The hate is always there, it's just not provoked.
With cars, there is no space. Other people are close. Traffic shows us how we feel when our expectations are not fulfilled.
this post was submitted on 22 May 2025
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There is some scientific backing to this. Basically by isolating ourselves in these little bubbles of death, we stop seeing the other people as people and this removes any moral/societal blockers to descending into a pit of rage and calling for the termination of their bloodline, death by inept firing squad, etc.
I wouldn't even say we stopping seeing them as people, but instead that we view them as generally terrible people based on how they drive. They're either an idiot or an asshole, as the saying goes. ('Anyone that drives faster than me is an asshole and anyone that drives slower than me is a moron' is the saying)
Reposting (with minor edits) something I wrote in another comment a few days ago:
Cars force communication that is inherently anti-social. If someone is genuinely sitting at a light too long, you honk at them. There aren’t a lot of other good options. But even a honk sounds aggressive. You could be as polite a person as can be in any other situation, but making the completely reasonable choice to honk at them makes it sound like you’re calling their mom fat.
When this happens to me, and the guy ends up pulling into the same parking lot, I tend to avoid any other contact, even if it's just walking by.
It can be different regionally too, where I'm at now everyone honks all the time so a little honk is a fine courtesy if you don't see the light change, where I moved from though it would come off as screaming at someone on the street.
But meanwhile as a cyclist if I pass someone and they give me extra space we can smile at each other and wave, or if I have to 'honk' it's a little polite bell. But also I semi-frequently have times where I think "that car could have killed me" and I continue my commute unfazed. It encourages an entirely different mindstate than car-brain.
Its sorta annoying because the car culture is so engrained. I had a job prospect in a burb that was not easy by transit but I could swing it with by doing bike and commuting on the reverse (away from downtown) train line. My brother had a folder and since its possible you can be denied bike access and I need it on the other side of the trip to I asked if I can borrow. No he was hoping to use it to teach his kid to bike but he said hey I can borrow his car. Im pretty sure he is just trying to fix my bad decision on how to do things.
This phenomenon is so well-known that Disney was making cartoons about it 75 years ago.
Yeah, that cartoon was the first thing that came to mind.
Commuter rail is hilarious for this. All the same people that were in orderly lines, holding doors open, giving seats to older or disabled people, and saying “oh you go first” for the last hour spend thirty seconds back in the “safety” of their white SUV and they’re acting like absolute animals to all the same strangers.
I had the extremely good fortune to move to a place where I don't need a car and I am always surprised by how quickly the hate returns when I get behind the wheel.
As someone who mostly bikes (no license to drive), interacting with cars on the road definitely increases my bloodpressure compared to other public space users.
I walk and bike (driving makes my anxiety go crazy), cars never properly look out for us and it makes walking and biking way more dangerous than than it should be
I call my morning drive my "twenty minute hate".
My commute is 1.5hrs one way.
I think I’m missing the joke. Are you calm for 70 minutes of your commute and hateful for 20?
My first commute was 20 minutes and I just got used to calling it that
Peeps are more civil without a 1500Kg weapon at their fingertips.
I think it's both the weapon and the isolation: you get more angry when someone else's mistake could be deadly for you, and it's so much harder to see them, so you start to assume the worst.
But there's also time where people are literal dicks. Most times I drive, at least one driver does something selfishy reckless. I'm reminded every time I drive why I hate it
The majority of human history has shown us that no, in fact, walking does not inherently make you kinder.
For the majority of human history we didn't have cars.
#thatsthejoke
I think the point being made is that having to drive everywhere makes people even less kind than they usually are, as borne out by road rage incidents
Yeah, for sure! I was being tounge in cheek, mainly for my own amusement lol.
You don't really learn how to curse until you learn how to drive.
The first time I can recall someone not my brother giving me the middle finger was my first time driving on a real road, and I wasn't even in the wrong ahah.
it's not the driving, it's the assholes on the road who drive like it's baby's 1st power wheels. when i moved from city to rural, the improvement in my mental health just from the zero traffic was unbelievable. there's like 2 good things about living in a city, and neither are remotely worth dealing with the many reasons NOT to live there
Yeah, there's little I dislike more than HAVING to drive in the city or through one. Luckily, we're working on a project that is close enough to public transportation for the time being.
I'll be sad once this one finishes because, I'll most likely need to return to car life.
So, not just the "having a 1500kg weapon", but also having to make sure that your 1500+kg weapon does not attack some other 1500+kg weapon while both are armed and are in the process of being discharged, continuously.
Yeah, that would be a stressor.
Well, at least I only have to worry about my ~15kg runaway device, not getting hit by any of those weapons.
Oh wait, I also have to worry about the fragile thing not breaking down under my own force and running me straight into one of those weapons.
Driving is stressful the entire way even if you’re not actively thinking about it. It is mentally and physically taxing and you’re on guard the entire time - or you die
There would still be a lot of hate in my heart if I had to walk through crowds everyday.
While less dangerous (honestly with how people responded to covid maybe not that much less dangerous) you still have to put up with entitled idiots that arent fit to be out in public.
Am I the only one who hate-walks? Obviously my hate is directed at drivers.
I'd say "you don't hate driving, you hate capitalism", but I guess that applies to mostly everything.
I'm not saying capitalism doesn't have a lot to answer for, but I'm pretty sure road rage has separate and distinct causes related to cars themselves, including but not limited to:
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When you're enclosed in a car you become more anonymous and may feel less accountable for your bad behavior than you would if you were exposed as a pedestrian. Conversely, other drivers are also enclosed so it becomes easier to dehumanize them.
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You're driving what's likely your most expensive piece of personal property, so you're prone to be defensive when it's threatened by other drivers' behavior.
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A car is also a very personal choice that's designed to provide the comfort of a private space, so it's easy to feel like the presence of other road users is intruding on your space.
Absolutely the opposite for me. I am a chill driver but get very frustrated when trying to walk through busy places. I still like when I can take a non-car option, though
That said, my "very frustrated" at no point ever rises to the level of the road-rage that is all too common amongst drivers