A word for someone who has bad driving

[alpacinou]

Hello to all,

In my language there is an informal term for someone who has bad driving. Since you use your hands for driving the term is "clumsy hand".

I want to know if there is a similar expression that is specifically used to refer to someone who has bad driving.

I know clumsy can be used generally but is there a specific word or expression related to bad driving?

 

[emsr2d2]

[STRIKE]Hello [STRIKE]to[/STRIKE] all,[/STRIKE] Unnecessary. Just go straight to your question.

In my language, there is an informal term for someone who [STRIKE]has bad driving[/STRIKE] drives badly. Since you use your hands for driving, the term is "clumsy hand". I want to know if there is a similar expression in English that is specifically used to refer to someone who [STRIKE]has bad driving[/STRIKE] drives badly.

I know "clumsy" can be used generally but is there a specific word or expression related to bad driving?

I can't think of one. We sometimes refer to someone driving badly as "a Sunday driver". It refers to the minority of people who don't drive Monday to Saturday, but then take their car out on a Sunday for a day out somewhere. Because they don't drive regularly, their driving can be less than exemplary! Of course, when we see someone driving badly, we don't really assume they only drive once a week but the phrase is still used.

Other than that, I can't think of anything. I'd just say things like "He's/She's all over the road" or "How the hell did he/she get a licence?"

My grandfather, in a startling example of generational sexism, would shout "Bloody women drivers!" even if he couldn't tell what sex the driver actually was. Thankfully, we've moved on!

 

[bubbha]

leadfoot, perhaps.

 

[emsr2d2]

I'd never heard that until now. I notice that the definition refers specifically to someone who habitually drives too fast. Whilst, of course, that definitely constitutes bad driving, there are other ways to drive badly (driving too slowly being one of them!)

 

[alpacinou]

Thanks but leadfoot does not work because I am talking about a person who drives badly and for example they cannot park the car and they usually have accidents because of their bad driving.

 

[jutfrank]

We sometimes refer to someone driving badly as "a Sunday driver".

I've always thought Sunday driver just refers to someone driving too slowly.

You can simply refer to someone as a bad driver.

 

[J&K Tutoring]

One old joke is, 'He must have got his license in a box of Crackerjack!' Crackerjack is a very old snack of candy-coated popcorn mixed with (very few) peanuts. There was a toy surprise in each box.

Another goes like this: I'm from Illinois, and there is quite a rivalry with our neighboring state of Iowa. The joke goes, 'If you're too stupid to pass your driving test, you can still drive in Iowa, they just make you put a blue license plate on your car.' All the license plates in Iowa are blue...

I agree with jutfrank about a Sunday driver being someone driving slow. Another saying about someone driving slow is, 'He drives like he's going to the dentist!' (He's in no hurry to get there)

 

[GoesStation]

My grandfather, in a startling example of generational sexism, would shout "Bloody women drivers!" even if he couldn't tell what sex the driver actually was. Thankfully, we've moved on!

I'm thankful, too, but since Woman driver! was still a fairly common imprecation in my childhood, I can't say I'm startled. :-( In fact, I had thought of mentioning that (thankfully obsolete) phrase before I read it in your post.

 

[Tdol]

Even UrbanDictionary falls back on terms like bad driver- I think we may lack a term for this.

 

[GoesStation]

S/he's a menace [on the road].

 

[Tdol]

That works regardless of the speed for me.

 

[alpacinou]

But menace is about danger. A person who cannot parallel park is not necessarily dangerous.

 

[Tarheel]

Incompetent.

 

[beachboy]

Just for curiosity, in Brazil (or, at least, here in Rio de Janeiro), we call them "barbers".

 

[alpacinou]

I also found this which is informal and derogatory:

"He is a sh*t driver".

Can you think of something similar to this one?

 

[emsr2d2]

Well, you could replace the profanity with any similar non-offensive word - terrible/awful/dreadful/appalling ...

 

[bubbha]

It's common to say that a bad driver "drives like a maniac". Though the word "maniac" is certainly not limited to drivers, people will understand if you use "maniac" in the context of driving.

 

[emsr2d2]

That works for fast driving, going through red lights etc, but it wouldn't work for someone who drives too slowly. What we're finding here is that many of the phrases we use refer to specific types of bad driving, not the whole gamut.

 

[jutfrank]

What's wrong with a bad driver? It's simple and covers everything.

 

[Tdol]

No one has come up with a special term, so simply choose an appropriate adjective.