Having been nearly run off the Interstate four times in the two months I’ve lived in Minneapolis, I have been giving a lot of thought to why people behave the way they do behind the wheel. I’ve decided you can get a good feel for the psyche of a community by how they drive. For instance, in Utah, traffic moved at ridiculously high speeds with little care, and drivers often joked about how their guardian angels would save them from any significant accidents. In Portland, people are so laidback they almost resent accelerating, particularly when merging is required. They lollygag along as if they had all the time in the world, and one can’t help but wonder if all the yoga and gortex has gone to their heads. Portland’s intersections are heavily equipped with red light and speed cameras, and heavy fines are doled out for those who drive aggressively. Government regulation is at its most obvious on the roads of Portland, but people comply and are generally nice about letting each other into lanes.
Minneapolis on the other hand blows my mind. I have seen and experienced repeated and unwarranted aggression from drivers at all stages of my commute. It’s not just Interstate specific. Passing on the right in intersections is legal and done regularly, yet somehow people wonder at that auto-pedestrian and -bicycle accidents are commonplace. Speed limits are not enforced, and red light running is rampant. There are no cameras at intersections, and police seem not to care about speeding or overtly aggressive driving. I have found people here to be more on the passive aggressive side when dealing in face-to-face transactions, but I firmly believe they would be nastier to my face if they thought I wouldn’t know what they looked like.
The truth is, when people are in their cars they feel a certain amount of anonymity. Sadly, Minnesotans use that anonymity to take out their frustrations on each other in a life-threatening and infuriating way. A surprising number of cars on the road have significant body damage, and Interstate accidents typically involve multiple rollovers. Also, a strikingly large portion of my new co-workers and clients complain of long-lasting soft tissue injuries resulting from accidents where they were run off the road or broadsided. I wonder how bad it will get before people get a clue, but I’m determined not to be here to find out!
This unfortunately upsetting experience has caused me to reflect on my own actions behind the wheel and what they might say about me as a person. I am making a bigger effort to be polite when driving, even if I get the middle finger and road rage in response. My hope is that people will begin to get the point and pay it forward.
