What is your driving style?

biko

"I always drive like a madman, Eddie
But you'll soon get used to that
I believe if you're moving fast enough, Eddie
You don't ever have to watch your back"
New Model Army (Sullivan) 1990

Taylor365

I'd put myself in the very slowly category.

No point in gunning it to every red light.

djimi

When I was younger I would have been in the first group. As I got older (and ironically have a much faster car!) I have mellowed out a lot. Would still be in the second group I'd say. Would overtake when required to do so but nowhere near as frequently and am less bothered about sitting in (relatively fast moving) traffic.

keithclancy

If I have to use the brakes I'm going too fast.

But poll doesn't make sense, was doing around 200km/h for around 20 minutes this morning and overtaking cars, wouldn't say that's aggressive.

Aggressive would be tailgating, cutting off cars, blocking the overtaking lane, forcing your way into lanes, flashing lights at people to get out of the way etc.

bear1

Seeing as I am in Poland at the moment (Warsaw) with my car I thought I could provide everyone with an up-to-date view of how they drive here. In a word? Crazy.
I've recently driven to meet my in-laws in a city called Bialystok (the Poles will obviously know where it is) but for the rest of us, it's close to the Belorussian border - roughly 200km from Warsaw. They overtake in the most stupid of situations, trucks are coming, double line, in towns when the speed limit is 50 etc. Possibly not all of them are like this when it comes to driving, but if I had to put them in a class then it would be along with the Italians.
In Warsaw they seem to be less chaotic, you do meet the odd car driving stupid speeds but generally its more relaxed.

H3llR4iser

AugustusMinimus wrote: »

What I don't get are people who normal will drive to the limit but will point blank refuse to overtake in almost all safe scenarios.

Sometimes it depends on the type of car you drive; Right now all cars can get up to at least 150 km/h, however how they get there is a different story.

In the past, while driving a 2.0 litres Alfa Romeo, I would be quick on the overtake on an national road as soon as a bit of space presented itself.

Now, being limited to a 1.4 Megane (thanks insurance companies) that takes forever to accelerate above 80 kph, I have to think my maneuvers well in advance and the space required is considerably longer.

bear1 wrote: »

...In a word? Crazy...Possibly not all of them are like this when it comes to driving, but if I had to put them in a class then it would be along with the Italians...

And I would say you're correct; I 've never been to Poland but I come from Italy, and what you describe sounds EXTREMELY familiar to me :P

One thing has to be said, however: while this kind of "crazy" driving can be troublesome and sometimes dangerous, it is also true that it makes most drivers learn how to properly be in control of their cars and on the lookout for trouble; a thing that, with no offense meant, I wouldn't say is true about the average Irish driver. Most seem to be always "carried around" by their cars, rather than be "one step ahead", if you know what I mean, and you hardly ever see anybody having a look around at a green light...

bear1

Spot on H3llr4saier - My mother is from Rome so I frequently (twice a year) drive down to see the other part of the family. Driving in Italy has taught me a great deal and the more you get used to it the more you feel in touch with the car and your surroundings.

jimgoose

Yōshūkai.

DubTony

Today I'm definitely in the third group, and sometimes I veer slightly into the fourth one, when I'm not concentrating

When I was younger it was definitely the first one. Driving up people's arses, giving offensive hand signals, speeding, flashing and beeping morons hogging the overtaking fast lane, away from the lights before anyone else, testing how good my brakes were; and all that good stuff. It was years before anyone ever overtook me ... EVER !!!!

Damn, I wish I was 45 again.

Ironically today I drive the most powerful and fastest car I've ever owned.

brokenarms

Have to giggle a little at the foot down possy.
My work van is restricted to 90kph and our driving style is tracked by an onboard computer which flags over reving , high fuel consumption and heavy braking . I stay under the radar in the slow lane.

I still meet all the fast kids waiting in traffic at Newlands cross and manage to use traffic to get back in front without upsetting anyone and driving in a safe manner.

I am the reason insurance can be low.
You can thank me with the Thank button below .:pac:...... .......................................................................................................... Here

ardmacha

I just wanted to do a little comparison between Irish drivers and Polish drivers

I think the comparison is obvious, Polish drivers kill 175% more people than Irish ones.

brokenarms

ardmacha wrote: »

I think the comparison is obvious, Polish drivers kill 175% more people than Irish ones.

Wow.
So it not racist to say Polish cant drive ..

They really cant.

Jausuzzzzz . But Lithuania .

jimgoose

brokenarms wrote: »

Have to giggle a little at the foot down possy.
My work van is restricted to 90kph and our driving style is tracked by an onboard computer which flags over reving , high fuel consumption and heavy braking...

I wish I had a system like that - so I could rip it out and set fire to it!

brokenarms wrote: »

...I am the reason insurance can be low.
You can thank me with the Thank button below .:pac:...... .......................................................................................................... Here

You are the reason for dangerously slow merging on motorways, with your feckin' training wheels.

brokenarms

jimgoose wrote: »

I wish I had a system like that - so I could rip it out and set fire to it!

You are the reason for dangerously slow merging on motorways, with your feckin' training wheels.

Its horrible to be honest. But you get used to it. I even find myself driving my car at the same speed sometimes .


A good selection of CDs and hours talking to myself are the only thing that keeps me sane.

Sobanek

ardmacha wrote: »

I think the comparison is obvious, Polish drivers kill 175% more people than Irish ones.

It's sad but true. I think that the amount of accidents on Polish roads is truly ridiculous. I saw three serious accidents over a course of two months and haven't seen a single one in Ireland in over a year.

