As I write in my column in The Herald today, a good driver is one who flows with the traffic, who doesn't hinder other good drivers, who drives with consideration for other good drivers and who has not a shred of sympathy for people who are not good drivers. Oh, except for learners, who we should treat nicely but firmly.

We drive strategically, and the principal strategy is to put bad drivers behind us as a matter of urgency. If enough good drivers can get a wave going we'll shuffle bad drivers back to their starting point.

I call bad drivers Undesirables, and so that I can identify them instantly I have a list. Top of the list is Women, then Learners, Old Men and Hat Wearers. Trucks, Buses, 4WDs and Vans round it out. A driver not identified in this category gives his or her undesirability away with a head swivelling frantically at an intersection or as he or she thinks about changing lanes, by driving slowly or by leaving a big gap to the next vehicle.

In my column today I give an account of how I put Undesirables behind me on my drive to work each morning. One standard practice is to look keenly for a right blinker two, three or four cars ahead, swing immediately to the left and get on the horn to claim right of way as I trap them behind the turning car. By this stage in my peak-hour drive all cars in front of me have become Undesirable because they're in front of me. I have also become an expert at pre-empting drivers' attempts to change into my lane and at holding them out.

Such rules as low beam in urban areas, the sort found in RTA handbooks, have their place, but if learner drivers are to become good drivers they need lessons in strategic driving. Picking it up by osmosis is too slow a process.

So let's get a list going. Let's have your tips for strategic driving. And if they give bad drivers their comeuppance, so much the better.