What Makes a Good Driver?

Self Discipline

The final attribute needed to be a good driver is self discipline. It is easy to drive by our own rules when we are driving by ourselves. Speeding is the most common one. Some drivers decide that speed limits don’t apply to them or that 30 is a minimum speed not a maximum. The driver who parks on the pavement with no regard for parents with push chairs. Those drivers who park illegally in disabled bays. Not obeying all the traffic signs. Ask yourself if there was a police car behind you would you drive the same way?

You may think that attitude and self discipline are the same things. You need to have good attitude but you must also have self discipline to drive correctly all the time. Imagine you are late for work, will you still drive correctly, safely and legally or will you bend the rules. Self discipline will encourage you to drive safely all the time.

Some drivers who drive many miles per year, much more than the national average feel sometimes wrongly that they are good drivers. People who see themselves as professional drivers; chauffeurs, van drivers, taxi drivers and even driving instructors sometimes wrongly assume that because they are “professional” drivers that they must somehow be better than everyone else on the road. Sometimes the complete opposite is true. Many people who drive all day long especially those who travel long monotonous journeys along motorways often use their cars as their office. Making phone calls with or without hands free, sending texts, fiddling with their sat navs and even reading paperwork.

There are many police programs such as “Road Wars” that highlight the sort of things that people do whilst driving. Ask yourself how many times a day do you see drivers on their mobile phones or sending texts. As a driving instructor I must see it at least half a dozen times a day. Illegal use of mobile phones causes a large number of accidents on UK roads.

Modern cars make it so easy to drive fast with very little skill required to get to that speed. Drivers equipped with all the mod cons; ABS, traction control, power steering can somehow feel safer in their cars. They feel almost invincible. However one thing that hasn’t changed in almost 100,000 years is human reaction time. Our cars have progressed at an alarming rate but we haven’t. You may feel safe at 80 mph, driving about 2 car lengths away from the car in front, in the wet, but if the car in front does an emergency stop do you really think you will react in time?

So next time you take your driving lessons with All Ways School of Motoring’s driving instructor make a mental note of how many bad drivers you see on the roads of Aldershot.

If you want to learn to drive and need a driving school in Aldershot then please feel free to contact us.

Comments

5 Responses to “What Makes A Good Driver – Self Discipline”

  1. Mr X on January 24th, 2012 6:36 pm

    It’s a pity the moron who puuled in front of my this morning didn’t have better self discipline.

  2. Martin Slater on March 7th, 2012 6:03 pm

    I’m interested in improving my own standards of driving. I’m glad to see that thee are others around who share the same values.

  3. Andrew Bragg on March 10th, 2012 2:44 am

    Doesn’t every driver think that they are good? I have never met anyone who has said that they are rubbish at driving. We all believe that it’s everyone else who is rubbish and not us!

  4. Sarah Wiseman on March 10th, 2012 6:15 am

    That’s enough bedtime reading for one day 🙂 Thanks for the great info.

  5. Petrol Head on March 11th, 2012 5:11 pm

    I believe that the drivers themselves should decide what is appropriate driving. Driving past a school at 3:30 then “Yes” the 20 mph signs make sense. But drive down the same road at 5am when I set off for work, 20mph makes no sense at all!!

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