Everyone Drives Fast Now

Starting a few months ago, an interesting phenomenon became apparent to me. Being an attorney, I sometimes have to work some on the weekends if I have deadlines. (They told us in law school, "the law is a jealous mistress." That was something of an overstatement, in my experience. "The law is a dog that barks at you for a walk every night" might be better.) In the last few months, driving into the office on a few Saturdays, I noticed that EVERYONE DRIVES LIKE FREAKIN' MANIACS WHEN THEY CAN.

Now I am not immune from driving fast. One of the things that I always wanted was a sports car and, once I reached a point where I could afford one, I got one. Sports cars like to go fast -- "really, officer, the car just wanted to go 105" -- so I drive mine slightly over the speed limit at times. So, one Saturday, I'm driving to the office at a rate slightly over the speed limit -- OK, somewhere between 75 and 80 -- and I swear to God, absolutely every car on the freeway is going faster than me. I moved over from the fast lane so the gigantic raised pickup could go by and that sucker blows by me at 90. I look up and I notice that I am losing ground to the crappy 15-year-old Toyota Corolla a quarter-mile ahead. The Paris Hilton wannabe -- why would anyone wannabe that? -- talking on the cell phone in her ten-year-old Chevy Malibu flies past at least 85.

This happens ALL THE TIME. I took a little trip recently and was driving back up 101 through the Salinas Valley -- a pretty long slog, but nothing compared to the desolation that is I-5 on the other side of the hills -- and I was going, again, slightly over the speed limit at, you know, about 80 and every other damn car was going by on my left at 90. The big pickups. The guy in the 2002 Jetta. The velosport maniac with four bikes on the top of his Subaru station wagon at 95, at least. And don't even get me started about what Bay Area and LA freeways are like.

Why are we driving like this, as a habit? The only thing of which I can think is that, in our usual, work-a-day lives, we are in traffic, we are in line at Togo's for lunch, we have a deadline driving our life, we are in one of those chaotic what-checker-are-you-going-to lines at Costco, we are having to merge because construction has blocked a lane, we are talking to health-insurance "customer service," so, when the road is open and the space is free, it is pedal to the metal, baby. Get the hell out of my way because today is my day to go fast.

Personally, I don't think that this is an especially good way for a society to function. I have little doubt that this country works, and works better than most, because people are more or less free to do their own thing. Where I think this is get us, though, is that everyone is running faster and faster, because things are getting cheaper and cheaper, so there is more pressure and pressure on everyone. So, when people get the chance to cut loose, man, they do. Get out of the fast lane because here I come. I don't know what to do about this, and don't know that there really is anything to do about it. Just keep your auto insurance paid up and the Beach Boys on your iPod.