by Olivia Cassio

Created on: March 07, 2007   Last Updated: April 23, 2007

Inconsiderate Drivers: Are they simply an inevitable subset of the general category "Inconsiderate People?" Or is it sometimes just a matter of perception? Funny how frustrated you can become when the driver in front of you is moving along just under the speed limit, braking unexpectedly and frequently, and repeatedly taking his or her eyes off the road to look uncertainly at the side streets. What an idiot! Can't they see what a hazard they are creating? You are tempted to honk your horn, or floor the accelerator and pass this slowpoke. For some reason, you don't seem to recognize in this driver the identical behavior that you yourself exhibited the last time you were lost in an unfamiliar area while struggling to follow an outdated map or someone's less-than-clear directions. Think back. On that day, the drivers who were tailgating YOU and especially the one who gave you the dirty look as he impatiently passed your vehicle - THEY were the inconsiderate drivers then, weren't they?

Of course, there is no excuse for a someone who risks the lives and safety of everyone on the road by driving while intoxicated by alcohol or drugs. Likewise, choosing to operate a several-thousand-pound projectile in an aggressive or careless manner carries the same ethical gravity as waving a loaded and cocked gun randomly in a crowded room. Carrying on an intense
conversation on the cell phone, or looking up information on your laptop while barrelling down the road (or worse, while navigating heavy stop-and-go traffic or busy intersections) is nothing but dangerous. This type of driving behavior goes beyond merely "incosiderate," no question about it.

But while it is true that many drivers these days unneccessarily, recklessly endanger themselves and everyone on the road, we sometimes forget that courtesy and patience are essential factors in sharing our roads safely. That infuriating woman on the freeway who seems to be hogging the right lane, oblivious to the positions of other vehicles. . . did it ever occur to you that she might be a brand-new driver navigating rush-hour freeway traffic "solo" for the very first time? And the guy who tailgates and then rushes past your vehicle like an Indy 500 racer . . . before calling him some choice epithet, consider the possibility that he could be frantically rushing to the hospital after receiving word that his pregnant wife has gone into sudden premature labor. That apparently absentminded driver who doesn't seem to notice that the speed

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