The news group on USENET called rec.autos touches on many sensitive topics such as, tailgating, car phones, and slow drivers in the fast lane. The people who voice there opinions on these subject do so with fustration and sometimes hostility. I believe some of these people are in need of some form of therapy.
I must admit slow drivers in the left lane do annoy me, but I don't let it ruin my day, or hold on to the anger as much as some of these writers.. Some of the drivers on USENET argued over the law of the use of the right lane. Basically what I saw was a bunch of people bickering over who should drive in what lane. I personally think it is considerate to move to the right lane if you are going to drive slow. However people will drive where they want to drive, so we should all accept this. If someone is driving slow in front of me I just change lanes, it's really not that hard. One particular driver said that he expected people to make his driving experience an unpleasant one. Evidently this negative person is already setting himself up to be angry. This attitude is one of paranoia, if a person is going to believe everyone is out to make them miserable then that may be why his driving experience is so bad.
The useneton on tailgating has many arguments against and for tailgating. One particular person justifies tailgating by stating that it's no danger if someone makes a sudden stop in front of you . The attitudes are frequently against tailgating, however there are a few who say "GET OUT OF MY WAY!" The attitude of one particular motorcycle rider who tailgates surprises me. He is not concerned for his safety , only at harassing the drivers in front of him. My feelings on tailgating can be found in report#2. What I see in some of the tailgaters stories I read is arrogance. Obviously these people think it's okay to do it, however if it happend to them I'm sure they would be outraged.
This topic was interesting to read, one particular person totally insulted Dr. James. I thought it was un called for, especially from someone who does not know or want to know about traffic psychology. I admit I speed, but I think it has to do with the very low posted speed limit in Hawaii, 50 mph. I think Hawaii should raise there speed limits. Then I would probably find myself following our speed limit.
USENETS conversations about car phones are very interesting, there was a good amount of talk on violence against car phone users. I think some of these people need to chill out. I think car phones are dangerous, but I don't want to do bodily harm to anyone who uses one. One person pointed out that in Europe car phones without head gear are illeage. Perhaps this would be a good solution for everyone.
Road rage is a popular topic in USENET, probably because many of these people suffer from it. It seems these people are concentrating more on getting angry and hostile than driving, I noticed a good amount of insults towards women drivers, I found this absolutely unfair. Many of these drivers need to get a grip on their emotions, they must realise that going for a drive is not like going to war. These drivers need to find another outlet for their aggressions.
I believe that these drivers need to face the fact that they are being unneccesserally angry. There really is no reason for them to have a negative attitude. The first step for these people is admitting they have an aggression problem then the rest will fall into place. If someone cuts you off its okay to feel angry, but then just get over it. Life goes on, trying to get back at them is not going to force them to be a better driver. Instead work on releasing the negative emotion you feel, it will not only make you abetter driver, but also a better person.
