Are courteous drivers dying out?
The Car Aficionado’s Jennifer Harrington thinks courteous drivers are a dying breed. Is she right, or is it a local thing?
Her guess, based on personal observation of drivers refusing to let people in, yield the passing lane, and such, is that the increasing about of distraction within the car is a major problem. She also points to the rationale, overheard on Facebook, that people doing the speed limit shouldn’t yield the passing lane anyway, because they’re already at the maximum speed. (Ironically, as she points out, that behavior is illegal in many states, regardless of speed limits.)
Her conclusion is that courteous drivers are a dying breed, but shouldn’t be, given the inherently dangerous nature of piloting 4,000-pound vehicles at high rates of speed. What’s more, the lack of courtesy may be driving people to want autonomous cars, the true driving-lover’s nemesis.
Is she right or wrong? Take a gander and let us know.
Clark Westfield grew up fixing up and driving past-their-prime American cars, including various GM and Mopar V8s. He has ghostwritten auto news for the last few years, and lives in Farmingdale, New York.