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Originally Posted by powerclown
What makes a person a good driver?
Situational awareness. Knowing when to be aggressive, knowing when to be passive. Too slow is as inappropriate as too fast. Doing one's part to keep traffic affected by you flowing at a safe, appropriate speed. Don't hit other cars, don't cause other cars to hit you. There is a Zen to driving in traffic. Except in New York City, where Automotive Anarchy reigns and its every man, woman and child for themself!!! 
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You, sir, are the winner! This is exactly how I feel about driving. Your job, while on the road, is to do as much as you can to keep yourself and others around you safe and to not disrupt traffic flow.
I'll explain. Back in the day, it was my mother that taught me to drive. Now, being a personal injury attorney, she was extremely over-cautious. One thing that is exceptionally important, and something that she couldn't grasp the concept of, is keeping up with traffic (especially on freeways around me...anyone been on I-95 in the Northeast? Yeah, you know what I mean). Now, going the speed limit is all fine and dandy, when appropriate, but on some highways it's not only impossible, but also unsafe. When you're going 55, and all of the cars behind you are traveling at 65 or above, there's bound to be a congestion centered around their immediate lane changes.
You're putting a greater majority in danger by going at a (legal) pace than if you'd speed up to the rate of traffic. The person just keeping up with the car ahead and behind him is not going to get a moving violation.
Likewise, city driving is, in itself, a great art. I never perfected it (I haven't lived in a big city), but it's something that I can handle. Driving is an experience when you have to become one with your vehicle, know all of its quirks, know what it can and can't do, and be able to interpret what others on the road are going to do.