Utah drivers

[Lamborgotti]

Has anyone read the book "Traffic, Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us)" by Tom Vanderbilt? It's an interesting book. It talks about things like merging late, tailgating, speeding, lot's of stuff like that, and what it supposedly says about your personality. From what is described in this thread and from what I've noticed about Utah drivers myself, there are a lot of people who are overly confident. Lot's of people are just not focused on other drivers, and are just doing it to get to their destination, while getting away with as much as possible in between. It would seem that on the freeway people are just relaxed, perhaps even lazy. It's almost like a skill to get away with as much as possible without damaging something. I think people have essentially made a habit of overlooking that standard procedures and instead look at what the rules are trying to accomplish, and basically just assess the dangers on their own. That attitude is clear when everyone goes at least 75 freeway, because as long as everyone's going 75 it's not a huge safety concern, or when people turn left into the right lane, because as long as no one's turning into that lane it's not a problem, etc.

I don't know what any of this says about the culture or influence of other cultures, I'm not sure it means anything at all. Partly because I can't fully agree with the descriptions above. I haven't had a particularly bad experience on the road, I got used to the mainstream agenda of the common drivers quite quickly. It seems like whenever I turn my signal on, there's always someone making room for me, and stuff like that. I've just never really experienced a legitimately impolite person on the road.

[markg91359]

I've seen a survey or two over the years that suggests Utah drivers are bad. Its not something that is made up. Although, I gather they are pretty bad in places like Kansas too. I've read other posts here which suggest this is a recent phenomenon. There is nothing recent about it Drivers were bad here long before the state's population crossed the 2 million mark a decade ago.

My take on bad driving in this state is that its a form of repressed anger. People here are told they can't show anger anywhere. Some religions urge their members to avoid "contention". Their boss is never wrong even though he pays dirt cheap wages and runs an unpleasant workplace. Elected leaders need our support (even when their policies are bad policies and they make bad decisions). Non-LDS people are angry about some slight they've encountered (or believe they have encountered) and the highway is the only place they can take out their anger. I'm convinced much of what I see is passive/aggressive behavior plain and simple.

There's a second issue too. Drivers here are more likely to be distracted than in other states. How many times do we see mom wheeling down the road in a huge SUV with 3 or more small children fighting or tugging at her arms? And, cell phones....geez. I'm not against their use in cars completely, but I think parents with small children should not be allowed to use them while driving and trying to manage the kids both.