ALT-4 Whatever Happened to Driving Etiquette
One of the reasons for the lack of driving etiquette is VIDEO games! I know, you think I've lost it. But think about it. We have a generation of people who have grown up playing very competitive games that often involve cars. They carry that attitude onto the street. People get behind the wheel of a car and feel they are in competition with the next car. They drive like lunatics with no regard for the safety of themselves or others. They take it personally when someone accidentally cuts them off, often tailgating in an effort to intimidate the other person. How many people think if someone speeds up they are being challenged to a race? How many times do drivers make comments that would make you think they believe they are in a competition? Listen to the under thirty drivers and tell me they don't do this!
Another reason people have no driver's etiquette is because they have ISSUES! Why do some people pull out in traffic right in front of another driver just to stop at the next light... less than a block away? Why not let that car pass (assuming there isn't a long string of speeding cars behind it)? Or how about the driver who gets in the left lane when all the cars in that lane are zipping along at say 70, and he does the speed limit, 55, and no one can pass him 'cause there is a cluster doing 55? You can't tell me these people don't have some need to control their fellow drivers who are 'breaking the law'. If not, why not get in the middle lane where everyone is doing 55?
One thing often not mentioned when rude driving is the issue, is car VS man. Too many accidents happen because drivers on the streets only concern themselves with other cars, not pedestrians, those unfortunate souls crossing the street in the walk way with the light. I cannot believe the number of times I have almost been hit, even walking with children, because drivers refuse to stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk! It's like you don't have the right to cross the street, or they are more important because they are driving! I have had drivers yell and curse at me, and I don't even walk slow. What about the elderly and disabled? They call Queens Boulevard (NYC) 'The Boulevard of Death' because of the number of pedestrians killed there.
We live in a society where people are increasingly selfish, competitive and egotistical, and driving is an outlet for those people.While there are probably a certain number of just poor careless fools out there, who forget to signal or think 'I can make it' (only to cause an accident when they don't), the majority of rude drivers fall into the first 2 categories. I wonder if there was a way fellow drivers could snap a picture of offensive drivers and send that to the MVD, they could investigate when they see certain drivers getting repeat complaints. We definitely need more traffic cameras to help control the problem.
