Inattention, selfishness, and an inflated belief in driving ability both of self and of other drivers.
People don’t pay attention to the vehicles around them or what they’re doing. As a reault they often are caught off guard by the maneuvers of other vehicles and this in conjunction with the other two things I mentioned makes them angry because it adds stress to the situation.
People believe their driving is better than it is (especially seasoned drivers). They either expect that everyone should be as good as they are at driving. Or as good as they think they are at driving. And when it turns out that this is not the case (that they are not good at driving or that others are not good at driving) this adds stress to the situation. This is ego.
Selfishness is just that. And it happens with pretty much every driver on the road though they are loathe to admit it. The driving experience as a whole is all about them. Where they’re going. What they want. How fast.
they want to go and in what lane. Whether they want to allow someone to merge. Whether they want to allow someone to pass. Whether they want to wait for a light or wait for someone to turn or wait in traffic etc. As a result they often do less than legal things because they feel confident in the fact that what they are doing and where they are going is important and therefore more important than other drivers on the road. They sincerely believe they are more important or that other drivers are less important and they act selfishly and with a sense of entitlement as a result. This also adds stress to the situation. However, of the three this is the main reason people become so unreasonable and angry.
A combination of selfishness, self righteousness/ego, and distracted driving (inattention) causes people to react to perceived, imagined, or actual slights of any kind on the road with malice and anger that is undue or unreasonable given most road situations. And considering that cars are heavy machinery and can do a lot of damage and be deadly to other drivers, people often jump to conclusions about the people they share the road with, especially when they do things like merge with no signal, cut others off, speed unnecessarily, or manuever in a way that seems erratic. Driving is a high stress activity. And that magnifies and exacerbates the problems the other three things I mentioned cause.
Inattention, selfishness, and an inflated belief in driving ability both of self and of other drivers.
People don’t pay attention to the vehicles around them or what they’re doing. As a reault they often are caught off guard by the maneuvers of other vehicles and this in conjunction with the other two things I mentioned makes them angry because it adds stress to the situation.
People believe their driving is better than it is (especially seasoned drivers). They either expect that everyone should be as good as they are at driving. Or as good as they think they are at driving. And when it turns out that this is not the case (that they are not good at driving or that others are not good at driving) this adds stress to the situation. This is ego.
Selfishness is just that. And it happens with pretty much every driver on the road though they are loathe to admit it. The driving experience as a whole is all about them. Where they’re going. What they want. How fast.
they want to go and in what lane. Whether they want to allow someone to merge. Whether they want to allow someone to pass. Whether they want to wait for a light or wait for someone to turn or wait in traffic etc. As a result they often do less than legal things because they feel confident in the fact that what they are doing and where they are going is important and therefore more important than other drivers on the road. They sincerely believe they are more important or that other drivers are less important and they act selfishly and with a sense of entitlement as a result. This also adds stress to the situation. However, of the three this is the main reason people become so unreasonable and angry.
A combination of selfishness, self righteousness/ego, and distracted driving (inattention) causes people to react to perceived, imagined, or actual slights of any kind on the road with malice and anger that is undue or unreasonable given most road situations. And considering that cars are heavy machinery and can do a lot of damage and be deadly to other drivers, people often jump to conclusions about the people they share the road with, especially when they do things like merge with no signal, cut others off, speed unnecessarily, or manuever in a way that seems erratic. Driving is a high stress activity. And that magnifies and exacerbates the problems the other three things I mentioned cause.