"I am an excellent driver..."

This is a phrase most often used by people who are not excellent drivers. This phrase makes me nervous. Still, if forced to be honest, I must say that I think that I am--ahem--an excellent driver.

One thing I believe is that drivers should fit the culture of a particular driving context. For example, when driving in NYC, DC, or Chicago, I am much more pushy and aggressive than I am back at home. Part of this is necessity, part of it is safety, and part is just plain old wanting to fit in.

But I cannot apply those rules to highway driving out here on the East Coast. During my mother's illness, I drove a lot between NC and Norfolk, VA (with a couple of trips to DC thrown in). This weekend, I've done a bit of driving between DC and Annapolis, MD. People on the highway out here, even in un-congested traffic, do not believe in following distance. As a defensive driver, following distance is my absolute mantra. Click here or here to learn how I do it. A couple of my rules:

• I completely understand that many drivers want to go faster than I do; sometimes I wonder why, because I almost always travel 5 mph above the posted limit, but hey... it's their car/life. Whatever.
• I also completely understand that many drivers want to go slower than I do; I understand this completely, as they are getting better mileage, being safer, and will probably reach their destination in about the same time as me. But, hey... it's my car/life. Whatever.
• I mostly like the middle lane in 3-lane highway traffic (the two bullet points make perfect reasons why this is my neighborhood--faster folks, pass on the left, please; slower folks, move to the right, please.

I've noticed that drivers out here don't use/respect/understand following distance. They see the space I am leaving in front of me as a perfect place to put their car--even if they don't really need to. Perhaps it's habit from searching for urban parking spots. They see my following distance and that looking-for-a-parking-spot part of their brain goes "hey, there's a spot!" At any rate, on the short drive from Annapolis back to DC, my following distance (and it was actually following distance--I was tailing my parents back to their house) gets filled over and over with cars that just seem to want to be there! These cars absolutely ride the tail of the cars in front of them.

This isn't a real problem for me, because I am in charge of how much following distance I have in front of me. I slow down and make the space. While I am doing that, the person behind me gets ticked and passes on the left. Problem solved. Unless you are following a particular person.

The East Coast would be safer if everyone here just drove like me.

Oh, but they do use their turn signals here--even when they're moving into my following distance!