Originally Posted by mac
What the hell is wrong with society in general? Have we as a nation (world?) gotten more rude to each other over the years to the point where murdering someone else isn't that big of a deal?
There is a shifting baseline of what is permissable in traffic. I'm only 33 so I can't speak too much about how things have changed over the past 20 years on the road. I do know this: Frontline had a show about the advertising industry. This show had a segment on an advertising guru which executives pay big $ to hear. This guru observed that people began to use their SUV's to intimidate other drivers back when they increased in popularity in the 90's. So he extrapolated that automakers should make SUV's even larger, and more "intimidating," to market to those insecure, nut-job drivers. Some execs took his advice to heart and built bigger SUV's. In my humble opinion, I think that a more aggressive car culture emerged when the SUV began to predominate. I was just beginning to ride around '98, and I'd hear my car bound friends complain about SUV's doing things like riding on their bumpers with their high beams on to send the message that they weren't going fast enough and otherwise wielding their car more like a weapon. Also, there are more cars on the road, necessitating a more aggressive driving style. I think another thing which factors into it, is that these people have no life- they aren't happy- and how can you be happy shoveling tons of money into a metal contraption which gives little back. A metal contraption which advertisers lured you into believing would bring freedom and happiness- when all you get is stuck in gridlock. A car is boring to drive. That's why people have to have gadgets to play with while driving. When I'm biking I feel alive. When I'm driving I feel bored and even irritable. The stupid things that other drivers do piss me off much more when I'm in the car than when I'm on the bike.