Johnnytheboy wrote:
From my rudimentary knowledge of US geography it would appear that the more rural mid-west states broadly come out on top.
Ideas why, Rush?
I have a few, but I defer to you.
From a quick peek at my globe ... most of those states (I am not considering states anywhere near the Canadian border)
1) have roads which tend to assist in both the creation and the enjoyment of higher driving skill
2) have lower population densities [which makes it safer to enjoy those roads]
3) have mass transit systems that the majority of residents would prefer to avoid, even if they were paid to use them
4) are the most likely to still have some form of driver's education classes available as an electable part of the high school curriculum
5) are very likely to engage in recreational endeavors which require or are greatly enhanced by a deeper understanding and appreciation of driving
6) have more jobs per capita which require or are greatly enhanced by superior driving skills, which naturally include etiquette and decorum
7) have more homogenous cultures, which generally tend towards more nuanced etiquette and decorum (they are very likely to see a failure to signal preceding a turn or lane change, as prima facie evidence of being a 'city slicker')
If I were to describe a typical commute from midtown Manhattan to Queens Village as a contrast
1) have fewer roads which stray from typical templates
2) we have one of the highest population densities [which usually tends to make driving more difficult for one, and more dangerous for others, to enjoy]
3) the only thing that really holds our mass transit system back is quality and quantity of service; more people would use it if either or both improved
4) we have to spend additional time and money after school hours to learn how to drive [like you'd have to do in most major Amerikan metropoli]
5) we tend to avoid recreational endeavors which require driving (I am a rare and lonely exception)
6) have fewer jobs per capita which require any driving skill, much less superior driving skill (so alone
)
... 6a) few - if any - of these jobs pay six figure salaries on the books, and social pressures tend to increase with population density
7) have more heterogeneous cultures, which leads to more frequent misunderstandings regarding etiquette and decorum, which quickly lead to a driving style which focuses on the driver's objectives as primary, with etiquette and decorum as secondary
... 7a) in rural Amerika, a failure to be polite cannot possibly add more than five minutes to your commute ... whereas in New York or Los Angeles, a failure to be polite is worth much more than five minutes
[aside]I submit to you that any studies which suggest that polite metropolitan driving is not a waste of time, were conducted with drivers who were not skilled at being 'impolite'. Metropolitan driving tends toward a type of ambiguous body language that increases the ability to ... usurp ... a desired traffic position or make some other relatively sudden maneuver with little warning (driving in the city is all the warning you should need), while preserving a suitable threshold of safety. Doing so while using actually turn signals to your advantage without deception, and minimizing the negative repercussions of your behaviors on others in your wake is exceedingly rare, to say the least (it will take me a lifetime to master, and I will be very alone during most of my endeavors
).[/aside]
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