Driving mentality

In New Zealand, rarely do people push you aside on the footpath, or push in front of you in a queue at the supermarket. But get inside a car and everything changes. For some reason, the thin metal frame of a car gives us super powers that we do not possess when interacting with each other face to face.

Yesterday I purchased an unattractive high-visibility vest (the orange type that all tradesmen own) to wear whilst scootering. With all this talk of scooter safety (or lack there of), I'd like to keep my brain inside my skull where it belongs. As the passenger rider on a black (almost invisible) scooter, it's now my job to act as a massive reflector and create a zone of repulsion around our vulnerable bodies.

But ironically, today was the most scared and exposed I have ever felt on a scooter. Several cars pulled out in front of us, requiring some rapid braking and honking of our tiny little scooter horn. Maybe the high-visibility jacket is faulty?

From outside the internal safety of a car, human nature becomes obvious. When you're driving on the motorway and you come up behind a vehicle doing 99km/hr in a 100 zone, you feel the need to overtake. If you leave a decent gap between yourself and the car in front, someone else will pull in front. Tailgating, changing lanes without warning, not indicating...

Everyone is always trying to get ahead.