com.
I am working on my second million miles without an accident. My advice, should anyone have enough control of their ego to listen, is to slow down, buckle up, and keep your eyes glued to the road.
The average driver puts on about 15000 miles per year. If you are an average driver you have been driving for over 66 years. That says one of two things ; it’s close to time you give up driving or, your comment is meaningless.
I was an independent trucker for 15 years. Averaged about 120k miles a year. I had a front row seat for some of the dumbest driving that you can possibly imagine. About two out of ten people out there piloting 2 ton death missles should never have been allowed to drive in the first place. My brother’s sister in law wrecks about one a year. She thinks she is a good driver too.
Here is a hypothetical for ya: U.S. Route “X” is posted at 50 mph. The majority of traffic, say 98-99%, is traveling at 65 mph. The 1-2% are driving at the 50 mph speed limit. In this situation, who are the more unsafe drivers? The 99% or the 1% (and no there is no hidden reference to economics) I’m just curious to see who says what.
Situational ethics at work. If the law says 50 mph, a cop is within his rights to ticket a driver going 51. Most drivers would be outraged if that became common practice.
So if someone smokes only a LITTLE bit of dope, or steals only a LITTLE bit of money, the law should look the other way, right?
Nope, although the person doing the limit causes the danger, if there were an accident, the person speeding will be at fault, gets the tickets and summons, and pays the increase in insurance.
When loading a queston Dane, it is best to not let anyone see you do it. 98% of people speed? 50% would be far more realistic. Plug the updated info into your equation and answer your own riddle. As written, with predjudice, I would say the person driving the speed limit would be a rolling road block and cause horrific pile ups. Is this the answer you were guiding us to?
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Ok lets update. I-95 one year ago, Houlton to Old Town, speed limit 65. I’ve run that stretch so often I can do it my sleep, and yes 98% of traffic was speeding along that stretch. I’ve personally been passed by State Troopers like i was standing still when i was doing 75 (which was the average cruising speed before the limit was raised). So when traffic is doing 75 and there is someone obeying the law at 65, who is the more dangerous?
My girlfriend drives a school bus that is governed at 55mph. Do you want her going 90 with your kid on the bus? How about the rigs that are grossing out at 100,000? Do you want them traveling through Bangor at 1 and 1/2 miles per minute? Speed limits are also there to promote continuity as well. I used to be an EMT many years ago, and trust me Dane, speed really does kill.
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As any professional driver will tell you there are two end reasons for a “accident” either a change of SPEED or DIRECTION.
It is the CAUSE of those two changes that can be prevented. Those of us in the truck world do not use the word accident as there is no such thing. If you pay attention drive ahead ( something very very few in cars do because they re not taught to do it) you can drive both safe and efficiently.
Ditto. I to have over a million miles and there are far to many on the road that for whatever reason simply do not pay attention.
I have often stated that for a person to get a license to drive a car they should have to spend a certain amount of time riding in a truck to understand what is really going on. I have taken many people in my trucks just to give them a idea. I have changed many minds with a trip to Boston and back.
The reason “County Boys” make wide turns is most of us grew up on our
family farms. We had to learn how to drive Tractors, Trucks, Skidders or
whatever it took to get the job at hand done at a very young age… Now you
soon learned that if you didn’t make a wide turn going into the driveway, field,
or woods road or whatever qualified as a road. That usually the rear tires would
end up in the ditch and upset whatever you were hauling. The worst part was
incurring the wrath of your Father, Grandfather or whoever you were working
for being so stupid. Nowadays there are so many people that have moved up to
this beautiful part of the State but just don’t understand little things like
this that were learned as a way of life years ago.
This is hilarious. By definition, half of all drivers must be below average, yet I have never heard anyone say, “You know, I’m not a very good driver.”
I, on the other hand, am an excellent pedestrian, bicyclist and user of public transportation.
I’ve been driving for 45 years. 2 years ago I took a safe driving course (out of curiosity)….just to see if the instructor knew more than I about being a smart and clever driver. I wanted to see if there was anything I didn’t already know. Lo and behold, I was certainly humbled in discovering what I still didn’t know. The “didn’t knows” I now put into practice and it made me a safer driver as well as a defensive driver. (Learning how to avoid the risk caused by other road users) I also got a nice little discount on my insurance premium.
The only thing that still annoys me is having my space filled between myself and the driver in front of me.
All things considered, we also have those who are out for a Sunday drive on Monday through Saturday.