Cowboys on the road
Most Norwegians are polite and law-abiding citizens. They don't steal when they go to the supermarket, they obey every stupid law the government throws at them (even the stupid ban on smoking in pubs). But when they get behind the wheel of a car something strange happens.
When Nils Norwegian hits the road you need to watch yourself. Speed limits are for wimps, signal lights are only used as Christmas decorations, those new fancy 1000W fog lights are fun to light up oncoming traffic with and hugging the bumper of the car in front is a national sport only surpassed by cross-country skiing.
It never ceases to amaze me how selfish most drivers are. On the 30km drive to work I'm lucky if I see one in fifty cars signaling when they exit a roundabout. If I drive at the speed limit it takes no more than three minutes before I have a car attempting to attach itself to my rear bumper. On a recent drive across the border to Sweden I had three cars with the aforementioned 1000W fog lights flash me (yes, my lights are too high...) resulting in a ten second blindness and a frenzied struggle to stay on the road. And the list continues...
Why do nice, polite and otherwise friendly people behave like this? Is it because they don't know the law? Because of stress? Poor driving skills? I think the answer is simple. People are ego-centric bastards. We (yes, I as well) have forgotten how to be nice to each other. If being nice to someone means we actually have to make an effort (such as signaling when we exit the roundabout so others can drive) we can't be bothered. Because that's just how society works in 2006. Being kind for kindness' sake is a thing of the past, from before turbo-capitalism and the "buy yourself a good life" society.
Traffic behaviour is not the problem, it is merely a symptom of a far deeper problem that all western societies share. A society that needs books to learn how to be nice to people is a society in trouble.
When Nils Norwegian hits the road you need to watch yourself. Speed limits are for wimps, signal lights are only used as Christmas decorations, those new fancy 1000W fog lights are fun to light up oncoming traffic with and hugging the bumper of the car in front is a national sport only surpassed by cross-country skiing.
It never ceases to amaze me how selfish most drivers are. On the 30km drive to work I'm lucky if I see one in fifty cars signaling when they exit a roundabout. If I drive at the speed limit it takes no more than three minutes before I have a car attempting to attach itself to my rear bumper. On a recent drive across the border to Sweden I had three cars with the aforementioned 1000W fog lights flash me (yes, my lights are too high...) resulting in a ten second blindness and a frenzied struggle to stay on the road. And the list continues...
Why do nice, polite and otherwise friendly people behave like this? Is it because they don't know the law? Because of stress? Poor driving skills? I think the answer is simple. People are ego-centric bastards. We (yes, I as well) have forgotten how to be nice to each other. If being nice to someone means we actually have to make an effort (such as signaling when we exit the roundabout so others can drive) we can't be bothered. Because that's just how society works in 2006. Being kind for kindness' sake is a thing of the past, from before turbo-capitalism and the "buy yourself a good life" society.
Traffic behaviour is not the problem, it is merely a symptom of a far deeper problem that all western societies share. A society that needs books to learn how to be nice to people is a society in trouble.
posted by Unknown | 9:10 pm
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