Why do people become...Devils in the driver's seat
Write words By Philip Lee



I read this columnist article in The New Paper dated 17th Mar'05. Very interesting. Fellow drivers will unanimously agree with what was written.

Read it here: THE ELECTRIC NEW PAPER

Here are excerpts of what was written...
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...ROAD rage seems to be, well, the rage of the week.
A rash of angry confrontations on the roads were reported in newspapers both here and in Malaysia recently. Some of the Malaysian incidents ended with the victims being beaten to death...
...Why are people's emotions so volatile the moment they are behind the wheel?
I know of gentle friends, who, when they are in the driver's seat, morph into impatient and foul-mouthed demons....
...We hardly see pedestrians becoming so vexed when they get into one another's way.
But make a gaffe on the road and the erring motorist gets horn blasts, lewd finger signs, or worse....

Why? (yeah, why? enlighten me!)

If I had to make a guess, I would say that the mood of many motorists here has long been soured by accumulated annoyance.
Just drive for a week here and any motorist would be irked by:
-A car behind trying to overtake you the moment both approach a 'merge' lane.
-A car in front suddenly making a turn into a side road, or changing lanes, without signalling.
-Cars and taxis blatantly stopping by roadsides marked either with zigzag or double yellow lines, and blocking your way.
-Cars stopping in yellow box junctions and obstructing your way when the light is in your favour.
-A car behind suddenly speeding up when you signal to change lanes.
(at this point, I was fiercely nodding my head..)

...Motoring keeps the driver tense all the time, whether he is aware of it or not.
He is strapped down to perform boring tasks such as braking, keeping in lane, being alert to traffic conditions and to lousy drivers. He is also on the lookout for speed cameras...
....Any driver remotely appearing to threaten his treasure on wheels gets him all hot and bothered...
...Then there is this mindless egomania - that of territoriality (hint-hint... all you luxury car drivers out there..)
...He is never in good cheer and the resultant bad behaviour fouls the mood of others.
So, in the end everyone gets mean

As I see it, the Singapore motorist has unwittingly become a victim of his own boorishness... (tsk..tsk.. I couldn't agree more)

I dunno if this columnist is a male chauvinist but what's with the musculine form of reference for the drivers?!
'He/His'..... Whatever happened to 'They/Them'?! Now THAT'S general.