Road Rage

When working Day shift, I am on the road at 4:20 AM. Shift stats at 5 AM and it is a 15 to 20 minute drive. I've had a flat on the way to work and made it on time. Ever seen "A Christmas Story" where the Dad changes the tire.

Even here in L.A. traffic is virtually nonexistant at that hour. I can get on the freeway and set the cruise control at 65 MPH, get in the #2 lane (out of 4) , and just steer. There can be around a mile of road that is mine alone.

Why is it then that the person who is going 75 to 80 (or more) will fly up to within a couple of car lengths of my rear bumper, decelerate rapidly, and sit there for what seems forever. They will then swerve, usually to the right and mostly without signaling, and go screaming by. There were three other lanes open, they had the option of passing on either side, there are no other vehicles to factor in. The only reason for this type of action is that these drivers can only handle one piece of information at a time.

1. There is another car in front of me.
2. I'm catching up to it.
3. I must be going faster than the car I'm catching up to.
4. Oh, I've caught up to it.
5. Better slow down before I hit it.
6. Should I move left or right?
7. I'll go right.
8. Turn indicator, Oh, I'm already changed lanes, too late.
9. Accelerate back to 80 because I was to lazy to leave 5 minutes earlier.

Now each of these steps in thought seem to take anywhere from 5 to 10 seconds to complete. So, for 45 seconds to a minute and a half, two cars are tied up on an otherwise empty freeway.

Oh, and I have tried signaling and changing lanes before they even get close, but inevitably, they seem to change with me which adds another step in the whole process and more tension to the encounter that I don't need to deal with at early hour.

Another driving technique has seemed to appear over the last year. Driving on a straight flowing freeway, cars spaced nicely, speed constant, and then there is a bend in the road. Not a turn, just a slight deviation from straight. Once into the bend, the brakes come on and a slowdown of 10 to 15 MPH occurs. Cars accordion together, then, through the bend, traffic goes back to the previous speed and spacing.

I hate being late, and I dislike the aggravation associated with being late. I've reach the age where I would rather leave for my destination with a large delay factor built in, get to my destination early, and have time to decompress from the drive before dealing with appointments or whatever. Driving is a fact of life with built in stress, being you cannot control those whom you share the road, but sometimes it seems that my fellow travelers just cannot help but create problems that never should have arisen.