"Why Pilots Make Better Drivers"

"pilots make better drivers" -- agree


"as any actuary will tell you, flying light aircraft is many times riskier than driving" -- disagree
 
raider said:
"as any actuary will tell you, flying light aircraft is many times riskier than driving" -- disagree
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Bad thinking to disagree, never stick your head in the sand; accept, assess and address, that's how you stay safe. Flying small planes is many times riskier, disagreeing won't change that a bit. Seek out the extra risks and work to mitigate them. Safety is about risk management and denial is a poor method of management.
 
Maybe "good" pilots make better drivers, but I'm fairly certain that there are plenty of crappy pilots that are also crappy drivers.
 
they need to go on a dam run at Gastons...
 
Driving with me is a terrifying experience
 
raider said:
"as any actuary will tell you, flying light aircraft is many times riskier than driving" -- disagree
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Flying GA aircraft is much riskier than driving a car.

Flying in commercial aircraft is safer than driving.

One comfort I do have is if I get killed in a plane, it was most likely my fault. If I die in a car, there's a good chance that it was caused by an idiot drunk driving, or a teenage girl distracted by text messages.
 
I am a good pilot - hey, it's my opinion and I'm entitled to it
I am a good driver - well, except when driving in the country because I am rubber necking the crops in the fields to see who's look worse than mine (ha ha) and who's look better (bah humbug)///

denny-o
oohhhh look, is that a Dominator he's pulling?
 
Pilots are the best:

Drivers
Boaters
Fisherman
Lovers
Drinkers
Cooks
Etc.
and whoever you ask is also the best PILOT that will ever live!

If you don't believe that, just ask any one of us.
 
CBeaulieu said:
Flying GA aircraft is much riskier than driving a car.

Could be true, depending on where and how much you drive. In my case, I would say that's untrue.

Flying in commercial aircraft is safer than driving.

Again, depends on your driving scenario. I would argue that properly planned and executed GA flights are intrinsically safer than commercial (jet airline) flights. If I lose my engine, I'm most likely going to set the plane down someplace without injury, and likely without damage. If the Southwest 737 loses both its engines, I'm not walking away from that one.

One comfort I do have is if I get killed in a plane, it was most likely my fault. If I die in a car, there's a good chance that it was caused by an idiot drunk driving, or a teenage girl distracted by text messages.
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........
 
I find it morbidly amusing that pilots seem to be more satisfied with their reasons for dying in an airplane (most likely something I did wrong and therefore under my control) compared to their reasons for dying in a car (most likely something someone else did wrong).

I suspect that once I'm dead, I won't much care how it happened, regardless of who was at fault.
 
CBeaulieu said:
One comfort I do have is if I get killed in a plane, it was most likely my fault. If I die in a car, there's a good chance that it was caused by an idiot drunk driving, or a teenage girl distracted by text messages.
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spot on! if all car crashes were reported as GA crashes are, there'd have to be a car accident network broadcasting 24/7.

but, yes, i understand it is riskier per miles etc. it's statistical. i get it.
 
ChrisK said:
I find it morbidly amusing that pilots seem to be more satisfied with their reasons for dying in an airplane (most likely something I did wrong and therefore under my control) compared to their reasons for dying in a car (most likely something someone else did wrong).
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Killing yourself because you're stupid is one thing. Self inflicted, no sympathy from me.
Doing everything right and having some idget come flying out and murder you for no reason is quite another. If it wasn't for the murderous nutjob, you would still be alive and totally unharmed.

My chances of survival excluding idjet drivers is very high. Include them and the risk factor goes off scale. Yesterday on the way to work (10 miles) was three left turn drivers that resulted in hard braking to avoid collision. Seriously, car not in the left turn lane at all then all of a sudden it's sideways in front of you at 50 feet. Two people shot out from blind side streets without looking resulting in excessive maneuvering to avoid collision. Lots of without warning yank the steering wheel to change lane stuff going on. High velocity minimum clearance lane changes resulting in other drivers hitting brakes and swerving. The whole come up beside you and drift over into your lane is routine ho hum stuff. The obligatory right turn lane, get to the right turn point, then turn the steering wheel left and to go 1/4 to 1/2 way into the lane to the left then make the right turn doesn't even count anymore because it's so routine to be background noise. (seriously, what is up with that? I can make those turns without going wide at all in my motorhome with the trailer yet the subcompact skateboard cars have to swing wide in the wrong direction to avoid the curb? WTF?) There is at least one tow truck required car crash at least once a week most of which are side hits or rear endings. The weird one is the occasional nutjob that clips someone else and everyone keeps going like nothing happened - it must be a new law saying one or two moderate impacts while driving does not require pulling over or calling the police. I'm not the best driver and rider in the world by any means however eliminate those murderous drivers and my chances of a crash going to work would have been zero.

