The gravity of the situation

The ABILITY to reason doesn't mean you actually engage in that activity. A truck driver that actually engages the prefrontal cortex is light years ahead of the game.

 

Not sure what it is about driving but people who won't buy a small appliance without researching and weighing the pro and cons of different brands get into the car and take crazy risks for little to no reward. We're all competitive but not all see the driving game the same.

 

I call that the Rat In A Cage Syndrome. As a psychology student I was tasked with taking care of lab rats, used by under graduates to learn mazes, etc.

The rats are docile, until hormones kick in after a few months. Then in order to open a particular rat cage you have to don double leather welders gloves. As soon as you try to open the latch on the cage the rat will viciously attack, BUT as soon as the cage door is opened, they are friendly and docile.

In human circumstances we are the rats in vehicle cages. We viciously attack those around us. But stop to get gas we meet the same folks and hold the door and say, "After you, mam!"

The key is to be aware of these tendencies in YOURSELF first. THEN be aware and on the lookout for those tendencies around you. Guard against BOTH.

 

Very well stated and I have noticed the same while practicing what you have shared. Thanks,

 

A long time ago (OK, it was the 90s), I commuted in a car every day from Colorado Springs to downtown Denver. I did this for five years. Every day.

Back then, I-25 didn't have as much traffic as it does today, probably because Colorado had half as many people back then. But it also wasn't as well-engineered. For example, it was two lanes all the way through Castle Rock (which was a little town back then) to County Line Road on the south end. There were no median barriers at all for most of the way. The curves through Denver were a lot worse (they fixed those in the late 90s).

But, people drove 80 mph all day every day, at least during the commuting hours, from at least Monument to the south end of Denver. If you drove 65 mph (the speed limit back then), you did not dare get into the hammer lane, because me or someone like me would be literally two feet off your bumper.

After a couple years of this, I realized that I was always stressed out by the commute. I read some stuff, maybe the same article you did, I don't know, and decided to chill out. I noticed that when an angry driver got up next to me, if they looked over and I was ignoring them and singing along to the radio, they chilled out too.

I don't road rage any more. Well, OK, I get the urge, but it's pretty easy and almost automatic for me to just take a deep breath and take my foot off the gas. The crazy thing is that you don't really lose much time driving this way, and it's a whole lot less stressful.

 

I always park between two trucks at a truck stop even when there is easier parking. I figure I have reduced my chances of being hit considerably.
Just pointing out it's why some guys do it.

 

Sometimes that plan can backfire and one of those trucks could tear your front end off when they’re backing in or leaving.

 

Fair enough. It's a game of Russian Roulette out here for sure. I take great pains trying to minimize my chances of stupid stuff. Lol

 

Funny you mention that. Today I made a beeline to discover a perfect parking spot between two trucks that haven't moved in over two weeks. I like my chances of having a hood in the morning.

 

Amen brothers!