DRIVE TIME
Driving survey reveals surprising behavior behind wheel

By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Staff Writer

Think you're a calm, safe driver? Maybe you should think again.

I've always seen myself as a slow and cautious driver, but I just took — and failed — an electronic survey designed to measure a driver's potential for dangerous stress behind the wheel.

The test asks drivers to answer 20 questions about their driving behavior: Here's a sample:

• Do you ever feel stress while driving in commuter traffic?
• Do you ever drive after or while arguing?
• Do you ever drive faster because the car in back of you is following too closely?
• Do you ever slam on the brakes to avoid hitting something?

To most of the 20 questions, I answered "never" or "rarely." To a handful, I answered "sometimes," such as when the test wanted to know if I ever drive "while thinking of things other than the immediate driving task." None of the questions required me to answer "often."

Even so, I flunked. My score put me in a high-risk category, which was news to me and even a little surprising to my wife, who often considers my driving behavior inattentive, but rarely threatening.

The test is part of the new Drive for Life movement underwritten by Volvo Cars of North America and several safety organizations. It's a national push to have millions of drivers "re-test" themselves on their knowledge of driving rules and behaviors.

The test takes only a few minutes, and you might be surprised at what it shows about yourself. You can find it online at www.safedrivingtest.com.

There's a new top dog at the TheBus.

Douglas Rego, who's been driving a city bus for five years, won the annual O'ahu Transit Services bus Roadeo last week, beating out some far more experienced drivers.

The Roadeo is an annual one-day competition for drivers. It involves navigating a 40-foot, 55-passenger bus through a tight, serpentine course of maneuvers that include pulling to within 6 inches of a bus stop, left and right turns, a K-turn, an offset S-curve and finally racing at 20 mph through a set of diminishing barrels that leaves only 9 inches to spare on either side.

Rego, 27, ran up a score of 315 points to edge out Paul Fernandez, who has won the event several times in recent years. The win earned Rego, who drives on various routes around O'ahu, a free trip to the national championship later this year in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The team of Homer Nagaki, Stanley Reyes and Don Haraguchi from the OTS Pearl City facility won the Maintenance Roadeo. They'll represent Hawai'i in the national championship, too.

Reach Mike Leidemann at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.