His perspective:

Honestly, I’m a pretty non-aggressive driver. I don’t speed on the freeway (though I’ll stay with the flow of traffic in the city). I don’t speed on surface streets and I rarely stop or start quickly. I’ve got nothing to prove.

I’m very aware of the distance between me and the person ahead. I leave *plenty* of space. My wife thinks people are going to dodge into that space and cause an accident, but so far, that’s never happened. What has happened is that when I was rear ended a couple of years ago; I got crushed into the truck ahead of me because I was too close. Hence the additional distance.

I’ve become more courteous on the road because of my commuting. I figure that if that other guy needs to get there first, I should probably let him. I’m okay to get there safely. Plus, if it takes me an extra minute, maybe I’ll get to hear another great song on my iPod playlist. And that’s always a good thing.

Her perspective (true to form with women needing to have the last word):

Driving is like eating – everyone has their own styles, tastes, traits and opinions. It also evolves and changes over time based on our experiences.

In general I consider myself a safe and lawful driver. I frequently check my speedometer while driving to make sure I’m within 5 miles of the speed limit, I always use my signal lights, I wait my turn, I don’t direct traffic, I don’t tailgate and I come to gradual stops. I still like to take off quickly at a stop light (silly I know) but now it’s only if I’m the first car as when I was in high school I tapped a car in front me in an intersection when they stopped suddenly to evaluate if they wanted to turn. I also never pull through a parking space because once in college I did that and couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t moving when I put the car in reverse - - my 13 year old brother pointed out the car parked behind me might have something to do with it. *sheepish grin* The only things that make me nervous are being sandwiched on a freeway between large trucks on either side (I actually hold my breath), jerk drivers who speed and weave, and snow or ice on the road (hence my living In Arizona.)

My husband tends to rarely check his speedometer and he always comes within centimeters of clipping things on the right side of the car. One day his luck on this will end and he’ll take out a cone or sign with me picking glass out of my lap. He is more courteous than I am to morons who try to snake a merge line. He drives with at least 3 car lengths between himself and the car ahead of him, which I understand after his accident but makes me crazy because it just makes it more likely that he’ll get cut off which will cause an accident. The unfortunate thing is that although he’s the only one who’s been in an accident involving another car, I’m the one who’s gotten two traffic violations via mail in the past 4 years. Each time he breaks up in laughter saying, “Sorry, it’s just funny that you get them because I’m the more likely one who deserves it.” It doesn’t make me feel better.

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