SouperComputer

Hard footer, but rarely offensive or agressive. Depends on situation...

dudara

Funny question to answer. On the motorway, I'll set the cruise control to approx 128 kmph, and I rarely get overtaken at that rate. I'll drive steadily in the driving lane, overtaking smoothly and moving back. I drive quickly, but not aggressively.

When it comes to National Roads, I drive in a similar manner, but adjusted for road/weather conditions.

In towns, I obey speed limits, no questions asked.

I always try to drive as quickly, yet smoothly as I can.

visual

Thought it was just me who set the cruise control slightly on the positive side.
Using GPS I set about 126~7 kph

CiniO

Sobanek wrote: »

Yeah, I learned to drive in Ireland, and the experience in Poland wasn't the best one (however I expected it) - people tailgating, flashing their high beams all the time (even while I was doing 60 in a 50!). Then seeing my friends drive like lunatics didn't help one bit
I thought I was a wolf on the road, not a sheep, but when I drove in Poland, I was the sheep.

Heh see.
Indeed tailgating and overtaking in dangerous places happens way too often than it should in Poland.
But besides, generally people tend to drive quite allright. They definitely are more aware of their surroundings than Irish drivers. (look in the mirrors, check their blindspots, look properly before entering main road, indicate, etc).

Generally traffic seems a bit faster than in Ireland, but also roads are bit wider and better in many places.

CiniO

bear1 wrote: »

Seeing as I am in Poland at the moment (Warsaw) with my car I thought I could provide everyone with an up-to-date view of how they drive here. In a word? Crazy.
I've recently driven to meet my in-laws in a city called Bialystok (the Poles will obviously know where it is) but for the rest of us, it's close to the Belorussian border - roughly 200km from Warsaw. They overtake in the most stupid of situations, trucks are coming, double line, in towns when the speed limit is 50 etc. Possibly not all of them are like this when it comes to driving, but if I had to put them in a class then it would be along with the Italians.
In Warsaw they seem to be less chaotic, you do meet the odd car driving stupid speeds but generally its more relaxed.

See I have noticed opposite.
In Warsaw they drive like crazy, while in my place (south eastern Poland) people seem to drive rather more relaxed and slower.
I've never driven between Warsaw and Bialystok, but I believe this road might be a hell, as it's only standard national road (one lane each way) with crazy about of international traffic between Belarus, Lithania, Latvia, Estonia, Russia, etc and West of Europe. Lots of trucks in there, and lots of frustration of drivers stock in slow moving traffic.

CiniO

ardmacha wrote: »

I think the comparison is obvious, Polish drivers kill 175% more people than Irish ones.

brokenarms wrote: »

Wow.
So it not racist to say Polish cant drive ..

They really cant.

Jausuzzzzz . But Lithuania .

To be honest that's just statistics.

When comparing with Ireland you have to accomodate with some facts.

1. Traffic in Poland is way higher than in Ireland. Amount of roads per amount of vehicles in much smaller. And to all this adds a huge amount of transit international traffic hauling between East and West of Europe, very often on normal single carriageways, as motorway network is not developed enough.

2. Car fleet is way outdated. Most people drive 10 yo+ cars, as they can't offord newer ones. Most of those cars don't have modern safety equipment like ABS, airbags, ESP, appropriate crush-control zones, or sometimes even seatbelts on older cars. That generally means, that accident which in Ireland could be property damage only, might finish fatal in Poland for someone in 20 year old cinquecento.

3. There is a lot of bicycle and pedestrian traffic on main roads between villages in less urbanised areas, as people just can't afford cars. Instead they just walk or cycle for several kilometres, often in darkness f.e. after drinking, without wearing any lights or reflective jackets. That makes very big percentage of road death victims to be pedestrians and cyclists.


When you consider all above (and possibly few other factors that I didn't think about) Poland doesn't actually come that bad.
Once you know and obey rules of the road there, driving is much easier, as less situations occur when you have to accommodate for other drivers mistakes, like in Ireland

keithclancy

Where did this 'Polish' thing come from.

Could be a Lithuanian driving a Polish registered car for god sake !

....gets coat....

CiniO

keithclancy wrote: »

Where did this 'Polish' thing come from.

Could be a Lithuanian driving a Polish registered car for god sake !

....gets coat....

THB OP started this thread as he wanted to compare Irish drivers to Polish drivers.

dr.fuzzenstein

CiniO wrote: »

THB OP started this thread as he wanted to compare Irish drivers to Polish drivers.

I think it can be said that the Irish are fairly lukewarm and limp-wristed drivers when compared to the continent at large, even though in many ways they are more passive-aggressive and non-compliant with the rules. I always found people on the mainland have a far more positive, firm and assertive driving style, accelerate better from the lights and coming onto the motorway, keep to the rules, don't throw a strop when beeped at or flashed, have better lane discipline, more regard for the rules in general and for parking regulations in non-public places in particular (supermarkets and so on), are more aware of their surroundings (i.e. plan further than 2 meters ahead of their bonnet), observe signs and markings and all this makes for far more relaxed driving in most situations, because you know exactly what everyone is going to do at any time. I have criss-crossed a lot of Europe by car and it's always been good. I might guess that Eastern Europe is a bit madder than the rest...
The bad point would be the traffic jams, you will never again complain about sitting in a bit of traffic here after sitting in a jam in germany and not moving for half an hour. And that's not even bad, people have sat in jams for several hours.
I have seen pedestrians step into traffic in Germany and other places, not because they have a deathwish or want to use their pram as a battering ram, but because they know that the cars have seen them and will stop. How 50 pedestrians a day are not killed here, I just do not know.