I drive a decent amount both for work(~25K miles/year) and for personal travel(~22K miles/year). You get used to the way people drive during the day on a weekday. It is always the same - others' driving behavior is generally predictable. I think it is because those people are "highway regulars." They are probably traveling for work and do so just as frequently as I do. On the weekends and especially during summer, it seems like chaos - nothing is predictable. It seems like there are a lot of people who never leave their city taking big family vacations with little understanding of open highway etiquette.
That said, I am generally very relaxed driving during the week and "off season," and very alert and cautious during the other times. I try to avoid travel as much as possible during those peak summer travel times just because of how frustrated I get. If I had to state a style during those times, I think I am more of an offensive driver. By that I mean something like "if you have a yield sign and you have to yield to me, then you better do so because I will not yield to you just to be safe." I do keep an "out" in those situations, but if I share the road with you,I promise to uphold the rules of the road and I expect the same out of you. I actually think defensive driving can be more dangerous sometimes because you may be going against the accepted rules - like in my yield example above, if I yield when you are supposed to yield, I may surprise other drivers and create additional problems.
I drive a decent amount both for work(~25K miles/year) and for personal travel(~22K miles/year). You get used to the way people drive during the day on a weekday. It is always the same - others' driving behavior is generally predictable. I think it is because those people are "highway regulars." They are probably traveling for work and do so just as frequently as I do. On the weekends and especially during summer, it seems like chaos - nothing is predictable. It seems like there are a lot of people who never leave their city taking big family vacations with little understanding of open highway etiquette.
That said, I am generally very relaxed driving during the week and "off season," and very alert and cautious during the other times. I try to avoid travel as much as possible during those peak summer travel times just because of how frustrated I get. If I had to state a style during those times, I think I am more of an offensive driver. By that I mean something like "if you have a yield sign and you have to yield to me, then you better do so because I will not yield to you just to be safe." I do keep an "out" in those situations, but if I share the road with you,I promise to uphold the rules of the road and I expect the same out of you. I actually think defensive driving can be more dangerous sometimes because you may be going against the accepted rules - like in my yield example above, if I yield when you are supposed to yield, I may surprise other drivers and create additional problems.