It’s the beginning of the Labour Day weekend and along with the many families getting ready for the first day of school, I’m sure that there are just as many people planning on getting out of the city for the next few days; myself included.
As soon as the clock strikes 4pm, I’m planning on dashing out of the office, getting into my car and onto the road for a solid 4 hour drive from Toronto to Ottawa. In an ideal world, it should take about 4 to 4.5 hours. However, it will realistically take longer. It once took 7 hours over the Thanksgiving holidays!
I find that there is a very distinct point during this trip at which Toronto drivers seem to disappear and a calmer, less erattic driver remains on the road. There are a couple of relatively uneventful hours and then you begin to encounter Ottawa traffic. It may sound odd to notice the traffic personalities of different cities, but I really believe that each city has its own traffic personality.
I have been driving in Toronto for about 3 years now and I find myself taking transit more and more. To travel 100 meters in 20 minutes, consistently get cut off by people thinking that getting one car ahead will let them get anywhere faster and to listen to the car behind me lean on the horn because I’m waiting for pedestrians to cross the street is just not worth the time or effort to drive.
I often wonder what it is that makes people so angry. Are they really in such a hurry that it’s worth it to encounter at least a couple of near death experiences before arrivingat their destination? Maybe not. But apparently it’s worth creeping into the intersection up to the car in front of them on a red light and blocking half the intersection. Didn’t you know that will save you 10 seconds?!
I know that Toronto traffic is tame compared to many other cities in the world and so I really shouldn’t be complaining. I’ve experienced traffic in major cities such as New York, Jakarta and Rome. But just because you’re better at something than someone else, doesn’t mean that what you are doing is good.
Toronto’s traffic issues may be related to volume. It’s frustrating to sit bumper to bumper for more than half an hour then have to let someone else merge in front of you. I haven’t even mentioned the constant construction in the city, nor the cyclists that drivers share the road with.
So perhaps the question isn’t what makes people so angry before they get in their cars. It may very well be that being in the car is what makes people so angry. What a vicious circle and one with no end in sight.
All I can hope for is that people take it easy tonight. All I can actually control is my own reaction to others on the road and to remain cautious for my own safety.
I hear that Ottawa traffic is no longer as calm as I remember. But then again, it’s all about perception. How do you perceive your city’s traffic personality?
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