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"How's my driving?" sign
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Sign on the back of a vehicle
right|thumb|300px|A white GE van with a how's my driving sign
right|thumb|300px|How's my driving ("Как вам мое вождение?") sign in Russia
A "how's my driving" sign (or "how is my driving" or similar) is a decal posted or painted on a back of a fleet vehicle or other vehicle operated by an employee driver. The phone number, website address, and other identifying information are typically included on the sticker so that members of the public can call and report on the actions of the driver of the vehicle. Depending on the company, the phone number or website is monitored by the vehicle's owner or by a third-party company.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7fAyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=nggGAAAAIBAJ&pg=6763,5683353&dq=how%27s-my-driving&hl=en Do "How's my driving' reports do any good? Riechmann Deb March 24, 1999 The Free Lance-Star Associated Press 4 11 May 2011 Washington
Similar programs have also been implemented for vehicles driven by teenagersKong Benson September 15, 2008 "How's My Driving?" for teens will hopefully reduce accidents Truck Trend https://www.motortrend.com/news/163-news080915-hows-my-driving-for-teens-will-hopefully-reduce-accidents/ 11 May 2011https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=60goAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ic8EAAAAIBAJ&pg=6333,1212806&dq=how's-my-driving&hl=en How's your teen driving? This sticker may help you find out Squires Chase May 4, 1997 Herald-Journal 13 11 May 2011 Spartanburg, SC and drunk drivershttps://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0_AeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=A4QEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6426,3753573&dq=how's-my-driving&hl=en Judge sticks it to drunken drivers Sep 23, 2003 Sarasota Herald-Tribune The Associated Press 38 11 May 2011 Pensacola in hopes of improving the safety of both groups while driving. Use of "How's My Driving" regimes for systems other than traffic have been discussed, also in relation to eBay and Wikipedia.Strahilevitz Lior 2006 "How's My Driving?" for Everyone (and Everything?), Olin Working Paper No. 290 NYU Law Review 81 November 2006 1699 U Chicago Law & Economics http://www.law.uchicago.edu/files/files/290.pdf 5 December 2012 899144 https://web.archive.org/web/20130123092620/http://www.law.uchicago.edu/files/files/290.pdf 23 January 2013 dead dmy-all
The purpose of the decal is to increase traffic safety, as those who know they are driving a vehicle with a decal would want to drive more safely to not draw complaints.
Frequency of complaints
About 10% of vehicles bearing this decal become the target of complaints.
The most common complaints fielded are tailgating, improper lane changes, speeding, and running red lights, though it has been found that many bored motorists who have cell phones will call in petty complaints. A small percentage of calls are to compliment drivers.
Effects
thumb|A feedback bumper sticker
Studies have found that vehicles displaying the decal are involved in 22% fewer accidents and result in a 52% reduction in accident-related costs.Hickman Jeffrey Scott Impact of behavior-based safety techniques on commercial motor vehicle drivers 13 https://books.google.com/books?id=OOt1Uy1pX8IC&pg=PA13 2007 9780309098762 Transportation Research Board
Some insurance companies offer discounts to fleets that display the decal.
Other countries are starting to experiment with similar programs, such as Germany.http://www.fahrerbewertung.de/ Fahrerbewertung (German for: driver's rating) de
Effects of complaints
When a complaint is made, the receptionist who fields the complaint will generally ask for basic information regarding the vehicle and incident, such as the vehicle's description (e.g. a white van), the location of the incident, and the weather of the day.
Truck companies use the reports to spot problem drivers.
Complaints received by motorists may or may not affect the employment status of the operator of the vehicle. In the worst cases, complaints may result in a reprimand against the operator and possibly termination.
Parodies
Popular parodies of the signs have been created, typically in the form of bumper stickers which provide a fictitious toll-free phoneword that spells out a profanity. In 1987, a truck driver from Cottondale, Alabama, was prosecuted under state obscenity laws for a sticker which read "How's My Driving? Call 1-800-EAT-SHIT".Herring, Amy. "Obscene Bumper Sticker Law Won't Stick, Lawyer Says", Montgomery Advertiser, September 30, 1987, front page. In the case of Baker v. Glover, Judge Myron H. Thompson of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama ruled that the driver's sticker was a protected form of speech under the First Amendment."Dirty bumper sticker gets OK", Alabama Journal, October 4, 1991, page 2A.Hudson, David L., Jr. "Are Bumper Stickers Free Speech?", Freedom Forum, retrieved January 13, 2026. Thompson wrote in his ruling that the parody sticker "has serious political value as a protest against the 'Big Brother' mentality promoted by such other bumper stickers that urge the public to report the indiscretions of truck drivers.""Baker v. Glover", 776 F. Supp. 1511 (M.D. Ala. 1991), via Justia, retrieved January 13, 2026.
References
Category:Road safety
Category:Articles with quotation marks in the title