How everyone around you is going to be a little bit more of an asshole on the roads Meghbartma Gautam Follow Sep 12, 2014 · 2 min read

I love Uber and Lyft. They make up my home screen. No well I lied, Uber does, Lyft is on screen 2. But is it just me or does the proliferation of these services cause more road rage than is necessary in our society?

We know cabs and black cars drive like crazy. I mean insanely crazy. Drop the pin to San Francisco and this behavior is amplified. Pedestrians almost getting pancaked, crossings blatantly disobeyed, cyclists worshiping all different types of Gods before heading out — the roads are a dystopian present that for some reason seems to be getting worse.

Take Uber and Lyft. Friendly car sharing services. Dual ratings to engender trust and harmony. Checks and balances to keep everyone happy (Except the incumbents, fuck the incumbents). Now the “driver” in case of Uber (or your new found best friend that you had no idea existed in case of Lyft) is incentivized to finish up his ride, offer you gum and a bottle of water and move on to the next guy in need of a ferry across town. You are incentivized to small-talk, and basically reach your destination in one piece. You know how cabs drive right? Like assholes on the run from a Quixotic Megatron. Every other ride, I see a guy making quick turns, un-signaled advances and generally advancing the overall aggregate dick-ishness on the road. We are in the midst of a revolution where more people are driving like cab drivers. And that cannot be good for society or your sanity on the road. Our roads are being disrupted — in multiple dimensions — sound, sight, motion.

I am sure ratings and genuine concern at knee jerk acceleration can claim to stop this but I am pretty sure we cannot. Once you have someone on the road for the better part of their living, they will think they know better. Let this be an appeal. Let me attempt to do what Jelly so emphatically did not — bring attention to empathy. It is important. No one likes traffic and until we are in a self driving utopia, please — slow down and follow the rules. Even if there is a Giants game on.