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Hi I am doing an informal study on why there is so much honking and selfish, inconsiderate driving going on on Westchester County roads. We are a relatively small area but the amount of honking, road rage, cutting off, etc etc is really unbelievable here. Any thoughts?
You wanna know my theory? Half of the drivers on the road are completely distracted by other things and oblivious to the fact that they are sharing the road with other cars - they're texting, talking on the phone, smoking, dealing with kids in the back seat, rummaging through bags on the floor, reading, you name it. The other half are the ones who honk and drive like crazy people because they are so pissed off at the distracted, oblivious drivers that it makes them crazy.
I admit to occasionally being one of the latter, because COME ON PEOPLE, if you have something better to do, pull over or just DON'T DRIVE AT THE SAME TIME.
It really depends upon the part of the county, since it's not as common to have honkers in Northern Westchester as much as it is when one is closer to the city. The degree of congestion, lights, and perceptions that other drivers are in their way tend to make impatient people rely on the horn, especially since it can be a cultural element among some New Yorkers. I grew up between Manhattan and Northern Westchester, and the use of the horn always struck me as so different in each location. When in Northern Westchester, the tap on the horn was accompanied by a wave to a passing neighbor, whereas in the city and some other locations people honking at you was accompanied by another type of hand gesture.
The road rage issue is one that I have experienced myself more than once, and sometimes it's as if the person wants to prove something to me. I have noticed that there are times because of the brand/model of car I am driving, people tend to act much more aggressively toward me, when I am minding my own business on the road. There is a hostility to brand and type of vehicle sometimes that can be disconcerting when one is attempting to drive as defensively as possible, but can be noted in areas with higher amounts of traffic. Again, not something that stands out on Northern Westchester roads, but much more so from White Plains south, which I ascribe to the denser population with a larger pool of drivers in Lower Westchester.
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All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.
~William Shakespeare (As You Like It Act II, Scene VII)
Having come from Brooklyn I've found the drivers in lower Westchester to be exceptionally unhonky. There does some to be general cluelessness among young drivers about giving pedestrians the right of way though.
Re: the right of way, NYers in general are the worst pedestrians in the world, too. They could care less if traffic is flying at them - they walk right in front of your moving car in the middle of the road (and walk at don't walks on the rare occasions that they make it to an actual intersection ALL the time.)
Anything seems an improvement over the city, but still, the larger the town the more anonymous one can be and more of a jerk. I'm sure my neighbors aren't nearly as courteous on the road when they are driving into White Plains or the city!
Going back to Psych 101 at Pitt - "In humans, overcrowding appears to result in a decline in task performance and deterioration in social behaviour"...or, people get cranky when they get crowded.
I spend a lot of time on the roads of Westchester since I drive for a living, and it never fails to amaze me just how rude and inconsiderate some drivers can be toward other drivers.
For example, earlier this summer I was coming out of the Mobil station on the Hutchinson River Parkway in Harrison and attempting to merge into the flow of traffic southbound. Traffic was heavy and not moving very quickly. As I made my way down the ramp with my turn signal on, some guy coming up in the lane I was trying to enter actually sped up to try to keep me from getting into the lane ahead of him! This was despite the fact that I was driving a larger vehicle than he was, too. At one point, we were side by side, and I was looking directly at his window, and he just acted like I wasn't there. Seriously, where did this guy think he was going that he couldn't afford to let one car get in front of him?
I agree with what bmwguydc said about this being more prevalent in southern Westchester than northern Westchester. I see a lot of speeding and weaving in and out of lanes on the Sprain Brook parkway southbound, especially by twentysomethings in their "tuners", perhaps driving home after attending classses at WCC in Valhalla.
My theory about the tailgating and aggressive driving is that many who engage in that type of behavior on the road do so because it's behavior that is carried over from their work environments, where being aggressive is often viewed as a positive thing. Some of you may have seen a recent story on the tv news which stated that being "nice" at work can actually be to your detriment, because you can be perceived as weak and be taken advantage of. I think a lot of people here in Westchester have that type of mentality, and think that their time is very valuable and they don't want to waste it by getting stuck behind someone who by his or her slower driving doesn't appear to value time as much as the person tailgating or flashing his headlights.
I don't even think that it's limited to Westchester...the whole moral fabric of the US is falling apart, starting at the top with our own Congress that are more interested in 'winning' than doing what is best for the greater good.
Did you see the story re: the tsunami's aftermath in Japan? Something crazy like 80% of all reported missing cash and jewels has been found and turned into the police to find its way to its reported owners. And here we are in this country creating flash mobs to rob places in the name of free speech. Sigh..............
They did the same thing as far as merging in LA. In fact, only suckers used their signals on the freeways, as you were literally inviting everyone to not let you in. For me, the only time I don't let people in is when they are being a douche and 'pretend' to not notice that their lane is ending until the last 2 inches...or they are just weaving all over the place trying to get nowhere fast and being a jerk. There, I've admitted it.
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