Since I've been doing an inordinate amount of driving lately, I've spent some time evaluating my driving. While I was driving Meredith's car I was, if I do say so myself, an excellent driver. Then I got my car back...I told Steve once that my car makes me feel invincible. I was sort of joking, but there's some truth to that too. I noticed immediately that when I'm driving my car I turn into quite the little speeder. It's a miracle I haven't received more tickets, (and I still maintain that the one speeding ticket I did receive wasn't entirely my fault). Anyhow, I decided to go online and see if I could find a driver safety quiz to see how good/bad of a driver I really am. I wasn't paying close attention to the first quiz I took, and didn't realize that it was for drivers over the age of 55. I'm not sure if these results should concern me regardless of my age:
Your Score : 44
35 and over STOP! You are engaging in too many unsafe driving practices. You are a potential or actual hazard to yourself and others. Read the Suggestions for Improvement section for ways to correct these problem areas. These scores are based on what you and other drivers 55 and over have told us about driving practices and habits. Your score is based on your answers to a limited number of important questions. For a complete evaluation of your driving ability, many more questions would be required, along with medical, physical, and licensing examinations. Nevertheless, your answers and score give some indication of how well you are doing and how you can become a safer driver.
35 and over STOP! You are engaging in too many unsafe driving practices. You are a potential or actual hazard to yourself and others. Read the Suggestions for Improvement section for ways to correct these problem areas. These scores are based on what you and other drivers 55 and over have told us about driving practices and habits. Your score is based on your answers to a limited number of important questions. For a complete evaluation of your driving ability, many more questions would be required, along with medical, physical, and licensing examinations. Nevertheless, your answers and score give some indication of how well you are doing and how you can become a safer driver.
They provided a link to a page of suggestions for safer driving. Here's a little sampling of some of those suggestions:
"If you feel you have the ability to drive on interstates, but want to improve your skills, ask another experienced driver whose opinion you trust to ride with you and suggest what you should and should not do. Then, practice when traffic is less congested."
"If you feel so uncomfortable on interstates that you feel you may be in danger, try to avoid them. There is always another, parallel route. You are your own best judge of whether they are safe for you, regardless of how safe they may be for others."
My experience has been that older drivers always feel more comfortable on the freeways than they really should. I have not yet forgotten riding in the back seat of my grandparent's car while my grandma driving dangerously slow drifted over onto the shoulder and hit something which led to my blind grandpa's exclamation "what the devil was that!?!?"
I did manage to find the test to determine if you are an aggressive driver and these were my results from that test:
Driver Stress Profile Results
Category Rating Score
Anger High 12
Impatience High 15
Competing Moderate 5
Punishing Moderate 8
YOUR TOTAL SCORE is 40 out of a possible 120.
The CURRENT AVERAGE SCORE for the Quiz is 27.
While I do think that those results are a bit harsh, I also don't think that there's any question that I could perhaps be a bit less aggressive behind the wheel. If you're interested in taking the test yourself click here.
No comments:
Post a Comment