Aggressive Driving Is Still on the Upswing, I Think.

[MineralMan]

Here in the Twin Cities of MN, we've had a couple of snowstorms this week. Although the roads have been plowed, temps are below zero, so roads are slick in places. Normally, Minnesotans drive more carefully in those conditions. Not right now, though. There's a four-lane arterial street outside my door, with a 45 mph speed limit. Some drivers have slowed down to about 30, but plenty are speeding along at 45, 50, or even faster. They're impatient, too. When they encounter a careful, slower driver, they often blast their horns and swerve into the other lane to pass. I've seen some skidding and close calls while watching them from my balcony deck.

I went to the supermarket, about a 5-minute drive on that road and another 4-lane arterial street. 30 mph and extra caution at intersections, etc. I had lots of tailgating behind me and unsafe passing out of annoyance. I heard some horns, too, behind me. I don't care. I drive at the appropriate speed, regardless.

People are pissed off, frustrated, and impatient right now. It all seems dangerous to me, and out of the ordinary for the conditions. It is a symptom, I think, of the general state of things at the moment.

[True Dough]

1. Motorists need to remember

that posted speed limits refer to ideal conditions.

I agree with you, impatience is a symptom of our society and our era. I associate it with the internet and the ability it gives us to have so many things at our fingertips in seconds. It's less common to have to wait for something, some of us get cranky and obnoxious when we are forced to wait.

[cbabe]

2. I blame too much screen time. Not enough

reality. People’s brains are having trouble switching from fake life to real life. Zooming is not a real life skill. Especially on icy roads.

Plus, I remember pilots having to retrain after lengthy first wave work stoppage.

Drivers have also forgotten how to drive.

[Pantagruel]

3. Noticed that too

but I allow it might be subjective. I know my aging reflexes have slowed with my mph, my eyes not as sharp and frankly my fearlessness at getting behind the wheel has waned. One technical note, brakes are better than 30-40 years ago giving today's drivers more confidence to tailgate and speed, IMHO.

[Dial H For Hero]

4. From what I can tell, there has been at least a bit of an upswing.

I find one thing about it kind of funny. I have two vehicles, an SUV and a Porsche convertible. I’ve noticed that driving the Porsche at the speed limit or a bit above it seems to induce considerably more aggressive behavior than driving at the same speed in the SUV.

[Ocelot II]

5. It's not your imagination.

When the coronavirus pandemic shut down the country last year, highways emptied out as many people holed up at home. But those who got behind the wheel engaged in riskier behavior, leading to the deadliest year for US traffic crashes in over a decade.

More motorists went too fast, failed to buckle up and drove under the influence of drugs and alcohol, according to law enforcement and traffic safety experts.

The outcome was grim. About 38,680 people died in vehicle crashes in the US last year -- the highest number since 2007, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Fatalities also increased among motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians, even as the number of miles driven nationwide dropped by 13.2% compared to 2019.

"It's mind-boggling and extremely frustrating to see the tremendous loss of life from Covid compounded by preventable traffic crashes," says Pam Shadel Fischer, a senior director for the Governors Highway Safety Association.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/19/us/pandemic-increased-fatal-crashes-trnd/index.html

[MineralMan]

7. Well, it's sure more dangerous during the winter months.

It may be just coincidental, but it seems to me like big SUVs and pickups are among the most aggressive vehicles on the road. I mean, that has always been the case, but it seems more frequent these days. I have to turn right off Hemlock here onto the road into my development. Then, I have to make an immediate left into my driveway. So, I have to slow down dramatically from 45 on Hemlock to make that turn safely.

I get blasted at by horns behind me about 50% of the time, and it's usually a big-ass truck or SUV doing the blasting. I signal my turn early, and slow down carefully. Often, there is plenty of room to pass me in the left lane, but all too often, the person in the car just rides up on my bumper and blasts the horn, and then floors the accelerator as soon as I turn. Scary, but I have to turn.

Of course, the drivers that do that have to make their own turns down the road, too. I'm sure they'd be pissed off if someone blasted them with their horn when they turned. It's irrational and weird, it seems to me.

[Ocelot II]

9. A lot of people have to re-learn how to drive on snow and ice every winter.

Add that to the recent increase in aggressive driving and road rage, and it's ugly. Fortunately I don't have to drive very far, or very often, to do my usual errands so I haven't witnessed it first-hand, but I have no doubt that it's out there. I drive so seldom these days that I have to remember to go out and run up my car for a bit so the battery doesn't die, which happened to me last year.

[MineralMan]

12. Yeah. I don't have to drive as much as I used to, either.

But, I do have to drive sometimes.

Due to the design of our quad townhomes, I have had to take my smoking (shame on me) outdoors. So, I'm out on our balcony deck fairly frequently. That lets me observe traffic on that arterial street regularly. So far, I haven't seen any accidents, but I've sure seen some close calls.

Fortunately, the traffic signals on that four-land major street in both directions are well-coordinated, which means that there are major gaps in traffic about once a minute. Thank goodness, since leaving our side street would be scary if that were not so. Whoever designed the traffic signal timings did a very, very good job. Things go quite smoothly, really.

[Demsrule86]

6. I have found people belligerent ...angry all the time. This happens

when they drive, go to the store, go to the movies or restaurants...they are like a bomb ready to detonate at the slightest provocation.

[MineralMan]

8. Yes, exactly.

That's what I'm seeing, as well. It's disturbing, and is a relatively recent phenomenon.

[Probatim]

10. Putting the passenger side tires on the white line and letting an idiot pass you

is a liberating event.

Don't get mad - put your flashers on, move off the road, and wave them around.

My time behind the wheel got a lot better once I started doing that.

[TrogL]

11. Karma story

Back when I was driving truck, I'd stick strictly to the speed limits and drive to conditions. I also knew where the speed traps were.

On one occasion I was unhappy with my load so I was taking it easy getting on the freeway, doing 60 in a 70 kph zone. Had a bunch of drivers blow past me yelling and honking.

Came tootling around the corner to discover them all pulled over by the RCMP.