Cars receive blame for road rage action
by Brian Wainstein, Reporter

    Daily, vast herds of automobiles sweep across the roadways of America.

    Increasingly, in a society enthralled by instant gratification and obsessed with the now, road rage grows, obscuring all thoughts of mercy or compassion.

    Fueled by movies such as Driven, Gone in 60 Seconds and the recently released Biker Boyz, American society is gaining an urge to compete: to be the fastest, to perform the wildest stunts and to glorify those who endanger everyone around them with reckless driving.

    Once a normal person climbs into a car, he is surrounded by a bubble of his own reality with the rest of the world subject to his every whim and desire.

    People don't see other people when they are driving; instead, they only notice the cars. This is, however, understandable since, when looking at a car, you're not looking at just a car with some person inside it; you're watching a whole different bubble of reality.

    "Why should their realities take precedence over mine?" drivers ask and promptly refuse to yield to people desperate to move a lane over.

    Ah yes, there are exceptions of course, but, often, if you want to change lanes, you have to engage the gaze of someone in that lane, and only once they recognize you as a person, as a living, breathing member of their own species, do they relinquish a precious six seconds to let you through.

    Sitting in a car definitely dehumanizes you to others; it's even reflected in our speech patterns. "That car cut me off; that car's swerving like it's drunk, and that car's an idiot" are all phrases I've heard and used before.

    What do we think they are, Transformers? Knight Rider cars? Those are the only cars I know of that can drive themselves, and they exist only on TV.

    And while we're at it, why does everybody speed? It seems like the real speed limit is always 10 mph above the official, posted one. And if you actually have the temerity, the sheer audacity, to actually drive at the legal speed limit, people will tailgate you until they can, with a contemptuous yank on their steering wheel, finally remove themselves from your lane.

    When you're not in a hurry, try to drive five miles below the speed limit.

    A wonderful sense of peace and tranquility will suffuse you as you no longer have to contend and compete with everyone else on the road. You can relax and let anger and frustration just flow around you.