Do you agree that Nurses are on the Worst Driver List?

[rn4ever?]

Do you think that Nurses are one of the worst drivers? Here's a link related to it:

http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/autos_content_landing_pages/1302/lawyers-top-worst-drivers-list/

[nursemike, ASN, RN]

My initial reaction was that I'm a very good driver. Which is true. When I'm awake.

My commute to/from work is only three miles. My only moving violation, ever, was a speeding ticket on the way home one morning, when I briefly forgot where the speed limit went from 40 to 25. My only collision was on my way to work, when a college student rear-ended me at a stop sign. I don't take credit for that one, since I was stopped.

I've recently driven to work several times when sensible people were staying home, but I have all-wheel drive and good tires, and I didn't wreck.

In nursing school, I formed the habit of taking the car out of gear and setting the parking brake at stop lights. It's better to wake up not moving.

And then there are all those second nights at work, when you know on the way in that you'll have the same peeps you had the first night, and you're feeling a bit suicidal...

[meluhn]

I beg to differ, I am a great driver!

[tencat]

My husband would agree with that assessment.....at least for me! He's probably right, but I live in my own cozy world of denial that everyone else is a horrible driver, and not me!

[al2phoenix]

In my opinion. YES.

While this does not apply to everybody, the statistics have shown quite a remarkable evidence.

Stress, I believe is the major factor that contributes to these accidents.

[kcochrane]

It will be just another reason for the insurance companies to charge more. Just like they charge more for lower credit ratings. I'm a nurse and my credit isn't the best, but after 30 years of driving I have 0 speeding tickets, 0 accidents that were my fault and 0 other violations. I drive at least 30 miles to work so I do pile on the mileage.

BTW I would guess that those in the military has less of a chance of falling asleep at the wheel. I learned how to stay awake no matter what in the military. Didn't want to even think about what would happen had they caught me. :)

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

i was a bad driver before i decided to become a nurse. when i drove a f150 pickup, my mantra as, "i'm asian, and i drive a 2 1/2 ton hunk of steel - move it or lose it". :)

lol! you're the first person i've seen actually admit to being a bad driver!

dh should be on the worst driver list . . . he's had a speeding ticket, a few fender benders and a major oops on the way home from work over the last two years. i attribute it to his attention span decreasing as he gets older.

i, on the other hand, am a terrific driver. it's all those east coast, aggressive drivers around me who don't know how to drive!

[StNeotser, ASN, RN]

I work evenings(3-11) shift.. so I'm usually on my way home around 11:30. One night I was driving home on a road that has a business building/soccer field lower than it and I saw lights ahead and I'm like oh my god.. its a plane landing on the soccer field!!" It was just a car coming up around the bend in the other direction.

OMG! I did that last week. I saw two sets of lights in the distance and assumed it was a plane about to land. When they got closer it occured to me that it was just two cars coming down a hill.

As to are we as people bad drivers - probably not. I'd wager it's down to exhaustion and shift work.

[cherrybreeze, ADN, RN]

I hate statistics....they can be bent anyway someone wants to paint a particular picture.

Anyway, I don't fit that category. *knocks incessantly on wood desk* In 14 years of driving I've never gotten a ticket (or pulled over, for that matter), and have had two accidents....one I was rear ended on an exit ramp (not my fault), and the other time, more recently, a lady drifted lanes on the highway and hit me in the side...I sped up to avoid her, but couldn't get past her fast enough (but it would have been worse had I not tried, she ended up hitting my back end rather than more full on the side...I fishtailed but managed to stay tire-side down and not end up in the ditch!). It was a spot on the highway where two lanes split to the right...she was READING A MAP while driving, was in the right hand lane (I was in the middle, both went to the right) and she realized she didn't want to go that way, so she just started moving over. So, not my fault, either (although I always stick to the far right lane now, when going that way!). I think I get it from my mom, who has also never been pulled over (and no accidents!) in 40 years of driving.

[RNMeg]

In my city we have cameras that snap your picture if you're speeding, and send you the picture along with a speeding ticket in the mail. One home health nurse I know had her picture taken - with a chart on the steering wheel, coffee and cigarette in one hand, and cell phone up to her ear with the other hand!

[morte, LPN, LVN]

hmmm having totaled at least 4....two were totaled d/t age and milage rather than actual damage....and probably at least 10 speeding tickets.....

[diane227, LPN, RN]

No. Most nurses I know are safe drivers. After all the trauma I have seen, I drive very safely.

[NavyVet]

I can't believe no one has connected the dots on this one....

From Minoritynurse.com (I cannot vouch for accuracy of statistics, but the ballpark numbers sound about right), there are @ 2.9 million licensed registered nurses in the U.S., of which @ 168 thousand are men (@6%). The nursing profession is bound to be on that worst driver list with a predominantly female base , there aren't enough of us guys to counteract all you bad driving women! I'm surprised we're not #1! Well now we have a goal as a profession .

Never mind my personal 10 speeding tickets, 1 accident, 1 misdemeanor traffic court appearance and subsequent driver's 'safety' course assignment over a 10 year period. I'm sure I had nothing to do with our inclusion on that list.....