I find it amusing that calmly walking up and shooting at someone (even if you don't hit anyone) with a gun will get you sent to prison and the psycho ward forever yet ramming someone and murdering them with a car doesn't even get them a slap on the wrist anymore. A car is just as lethal of a weapon as a machine gun..more so because of the number of cars vs machine guns that people use. However society says it's ok to kill other people with cars and have no penalty for it. Society is messed up.
 
LearDriver said:
Not according to my wife!
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I was just gonna go there....:D

When my wife and I fly somewhere, she sleeps the whole way, completely comfortable with me doing the flying. When my wife and I drive somewhere, she's grabbing the "OH ****" handles and trying to put her feet through the floorboard while screeching at me to "LOOK OUT!!" every 30 seconds.

ChrisK said:
I suspect that once I'm dead, I won't much care how it happened, regardless of who was at fault.
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True - but it makes us feel better about the odds of it happening...
 
airguy said:
When my wife and I drive somewhere, she's grabbing the "OH ****" handles and trying to put her feet through the floorboard while screeching at me to "LOOK OUT!!" every 30 seconds.
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She's not very observant then. She misses about 2/3rds of the hazards if there's a terror reaction every 30 seconds...
 
Walking my son to school this morning 8AM, we come to a corner with a stop sign. We stood there as 4 or 5 cars blew right through the damn sign. Some turning, some going straight!

I held his hand and told him this is why you have to be very, very careful when you get old enough to walk to school by yourself.

I was getting very ****ed off and after about the 4th car, I uttered some choice words at the 5th freakin idiot:mad2:

Words I don't usually utter around my 7 yr old!

Unbelievable, the jerks that get behind the wheel of a car!!!
 
What I wonder is if I don't run out of fuel or fly VFR into IMC how my chances are vs. driving.
 
Thinking backwards...... do you think good drivers make good pilots?

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2
 
I wasn't aware that pilots made good drivers.
 
redtail said:
Walking my son to school this morning 8AM, we come to a corner with a stop sign. We stood there as 4 or 5 cars blew right through the damn sign. Some turning, some going straight!

I held his hand and told him this is why you have to be very, very careful when you get old enough to walk to school by yourself.

I was getting very ****ed off and after about the 4th car, I uttered some choice words at the 5th freakin idiot:mad2:

Words I don't usually utter around my 7 yr old!

Unbelievable, the jerks that get behind the wheel of a car!!!
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They're conserving fuel:D
 
mikeinbama said:
Thinking backwards...... do you think good drivers make good pilots?
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No clue. I haven't seen any good drivers to take a sample from.

I'm not sure which is going to last longer, my brakes or my tires. They're both taking a lot of what should be unnecessary wear every day lately.
 
Dying yourself is irrelevant because it is inevitable. Killing others with yourself is either a burden or privilege depending.
 
I remember always wearing my seatbelt when driving, long before it was popular (or required by law), because as a student pilot, it seemed like the smart thing to do.
 
FlySince9 said:
I remember always wearing my seatbelt when driving, long before it was popular (or required by law), because as a student pilot, it seemed like the smart thing to do.
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That's funny, it was just the opposite with me:lol:. I was a casual seatbelt user until I started taking flight lessons (1998).

I'll never forget the day my CFI got into my car as we were about to drive over to the Control Tower to visit my controller friend. He fastened his seatbelt but I didn't. I put the car in drive and he looked over at me like I was crazy. He didn't have to say another word because I knew what that look was saying.

Never drove again without my seatbelt:wink2:
 
I was at Cedar Point (amusement park) with a bunch of teenaged pilots a few years back.
On one of the rides, there were instructions announced as the ride was coming back to rest for unloading/loading ... "Keep your seatbelts fastened until the ride has come to a complete stop."

On the cycle before we all were to board, I noticed that nearly half of the riders undid their belts as the ride completed its final oscillations.

On our turn, I noticed that not a pilot within my site (and I could see at least two on either side of me), moved to undo their belts until the ride had, indeed, come to a complete stop and our lockbars had been hydraulically released.
 
My lady friend thinks I'm a fairly decent pilot, she enjoys flying with me. She thinks my driving plain sucks, and hates riding with me in my Jeep, we usually use her car.

