Rick and David - have you driven in Baltimore? You will see a new interpretation of red lights. I’m seeing this more now on the west side of Chicago, too.
Rick and David - have you driven in Baltimore? You will see a new interpretation of red lights. I’m seeing this more now on the west side of Chicago, too.
Hey Pete - My years driving the roads in Chicagoland left me struck by the incredibly high number of people who drive recklessly fast and with an apparent total lack of consideration for others. Upon first arriving a couple decades ago, I was mystified how few people seem to understand how to use the turn signal lever on their steering column when changing lanes. I quickly learned the reason for this - that if you do signal your intention to change lanes, the trailing car in that lane would quite often accelerate to close the gap to prevent you from doing so. Same thing with coming to a complete stop at a stop sign or on a turn on red, it's most always a rolling stop. And when two lanes merge into one, there is an endless parade of drivers accelerating past the merging area in an attempt to bypass as many drivers as possible in the merged lane to simply jump in front of someone at the very last moment.
My wife out of her Masters degrees developed a theory that this is frustration behavior arising out of congestion along with the anonymity of being in a car. She likened it to a maze where the more rats that were dropped into the same enclosed area, the more aggressive they get with each other. Not a flattering analogy, but perhaps an accurate one.
There is a diametrically opposite vibe on the roadways where we presently live. We smile at people always waving for each other to go first, generally slowing when you signal a lane change and very considerate in every other way! It is much less congested here than in most of Chicagoland and I'm not certain if that is the total reason for this stark difference in driving behavior, but we thoroughly enjoy it for whatever reason!
Rick and David - have you driven in Baltimore? You will see a new interpretation of red lights. I’m seeing this more now on the west side of Chicago, too.
Hey Pete - My years driving the roads in Chicagoland left me struck by the incredibly high number of people who drive recklessly fast and with an apparent total lack of consideration for others. Upon first arriving a couple decades ago, I was mystified how few people seem to understand how to use the turn signal lever on their steering column when changing lanes. I quickly learned the reason for this - that if you do signal your intention to change lanes, the trailing car in that lane would quite often accelerate to close the gap to prevent you from doing so. Same thing with coming to a complete stop at a stop sign or on a turn on red, it's most always a rolling stop. And when two lanes merge into one, there is an endless parade of drivers accelerating past the merging area in an attempt to bypass as many drivers as possible in the merged lane to simply jump in front of someone at the very last moment.
My wife out of her Masters degrees developed a theory that this is frustration behavior arising out of congestion along with the anonymity of being in a car. She likened it to a maze where the more rats that were dropped into the same enclosed area, the more aggressive they get with each other. Not a flattering analogy, but perhaps an accurate one.
There is a diametrically opposite vibe on the roadways where we presently live. We smile at people always waving for each other to go first, generally slowing when you signal a lane change and very considerate in every other way! It is much less congested here than in most of Chicagoland and I'm not certain if that is the total reason for this stark difference in driving behavior, but we thoroughly enjoy it for whatever reason!