Jay Evensen
  • Front Page
  • Opinions
  • Second Thoughts
  • Portfolio
  • Awards
  • About

Why the pandemic has made drivers lose their minds

1/29/2021

0 Comments

 
A few days ago, in the early hours along I-15 near Lehi, two pickup trucks began swerving at each other amid morning commuter traffic. Five men were in one truck, while the driver was alone in the other.
Regardless of what started the confrontation, the two cars became increasingly aggressive toward each other as other drivers tried to move out of the way. By the time it ended, two people were hospitalized with gunshot wounds and the truck with the lone driver had crashed into a concrete barrier, according to the Deseret News.
It was, in other words, just another day on pandemic highways. Some of you — much more than the normal easy-to-ignore fringe, it turns out — are not happy campers since the Coronavirus began changing things.
COVID-19 certainly didn’t bring on the advent of road rage, reckless driving and other highway ills. Those things likely rolled off Henry Ford’s assembly line along with the first Model T. But it has made them far worse. At least, it’s hard to not make that connection.
The elusive question is, why? The next question is, will we return to a calmer mode once the pandemic ends? 
But first, some facts. In the past 10 months or so, people have been driving a lot less and dying a lot more in accidents. They also tend to be more angry behind the wheel than they used to be.
It’s happening all across the United States, and in Utah, as well. A chart published by the Utah Department of Transportation shows a dramatic decrease in combined vehicle miles traveled by state residents in 2020, from about 32.9 billion miles in 2019 to about 26.3 billion in 2020. But the rate of fatal accidents per 100 miles took a dramatic jump upward, from 0.75 in 2019 to 0.98 in 2020. This, despite years of declining fatality rates.
That is “just shocking,” Highway Patrol Lt. Nick Street told me, especially considering how roadways were less congested than normal. He added that the UHP recorded 31 incidents of either attempted assault or the threatened use of a deadly weapon in association with road rage during 2020, compared with 16 the year before.
Street also said the UHP issued 5,139 citations in 2020 for people driving over 100 mph, compared to 3,773 in 2019.
In an open letter to drivers this month, the National  Highway Traffic Safety Administration cited a report showing a 22% increase in the median speed of drivers in selected metropolitan areas, as well as that 65% of drivers who end up in trauma centers after serious accidents tested positive for drugs or alcohol during 2020. In April alone, the letter said, the number of people ejected from vehicles during crashes was double the average, showing that people aren’t buckling up.
“Many of us are under stress — and understandably so,” the letter said. 
But is that really an excuse? Are we so upset by people telling us to wear masks and stay six feet apart that we need to imitate NASCAR to blow off steam? Are hand-sanitizer fumes and cramped home offices inducing us to remove seat belts and approach daily chores like an invading army?
Some experts say the pandemic has given us an “empathy deficit.” Writing in Scientific American, Northeastern University psychology professor emeritus Judith Hall and Duke University professor emeritus of psychology and neuroscience Mark Leary write that people naturally want others to see and understand the pain they are enduring. 
“But opportunities to give and receive empathy feel less than adequate these days: decreased social interaction, online get-togethers, air hugs and masked conversations are not quite up to the task—and people are often so preoccupied with their own struggles that they aren’t as attuned to other people’s problems as they otherwise might be.”
On top of that, “everyone is confronted with people who seem indifferent.” 
I imagine this is true whether you’re a mask wearer who laments that others won’t wear one, or someone who won’t wear a mask and can’t stand those who do. 
Writing for kevinmd.com, Dr. Cristina Carballo-Perelman, MD, cites “evidence suggesting an increase in an ‘everyone for themselves’ attitude, which negatively impacts the health and wellbeing of others.”
Good explanations. Yet, somehow, I can’t imagine people who readily resort to a gun on the highway as being upset with too many Zoom meetings. Nor do they seem the kind who, absent Covid in the air, would be attuned to other people’s troubles.
They may, however, be dealing with other types of stresses and dysfunction brought on by it all. 
Most people, thank goodness, won’t give in to fleeting urges toward violence or other bad behavior. But a buildup in general stress levels may trigger those who do have trouble keeping things inside.
The answer to the other question — will we return to normal driving patterns when this is over? — is anybody’s guess. 
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Search this site


    Like what you read here?

      Please subscribe below, and we'll let you know when there is a new opinion.

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Picture

    The author

    Jay Evensen is the Senior Editorial Columnist of the Deseret News. He has nearly 40 years experience as a reporter, editor and editorial writer in Oklahoma, New York City, Las Vegas and Salt Lake City. He also has been an adjunct journalism professor at Brigham Young and Weber State universities.

    Archives

    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012

    Categories

    All
    Campaign 2012
    Congress
    Crime
    Culture
    Iran
    Oil And Gas
    Poverty
    Steroids
    Taxes
    Utah
    Washington
    World Events
    World Events

    Links

    Deseret News
    Newslink
    Marianne Evensen's blog

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.