Friday Night Road Rage
The CAA monthly journal Touring ran an article a while back talking about a study on road rage. Apparently local law enforcement set up a hotline for people to call in when they witnessed road rage. The most notable discovery from the hotline was that HALF of the phone calls were received on Friday night. I thought it was pretty interesting, but didn't think too much about it afterward.
Well over the past few months I have started to notice a trend that matches that study. People really do go crazy on Friday nights. There's a lot more tailgating going on. People gun it when the light turns green. They give it a bit more gas than the rest of the week in order to advance through traffic. Everyone is just a little more aggressive. It has been a bit bizarre to notice this trend.
So why? Well the obvious reason is that every want to start their weekend as soon as possible. It's not people from the 'cinq a sept' (happy hour) because I'm usually on the road as that is starting up. So someone would have to do a few shots immediately after work and head straight home for that to be a factor.
But whatever the reasons, it is really a bad way to start the weekend for the rest of us. I have been avoiding as much as possible to get worked up in traffic. But Friday nights are tough. My adrenaline is usually flowing pretty good by the time I get home, but not for good reasons. Maybe we should spend the extra hour and take public transportation on Fridays.
By contrast, back in Chicago I would get worked up on almost every commute. Maybe it was just my perception and maybe I took everything a bit too personally, but I'd be pretty stressed out when I arrived at work or home. There was no chance to take a breather and the nerves were getting quite frazzled. It was only about a year that I was required to drive to work, but it was enough to temporarily give me a distaste for one of my favorite activities. Driving. I was very happy when I was able to take the el to work again.
So what is your preferred time for road rage? Monday morning going back to work? Wednesday night due to the mid-week blues? Or Sunday morning just for the fun of it?
4 comments:
Howdy!
I don't commute, but did find this article fascinating. It might be easier just to vary your time (or potentially your route) on Fridays.
I think that Saturdays afternoon and even Sundays afternoon to be quite heavy too. There is a not of new non usual traffic and many people are to get to shopping malls or big stores in time. It has more to do with parking fights.
It's true about Fridays afternoon. There is a lot more traffic, you have to count in the weekenders and the week commuters. Its starts ealier. And because everyone left a bit earlier, everybody thinks it has the right to arrive earlier. It's a new start in the week, a better week (2 days) to come. Everyone has the stress of the week on their shoulders too. and anything even minor can just let the steam go out.
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