I'm always looking for new ways the social contract is breaking down. It's easy to get caught up in internet drama but every now and then I like to touch grass and see what the normies are doing. One thing I've noticed is how aggressively people drive now.
This past weekend I had my whole family in the car and a Dodge hatchback of all things shoots past us at over 100 miles per hour. This was in the middle of town, not a highway. We pull up next to the dude at the next red light (because that always seems to happen) and he guns it again, going into the opposing lane of traffic to pass everyone and shoot down the road again.
I feel like I see this kind of thing more and more now. People going 60+ in residential areas and blasting through school zones. Has anyone else experienced this? Do you think it's indicative of anything or am I just an autist?
Actually, it's really funny you mention this. I walk around my neighborhood a lot for PokemonGo, and we have a road that goes from 35 to 25 into a commercial/ residential-ish area, but most people drive 40+ on it until that sign. I was walking past this road and saw someone in a Tesla (still popular in this area despite being Portland) absolutely gunning it, easily 50+, and someone pulled out in front of him with more than enough time to slow down. The driver blared his horn and rode the bumper of the other guy the whole way to the grocery store about 500 feet after the 25 MPH sign, then blared his horn again and raced up to the red light where I lost sight of him.
I have also witnessed generally very aggressive driving ticking up anecdotally, from people peeling out at stoplights, cutting others off, jumping green lights while traffic is still flowing, blowing stop signs, stopping overtop of crosswalks basically into the intersection, and the like. All of this seems very excessive for an area that I have lived in for several years now, and have had a good deal of experience with the traffic. I think I first noticed it getting particularly bad back in March. It's not every day, but the sheer level of it when I do witness it is striking.