Reckless Driving. Result of Poor Self-awareness.
Odds are you are an average driver. You are most probably not a great driver and likely not an above-average driver either, contrary to your popular belief.
We know that countless psychological studies have proven that people are highly optimistic of their own driving abilities. About 80% of us should be on the average spectrum with 10% being great and 10% being poor drivers. Assuming the top 10% are all professionals, the odds are everyone I know who is not a professional driver is just along the above/below/at average spectrum... and just some who are just poor.
I actually think I'm an average driver, probably under average since I dislike being inside vehicles and don't find driving enjoyable at all. It's hard to be good at something you don't like, right?
Most of my friends, typically the male ones, will state they are above-average drivers. I beg to differ with some of them. First, how does one rate "above-average"? My friends seem to believe the ability to drive fast (sometimes irresponsibly) and zig zag through car traffic without having gotten yourself killed is "skill" and hence you are an "above average" driver. I think that is more indicative of a selfish and mentally insecure driver who has failed to consider the safety of others in the surrounding environment and/or has chosen to forgo that to satisfy an internal ego (driven by an externally-driven insecurity). Hence, I think an above-average driver is someone who makes me feel 100% safe when I ride in their car and my knuckles are not turning white gripping the safety bar up top.
So, why am I talking about this?
Well, I think the desire and propensity to drive recklessly fast is completely stupid. Thanks to continuously improving car safety technology we are protecting potential victims of such reckless behaviour by others. However, the "others" (the reckless idiots we are protecting victims from) are also being protected and are not weeded out via natural selection (crash and burn etc....). I'm just hoping Elon and Tesla get the self-driving car down to close perfection soon.
But alas, I think the impatient and reckless driving may be the result of a greater issue. Just like how knee pain for athletes is commonly the result of a greater 'malfunction' in the calf, quad or IT band.
Why do people speed? Why do they drive recklessly? What is underlying the surface level? Is it solely just ego and insecurity as I stated above? I think it's more than that, at least in the majority of cases.
It may be that they are late. It may be that getting somewhere 1 minute faster is worth the increased risk of an accident. It may be that they are trying to impress the passengers that they are "manly" or "courageous".
It could be a myriad of reasons but there is no doubt it's a malfunction in decision-making.
I think such a malfunction is the result of a break down in the foundational systems in the individual's life. For example, you may be speeding because you are late. This lateness may have been the result of waking up late because of sleeping late the night before on a poor choice to stay out or binge on Netflix all night. That may have been thought of as a necessity because your day was so tough and you needed a break. Hence, the problem may be in the environment construction. Why is the commute so long? Why are you not able to work effectively? Why are you in a job that results in such poor environment construction? Why are the people around you so toxic?
There can always be an excuse to "why" you can't do this or that but I've found it's just a cheap way out of admitting to yourself that it's just not a priority anymore.
I don't think having more cops spending my tax dollars to buy more speed guns, and implement cameras on streets is a long-term fix for the problem. I think that is just a lazy 'bandage' solution you just slap on a wound. I think a societal focus on consciously prioritizing our individual systems is the solution. Actually having people focus on what they are looking to prioritize and build out their environment to optimize for those priorities. If such a primary problem were addressed I think the knock on societal sins of smoking, reckless driving, and plain "asshole-ness" would be vastly reduced.
So. The problem may reside in a lack of education to build out the awareness needed by individuals to consider how important their own environment is. Whether they've considered every input in their environmental construction and how many of those were left up to be decided by others and how that is causing the "knee pain" in their life.
Just a thought by one who suffers from motion sickness.
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