graball wrote:
So the poll is......do you believe that your own driving would be less stressful and more courteous towards others, if all modern restrictions were removed and roads were designed more as they were back in the seventies and eighties with fewer traffic lights, no speed bumps, sensible speed limits, no road narrowing chicanes to "slow traffic" (which in reality just cause tailbacks), etc.
I voted yes Grabs but in all honesty I think that’s more because of who I am rather than how I think the majority would react to your scenario. I’ve always been courteous and considerate towards others; it’s how I was brought up.
But I think that ethos is rapidly becoming extinct as a measure of today’s selfish, greedy and over-populated society. If we take driving out of the equation for instance, do we not see the same traits when we go to the shopping Mall as we do on our roads? People have no time for others and everything is so rushed whether they are on their feet or in a car, so I see a correlation between the two here. It simply wasn’t like that years ago.
Speaking as a guy who remembers driving/riding back in the older days, (started in 1975), the world and more importantly its people are very different today. To put it another way, if it were possible to transport everyone in some Star Trek Q fashion back to 75, I’m sure we would find drivers behaving in much the same selfish and inconsiderate way as they do today even after adapting to their new environment; it’s indelibly running through their veins these days.
Back then, I remember Sunday was a special day and nothing was open in the week after about 6 p.m. where the world’s lungs could inhale - and cyclists could too. In your scenario Grabs, would we go back to old shopping times for instance? After all, that’s why so many are on the roads these days; more people equals more traffic, equals more crappy behaviour. I always remember a scientific study done on increased population in confined spaces which lead to more violence and homosexuality. (Don’t ask me, I just repeat it here).
So I think there are many factors in your analogy, especially population IMO, which need to be considered. My hackles are up the second I find myself in any crowd. I don’t like ‘busy’ whether it’s people or traffic; I just don’t react as many do to it.
So to answer your question, I don’t think 70 style roads in isolation would make that great a difference to most people’s bad ways but speaking for myself, (your question), I would feel much more relaxed and I like to think I’m always courteous regardless...