Driving has become a contest…us …against other drivers.  It’s an ugly contest.

We’re driving to town and enter the 4-lane area and immediately have to get around the person in front, speeding up and cutting them off, so they understand the imposition they have been by their thoughtless slow driving (probably they were doing the speed limit).

We are approaching an exit or lane merge and pull into that lane and then forbid anyone else from ‘cutting’ in front of us. ‘Don’t even think about it, I was here first; you’re on your own buddy! I had to wait my turn and I’m going to make sure you wait yours.’

The light is yellow, on the verge of red and we speed up to make the turn, or just flat out run the red light…who cares? ‘I waited long enough; I deserve to get through this light even if you have to wait.’

‘How dare you pull out in front of me (even though I was a quarter of a mile back and you had plenty of time)…just for that I’m going to ride on your tail and stay there to teach you a lesson!’

This is horrible! Yet we encounter these drivers each day. Some of them are us, and some of them are the others.

Accidents, pile-ups, and debris all along the way, because somebody wasn’t thinking.

What if we looked at the whole network of drivers and cars on the roads a different way? What if we all saw ourselves as members of a team with the goal to help each one get to where they’re going?

Currently  it’s high football tide and every person on the team is pulling together with a single directive of helping each player do their best, shielding them when necessary, clearing the way, letting them through.

What if we stopped seeing other drivers as a potential threat to our maneuverability?

What if…we saw other drivers as people going to work (yes, some  should have left a few minutes earlier)… saw them as a fellow parent trying to take the kids to school or the daycare… saw them as a concerned relative rushing to the hospital… saw them as someone who just left after a family fued.

What if we saw them as ‘us’ and decided to help them get to their destination.

So we… decide to let them go in front of us…decide to pull back so they can make the turn… decide to smile and give them some distance…. decide to do everything we can as a good courteous driver so they can reach their destination safely.

What if we ‘befriended’ fellow drivers causing them to befriend their fellow drivers- continually paying it forward until instead of a 50 car pile-up, we have an avalanche of goodwill on display in our roadways.

What if…?

Could it start with me?