I noticed a blind spot in my thinking today. I have a tendency to go along with the mindset of “good and bad drivers” and “there are bad drivers everywhere”, probably because that’s the point of view I’ve encountered my whole life, is putting blame on drivers themselves as individuals. But what of the systemic influence? The conditions of roads and the difficulties of driving competently for extended periods? In all the places I’ve been in or heard about in the US, roads are consistently inconsistent in design. There are repeat patterns, sure, but it’s evident they were not thought through well into the future, especially for the number of cars on them. Nor for various businesses shoving their way in as something people may need to turn to get into.

So although I’m sure there’s varying levels of skill at driving a car, that doesn’t necessarily even correlate to any given boneheaded decision on the road. People are expected to make snap decisions under stressful and dangerous conditions on overcrowded and convoluted road designs that they are sometimes completely unfamiliar with. Of course it’s going to be bad sometimes. If anything, it’s a wonder it’s not worse than it is.