n0nsensical

I don't think following traffic laws has anything to do with being a good driver. The laws are there for the bad drivers. If everyone was a good driver, we would need very few laws. (Only for the few situations where there need to be defined protocols, like who has the right-of-way at intersections.) Speed laws are especially irrelevant because any good driver should know what is a safe speed for the current conditions. As any drivers handbook will tell you, sometimes the maximum safe speed is less than the posted limit, and certainly in many cases, the maximum safe speed is much more than the posted limit. Especially since posted speed limits are for the average driver, but good drivers should be able to handle higher speeds. But incidentally a good driver wouldn't be breaking many existing laws, because a lot of the laws happen to restrict behaviors that would make for bad driving. And also incidentally, I would consider many people who DO follow all the laws to the letter to be bad drivers.

So what exactly is a good driver? I think there are a lot of factors. First, one who is good in the technical sense in the way a race car driver must be good, able to handle the vehicle exceptionally well in varying conditions. Second, one who drives safely, essentially meaning they don't touch anything or anyone with the vehicle other than the road surface. Being good in the technical sense is important here, since other people do unpredictable things that a good driver must be prepared for, but so is driving with common sense that wouldn't put the driver in an unsafe situation in the first place.

Finally, I would say being respectful or at least mindful of everyone else on the road, people with vehicles, including unmotorized vehicles like bicycles, and pedestrians. Part of this is allowing traffic to flow as smoothly as possible, including not tailgating or braking unnecessarily on freeways, not obstructing the flow of traffic by waiting to make a turn or for any other reason, and smoothly merging, turning, and changing between lanes. Another part is "playing nice with others" by allowing other drivers to be good drivers and simply being courteous. Allow other drivers to smoothly merge, turn, and change lanes, always use turn signals in the vicinity of other people, stay calm and try to defuse any possible road rage situations (not that a good driver should find him or herself in many of those). There's a lot to it so I've probably left something out, but I think that's a good basic set of standards.

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"Prohibition will work great injury to the cause of temperance. It is a species of intemperance within itself, for it goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation, and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A Prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded." --Abraham Lincoln