I, on the other hand, feel that not only am I a truly great pilot, who is probably admired by all pilots who have had the good fortune to have been a witness of my remarkable aviation skills, but am also an equally fantastic driver.

I attribute my almost God like aviation and driving skills to my being a very humble person.

-John
 
I've seen these personally, even got some on video. All were pilots that had a long day of flying.

Rolls driver window down and yells, "Clear Prop!"
Hits gas a brake trying to steer.
Drives with one hand on the center gear shifter and pulls it back to slow down.
Pulls back on the steering wheel
Does not like taking corners while uncoordinated
Pulls back on the steering wheel while braking
Checks for aerial traffic prior to entering a road
Floors the car once they have entered a new roadway

The best one that scared me half to death was this: We're driving to get food. We leave frederick and drive down a rural narrow back road. Nice great gust of wind. The driver (literally just landed) "crabs" into the wind and we almost go off the road. He pushed the brake and pulled back on the wheel. When we stopped we all burst out laughing at what he had jsut done.
 
bigblockz8 said:
I've seen these personally, even got some on video. All were pilots that had a long day of flying.

Rolls driver window down and yells, "Clear Prop!"
Hits gas a brake trying to steer.
Drives with one hand on the center gear shifter and pulls it back to slow down.
Pulls back on the steering wheel
Does not like taking corners while uncoordinated
Pulls back on the steering wheel while braking
Checks for aerial traffic prior to entering a road
Floors the car once they have entered a new roadway

The best one that scared me half to death was this: We're driving to get food. We leave frederick and drive down a rural narrow back road. Nice great gust of wind. The driver (literally just landed) "crabs" into the wind and we almost go off the road. He pushed the brake and pulled back on the wheel. When we stopped we all burst out laughing at what he had jsut done.
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Some interesting people you surround yourself with -- someone should probably test the water and coffee at the airport.
 
bigblockz8 said:
I've seen these personally, even got some on video. All were pilots that had a long day of flying.

Rolls driver window down and yells, "Clear Prop!"
Hits gas a brake trying to steer.
Drives with one hand on the center gear shifter and pulls it back to slow down.
Pulls back on the steering wheel
Does not like taking corners while uncoordinated
Pulls back on the steering wheel while braking
Checks for aerial traffic prior to entering a road
Floors the car once they have entered a new roadway

The best one that scared me half to death was this: We're driving to get food. We leave frederick and drive down a rural narrow back road. Nice great gust of wind. The driver (literally just landed) "crabs" into the wind and we almost go off the road. He pushed the brake and pulled back on the wheel. When we stopped we all burst out laughing at what he had jsut done.
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How about maintaining the centerline of the road as you exit the airport!
And trying to remember how to put the course into the autopilot (cruise control) tooling down he highway!
 
The reason why pilot are better drivers is because most see the irony of getting knocked off by something that has 4 wheels. We're ahead of the vehicle.
 
jesse said:
Some interesting people you surround yourself with -- someone should probably test the water and coffee at the airport.
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Haha...

I was trying to be positive and ignore that post, but nevermind. It's not my style. :)

If anyone is hanging around with pilots who can't figure out how to transition between completely different motorized conveyances, they're idiots.

I don't care how tired you are, if you can't remember how to drive a car after flying an airplane, you're a dolt.

If you're truly that tired, you should not be driving and run the risk of being charged with being impaired.

Tell them to sleep it off in the pilot's lounge.

There, got that out of my system.
 
I don't care how tired you are, if you can't remember how to drive a car after flying an airplane, you're a dolt.
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30ish hours of flying in just a few days all over New England. Zero driving or riding inside a car or truck for several months. The only exposure to ground vehicles was on the back of the hay truck or hay wagon. Walked absolutely everywhere else. Then 10 hours in the air all in one day and someone was nice enough to leave one of the trucks at the hangar for us. After a few moments of trying to figure out how to start something without a bunch of switches and knobs (what do you mean it just take a single key twist to start it?) I started down from the runway on the road that goes down into the trees...and stomped the brake hard because my instincts said narrow trees, long wings, stop now.


<--- Dolt. But I didn't break the wings off the truck with the trees.
 
CBeaulieu said:
One comfort I do have is if I get killed in a plane, it was most likely my fault. If I die in a car, there's a good chance that it was caused by an idiot drunk driving, or a teenage girl distracted by text messages.
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Yep. The scariest part of driving (for me, at least) is everyone else on the road with you.
 
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