Thought of the Day 12.11.09

This morning, I finally figured out why it’s so irritating when other drivers change speeds on me. It’s because they’ve lied to me. See, driving is essentially a long series of short-term interactions with other drivers which requires us to predict their behavior in the near future and make our own moves accordingly.

Thus, when someone goes 60 on the highway, he is sending a message which says, “I will continue driving 60 unless I have to brake suddenly.” But when I pass him at the speed limit and he accelerates to 65, he is breaking the promise his prior driving had made. Being lied to in this way is extremely frustrating, especially since I’ve accommodated myself to the false information he was pedaling (sorry).

Loving our neighbor in driving means keeping them safe at the very least and helping them enjoy it at the very best. Achieving the predictability required by both goals entails a moral duty to send other drivers as much true information about our intentions as possible. This, by the way, should also explain why it is so patently immoral not to use turn signals properly.