ROAD RAGE

For the past few years I have noticed a definite increase in aggressiveness on the road.

You cannot drive on a highway anywhere in America without being tailgated or passed by cars driving 10 to 20 miles over the speed limit.  Many times a car will pass you with his tires still in your lane!

And when doing so the driver looks at you as if you were a criminal deliberately holding him back.

I sometimes see such anger in the faces of these would-be race car drivers as they pass me that I am afraid to be in the same city let alone road with them.

It is no wonder we keep hearing about more accidents and deaths caused by careless or just plain stupid driving.

And because you must constantly alternate between looking forward and glancing at all three mirrors driving any distance further than the local mall or Movie Theater has become an exhausting experience.

Over that last two years I have driven in many cities and find the same aggressiveness on the road.

In Phoenix I was nearly terrified to drive on the highway but had to in order to go anywhere.

After complaining that Arizona must have the worst drivers in America I found the same type of rage on the roads of South Florida and New Jersey and upstate New York.

I witness drivers maneuvering their cars in and out of lanes as though they were in the latest Fast & Furious flick.  Going from right to middle to left lane and then reversing direction back to the original lane just to pass one vehicle!

Are they kidding?

They would rather force you off the road or even kill you rather than lose a second getting wherever it is they are headed.

I am certain they will not be late for their funerals!

I don’t know the cause of this seeming epidemic and realize it is impossible to have police cars every mile or so and on every road in America but until we figure out how to get these maniacs off the road we will keep reading about more highway deaths.

Breathalyzers or sensors on steering wheels to lock the ignition prior to a drunk driver hitting, literally, the road is one way to limit tragedy.

And punishing those who drive recklessly or impaired; text while driving; get behind the wheel with suspended licenses; read the paper, (Yes actually reading the newspaper);

or even putting on make-up while directing a 2 ton missile down the road with loss of license and fines and possible jail time may become necessary.

Hit and run accidents can be stopped with a simple device that cuts the engine off and does not allow it to be restarted for ten minutes or so if sensors in the front bumper are tripped by the car hitting an object while it’s moving over 10 miles per hour.

The time spent sitting in the driver’s seat would allow the driver time to rethink his urge to flee the scene.  He or she may even feel a different urge, stay and help the victim then explain the cause of the accident to the police.

So what is the cause or at least one of the causes of this increase in life threatening arrogance on the road?

I believe the increase in road rage has something to do with the increase of frustration with life in America.

We have very little control of what goes on in our lives these days.

We fight against the odds for a raise at work and rail against the government for a break on our taxes equal or at least close to what the wealthy get.

For too long the average citizen has been watching his savings disappear to higher costs and total taxes.  He realizes that none of this money is being used to make his life better but rather line the pockets of wealthy Americans and corporate CEOs.

The feeling among more and more people is one of resignation.  They know that the America of 2015 will not have a revolution and things will not change.

This bastard started
the Republican policy of
killing the middle class.

The direction the country has been heading since the White House of Ronald Reagan first started the right’s war on unions and the middle class is bad for the masses.

But what makes it worse is that the wealthier among us have figured out ways to speed up the move in that direction.

If nothing changes we will no longer have a middle class.

If nothing changes we will have wealthy over lords deciding which among us gets a crumb now and then.

If nothing changes life as we know it will cease to exist.

If nothing changes the fast fading American Dream will be nothing more than a memory.

And finally if nothing changes frustration levels will rise to the breaking point and road rage may become the least of our worries!