Good Driver. Bad Driver?

Recently, I have been gaining myself a bit of a reputation. However, let me mount a defense for myself...

For years, I have prided myself on my excellent driving record. I would think there are not many 28 year old women that have never had a speeding ticket in addition to never even being pulled over for a warning.

Part of my good driving fortune comes from spending eight of my driving years in Grand Forks, North Dakota where the police officers have not varied their speeding dragnets for at least ten years. A police cruiser could be spotted in the local baseball diamond parking lot, parked along side of the university union, and waiting around the curve by the mall.

As for Interstate driving, I drive a reasonable speed that exceeds the maximum speed, but nothing that would attract the attention of a patrol officer.

Now that I live in Iowa, I respect and understand the two main drags that run through my little suburban town and always look to the left in the United Church of Christ parking lot when I take a trip to Target because, sure enough, the local fuzz is waiting for a target.

The only accident that I have ever had was in 1993 when I first got my driving license. I was driving home from my then boyfriend's house on a school night when a lady ran a red light when I was turning left and slammed into me. It was November in North Dakota so the streets were slick, slick, slick. My car did several spins with it finally resting near a light pole. Again...not my fault.

My friend Jodi says that she gets car sick when I drive. She says I am a 'jerky driver'. For the first time in my car, another colleague said that I was "practically in the guy's backseat" when referring to the car ahead of us. The icing on the cake came yesterday when my longtime friend Sara screamed, "Slowdown! Ahhh.....! My seatbelt locked!" I tried to assure her that I had the vehicle under control the whole time.

Maybe being a good driver means more than a lack of citations from the law. I think that I am very defensive when I drive, but maybe I am missing something. I was always the kid who parents allowed to drive when we were in high school because the parents believed that I was the responsible one. I am going with the theory that it has worked for me for 12 years and so I am sticking with my skills.