The worst driver I know is a bloke. Seat belts are apparently optional, and if you're not driving everywhere at 9/10's of the cars capability, then you're just not driving it properly.

My sister terrifies me sometimes. Her overtaking method appears to be:
1. Approach the car in front, you'll want to be good and close.
2. Then indicate, looking in your mirrors for a gap in the traffic.
3. Pull out when safe to do so
4. Having been sat so close to the car in front, only begin to accelerate when you've joined the other lane of traffic.

It's not nice, going from say 50 mph into a flow of cars doing 60+ and watching them braking because we're just joined their lane.

Thankfully, none of my ex's could drive.

I am not a good passenger. I do get bothered by my other half’s braking - she doesn’t seem to start when I would. I went through a phase of stamping on an imaginary brake pedal because of this. That and her gear changing - which scares me as I am convinced her clutch will die prematurely. She has never driven my cars.

I probably scare her as well at times though.

I think that it os not necessarily a gender thing. I had an ex GF who was very nervy being the passenger with her friends. She was a rep so drove a lot. Though she did think that I drove well. She asked how long had I been driving. I asked what the date was? She told me. Then told her to get my driving license out of the glove compartment. It said I had passed little more than a week prior. This was six weeks after the accident that gave me the amnesia.

I know exactly what you mean from an ex of mine, except that for number 4. I would add that she would never consider changing down from 5th gear to finish the manouvre asap.

Having said that the current gf doesn't appear to have even heard of 4th or 5th gears.

Oh well, you can't win them all.

I would consider myself someone who can drive reasonably well, although I wouldn't state it for fear of appearing arrogant and/or tempting fate, and I know for a fact that I'm not perfect. I can use an example though, such as screaming through a narrow gap in a Hi-Ace commuter LWB with at least 6 people in the back holding on for dear life. Screaming would be their description whereas 20kph in a straight line would be more accurate. For me, having 1+cm either side of the mirrors is plenty.

I am generally a bad passenger. But there are about 3 people I am comfortable with, when they drive, and 2 of those are women - my girlfriend and an ex...

I once experienced that whilst driving down the A38 at about 75-80 mph.

I was approaching 2 lorries in the left hand lane going about 50 miles an hour and got to within 10m of the back of the trailing truck when he decided to overtake.

I almost lost control of the car from having to slam the brakes on so hard so as not to smack into the back of him!

My boyfriend only gets scared of my driving when I'm pissed.... JOKE!

Seriously I'm a good driver but he's always winding me up and making me jump unnecessarily. My proudest moment was when a black cabbie and his wife got out the cab and applauded my parking when I reversed in to a tight parking spot at the shops. Straight in first time. In fact I would say I'm a much better parker than my boyfriend. He always ends up about a foot from the curb (hope he don't read this lol).

Actually, this threads reminded me of one of my favourite jokes.

When I die, I'd like to go peacefully in my sleep, like my grandfather.
Not screaming in terror, like his passengers.

And that reminds me of the line in The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul...

My wife drives the family everywhere, because she readily gets travel sick. On the whole, I have to say that she is a good driver, but she has her moments and getting right up close behind cars in the inside lane of dual carriageways and motorways before pulling out into an almost empty lane is the one thing that gets my back up.

The one thing that she does have is absolutely NO sense of direction. She's the one that's driving, but while I've got a good sense of direction, she seems to assume that I know exactly where I'm going even when in a part of the country that I have never been before in my life. She doesn't read the road signs, she just asks me. By the time I've processed the information and passed it on, we've invariably passed the junction or roundabout exit that we needed and it almost always ends up in a row.

As for myself, I have to say that at times, my driving might be considered reckless by those that don't know me. The difference?

How many times have you approached a roundabout when it is absolutely clear that nothing is coming around to interfere with your progress and the person in front has come to a complete stop? It happened to me recently at a local supermarket roundabout- the person in front sat there and allowed two cars to join the roundabout from the right, even when they had been prevented from joining by traffic passing the exit. I would say that there are certain roundabouts around here that I almost never stop at- owing to the nature of the traffic flow- but I do this perfectly safely.

I think that a reckless person takes risks, whereas I take opportunities.

Depends on how the roundabout is marked. Some have a Give Way on the approach, others don't, so it all depends.

Well you (nearly) always have to give way going onto a roundabout so I think you should assume you're to stop. Some roundabouts do, however, deliberately put screens/foliage/stuff in your line of sight to make you stop or at least slow right down every time you approach it. I agree with trigen, that when there's a clear line of sight, and it's obvious that people wishing to join the roundabout (but not yet on it, because they're giving way to traffic leaving before you join the rounabout) to the right then it's damn annoying if the car in front is sat parked and waiting.

<eddit>Actually, speaking of this roundabout, I did alarm TheFrenchun with the speed I approached it at from the west. She does not approve of that roundabout when she dons her work hat</eddit>

AFAIK, every roundabout obliges you to give way to traffic from the right, which to me means traffic that is on or is joining the roundabout from your right. There may be markings obliging you to stop on some roundabouts, but there are none around here.

So long as you can join a roundabout without disrupting any traffic already on it, you do not have to stop, to the best of my understanding. Don't misunderstand me, I don't cut it fine, but as an example, I recently approached an average size four-way roundabout and to the immediate right, a large coach was just joining the roundabout. It was quite clear that the rate of acceleration was such that I could easily enter the roundabout ahead of it and I did so. Many, many people would have stopped and waited- nothing wrong with that, but it was not necessary (for me)

As an advanced driver, I do recognise that there is a fine line between being confident and over confident and I don't pretend to be perfect, but I do hate ditherers.

I do wonder how much of this survey is more about men being bad passengers than woman being bad drivers.
It's been my observation that people (regardless of gender) who drive a lot themselves tend to be worse passengers than those who don't. People who're used to being in control of a vehicle don't like not being in control.

I don't drive very often as I don't have a car of my own and I think I'm a fairly relaxed passenger most of the time. On the other hand I have been guilty of the old imaginary break pedal thing more than once.

The person who's driving bugs me the most isn't a woman's, it's my Dad's. The stuff he pulls in the interested of 'economy' mean I find it very difficult to go on long journeys with him driving if I'm in the passenger seat. Not so bad in the back as I can't see what he's up to as much. It's also a bit of a nightmare driving behind him, especially on a motorway.