We Ought Not Tolerate Reckless Driving

Driving from Philadelphia to Margate, New Jersey one Friday afternoon this summer, I was reminded of one of the leading indignities of contemporary American life, or at least such life in the urban areas of the Northeastern United States: drivers who place so little value on the miracle of human life that they are willing to risk high-speed collisions rather than reach their destinations at most a few minutes later.

A blue SUV, merging onto the Atlantic City Expressway, rapidly zipped across lanes of traffic to seek the left lane as quickly as possible, and when the car in front of it was moving insufficiently quickly (though still surely ten miles an hour or more above the speed limit), the driver of the blue SUV began honking frantically. Unable to pass on the right due to the volume of shore traffic (as we call it), this maniacal driver tried to see if he could pass on the left via the small patch of asphalt between the edge of the lane and the grassy median. Unable to squeeze his vehicle through without risking toppling into the wildflower gardens (with their origins in Lady Bird Johnson’s Highway Beautification program), he returned to honking like a madman until the driver of the car in front risked collision himself squeezing his way into the lane to the right. 

If only this were an unusual experience. Just a few days before, my mother reported to the rest of our family that when she was driving on the Schuylkill Expressway in the late afternoon, a severe thunderstorm struck, pelting the highway with near-blinding rain and wind. She slowed down a bit, as is reasonable to do when visibility becomes a challenge. The driver behind her began honking with increasing aggression before joining the lane beside her, gesturing to her with not all five fingers, and then seemingly hurling insults at her that fortunately were not easily deciphered on account of the rainstorm.