Mass transit ........

And yes, americans are selfish pricks (cancer cells) who consume more energy per capita than anyone else in the world.

....except for one thing: people DO yield in NC. They do. With everything else you're spot on. I've lived here for over 20 years - I grew up in the South, but I just got back from driving in Germany and Italy, where people actually know how to drive. Okay, so driving on the Autobahn is really stressful, especially if you're not the one in the Audi passing everyone else, but at least you know that some idiot won't be driving 35 in the left hand lane like they own the world. In Europe, when the light turns green, people actually don't act like they're driving a tractor and they get moving. I had the worst reverse-culture shock coming back to NC on the driving front. Oh, and while I'm venting - why is it that American cars are all so freakin' ugly? Seriously - go to Europe - even Ford makes more modern-looking cars with more interesting colors for the European market. What is UP with that?

This article is being published at one of those times when editors seem to be psychic. I was just thinking on Sunday while driving from my parents' house in central Indiana back home to Chicago about what my driving says about me and means to me.

I am what most would call a "very aggressive" (read: asshole) driver. Now I'm not completely horrible, as I always signal and check my blind spots (mostly I'm paranoid and always looking for cops), but other than that I am pretty bad, and I know it. Speeding, tailgating, right hand passing, lane weaving, multiple lane crossing, speeding up if anyone tries to pass me, gunning it at green lights, going through parking lots to avoid lights, the list could keep going, but you get the idea. So on this Sunday while attempting to pass a line of 20 cars in the left line by pulling into the right lane, hitting 85-95 mph to get around two or three cars at time on the right before slamming on breaks and forcing my way back into the left lane when a rightfully slow moving car is about to impede my progress in the right lane, I came to the conclusion that I am filled with a disgusting and completely undeserved sense of entitlement.

I am one of those people that went to a good school but really hasn't done anything with it upon graduating and likes to believe he is smarter than he is. In other words I'm frustrated and feel as if the world owes me something for not appreciating my gifts. In most aspects of my life, I am under control due to the social pressure enforced by social mores, but something about sitting in my car lets the worst parts of id take complete control. Once everyone becomes just a box with wheels and there is little to no direct lasting social consequence to my actions (yet), whatever vestiges of society usually inhibit my dangerous and self centered behavior fall away like so many leaves in November.

It is because at my core I believe I am better than everyone else, laws don't apply to me, and I am too smart to get caught (no tickets or accidents yet amazingly). I drive like I am a smug, petty, and self centered control-freak. I wonder how everyone else can be so incompetent and lead such meaningless lives that they don't have anywhere better to be. The standard thought that goes through my head while riding the ass of someone who has the audacity to go only 5 miles per hour over the speed limit in the left lane is "No one loves you." Ironically, when I drive late at night or in rural areas (I grew up in a somewhat rural part of in Indiana) I usually end up driving at or below the speed limit, break to complete stops with plenty of space, and stay in the same lane the entire time; in essence when not in traffic, I'm a very good and cautious driver. The nasty behavior only comes out when around other people, but as the roads only seem more and more crowded, my behavior only seems to get worse and worse.

This behavior obviously is not coming out of nowhere. It's the ugly truth of who I am once you remove direct social consquence. It is also completely dangerous, and will end up killing me or worse someone else if I do not change. Thus the epiphany: I need to change, or someone is going to end up dead by my actions. I actually pulled off at the next exit and just sat for five minutes thinking about how much my behavior needs to change. I used to use the excuse that "this is just how I am", but that seems so powerless and fatalistic. It is time to take control, and become a safer driver and stop expecting others to magically contort themselves to my will.

You too, sir, are SO right. I live in Boston, my car is a more-or-less permanent fixture on a Brighton street, and I bike when I don't have the time/patience to ride the T. The absolute oblivious of both cars and drivers is a constant source of amazement to me.

It's actually enjoyable to ride through the city with all your senses opened, constantly scanning your environment for sources of potential danger. You also hear the little birds feeding on the seeds some guy spread on his lawn, the sounds of people arguing in Urdu or Hmong, a snatch of music from a window as you speed past.

There's a whole world out there. You can pay attention to it... or it will run your ass down.

Immigrants and their children are the most significant cause of increased traffic and urban sprawl as well as the cause of almost all the population increase in Calf. in the past ten years. Imagine the carbon footprint caused by that.