The difference

The United States. Where the cars are fast, engines are big, and the roads are filled with individualists driving big trucks so they can all be different and more macho (or more safe) than the next guy. Where huge V-8 and V-6 engines sit in traffic and their drivers get frustrated and wonder why the government doesn't fix the roads. Where sewer gratings are put in the path of cars and were once designed to trap bicycle wheels.

England. Where the cars quite often have well under 100 horsepower and tiny little engines, and the roads are moderately strewn with polite folk driving "minicars." Where there's not that much traffic, and everyone can drive a five-speed and take a bus wherever they want to go. Where a train system with many thriving operators permeates the land, supplemented by well- designed bus systems and a system of smoothly paved four-lane (counting both directions) highways.

You can drive in England for ten days and not encounter a single pothole or traffic jam.

 You can drive in England for ten days and encounter two rude drivers overall - and see only 18 "light trucks," including both SUVs and pickups.

 The US is littered with traffic lights, where there is a good chance you'll have to stop. England is littered with roundabouts, or circles, where you slow down, twist, and speed up again. People yield at roundabouts, making them quite safe.

 In New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, people get offended when people try to pass them. It's a matter of pride, of masculinity, of something (because women, as well as men, are offended). They fight back. They speed up. People swerve to stop others from passing. Twice in one day, I encountered Yukons whose drivers, on seeing my lane-change signal, suddenly decided to swing around and pass on the side I was moving to, even after I started to move. Yielding must be considered a sign of weakness.

 The opposite experience is true in England. People happily yield, even when they're speeding along quite quickly. A simple two lane road can be a major highway. In fact, it's far from unusual to see drivers in minicars going at 100 mph. And why not? The police seem to believe that there are crimes more important than speeding (unlike the American police, who can apparently think of nothing more heinous!), and, because people leave sufficient room and yield when needed, high speeds are much safer. The quality of the roads and signs also helps.

 The average motorway driver seems to speed along at 80 mph. In most parts of the US, this speed is fairly rare. Most people cruise at between 60 and 70 mph; even where the speed limit is 65, the average speed seems to be under 75. And how many do 80 on a two-lane road?

What's going on? Are we Americans missing something here?

 

The reasons

We Americans are great individualists. We put the individual ahead of everything. That's why we all have cars - mass transit is so collective. It just smacks of communism or socialism. Rich and poor riding alike on the same bus or train car? Makes some people shudder.

We think we're quite cool, with our "in-your-face attitude." Yet, do we really like things in our faces? Is attitude really such a good thing? Would you rather spend the evening with Johnny Carson or with Howard Cosell? (How about Bob Costas or Howard Stern?)

 The English get by much better with their complex rules of society. Put briefly, their system can be described as "be nice." With the exception of some pockets of society, and the odd soccer match, they seem to do quite well at being polite and considerate. That makes life in England much more relaxing and, in many ways, more rewarding. It also makes it safer, because few people are shot in the road for failure to yield (or for being able to pass!).

It's far easier to drive in England because of this politeness, and because of the extensive mass transit system. Mass transit is very good for drivers, because it takes cars off the road, which means much less traffic. It is also good for the country as a whole, because the poor are not burdened down with the need to have a car before they can have a job; because anyone can live without a car, so people who do not like to drive do not have to; and because there is much less pollution. Those who would depend on mass transit anyway find a more convenient, flexible system, with much better service.

 The quality of driving is also helped by the type of car people drive. More minis fit on the road than SUVs. A Lincoln Navigator is about twice the size of a Fiat Punto, and not any more fun to drive. For most people, actually, a Fiat Punto or Opel Corsa is quite enough car. Americans generally disagree with statements like this because they have never tried them.

 Many parents immediately buy big vans or trucks because they think they need the room. Every now and then, they might; but they can also borrow or rent a truck on those occassions, rare as they are. In the 1970s and before, families had simple sedans and, often, station wagons. My own family had a compact car when I was growing up - a sedan, not a wagon. One of my friends has a Ford Escort with two doors for a family of four, and he's never had a problem (well, aside from the problems people usually have with Escorts, namely, new engines and transmissions and brakes and such).

Today, though, people think they need a Chevy Yukon for a family of three. It just isn't so. Nor are you doing them a favor by buying a big truck. They'll have to live in the future, but thanks to many of us, their future will have much less gasoline, more air pollution, and quite likely more violent weather and a shortage of low-lying lands that are still above water.

It's much easier to drive with cars your own size. You can easily see around the Punto, Escort, or Civic in front of you. (Part of the point of Yukons, Explorers, and the like, I suspect, is that you can be obnoxious to other people just by driving them. Is that really something we want to value? If you're one of those people, ask yourself: is that the Christian or Jewish (or Muslim or...you get the idea.) ideal?

 Sometimes, I suspect that the English roads are high quality not just because of the low traffic and mass transit system, but also because the average weight of English cars seems to be just over 2,000 lb. American cars seem to hover at 3,000 lb, with minivans and light trucks weighing in at more like 4,000 lb.

 We have a lot to learn from England. With far fewer national resources, they have a far superior road and mass transit system, and a far better driving experience. We can get there, but not by continuing to short-change mass transit, reward big, wasteful engines, buy unnecessary big trucks, and value aggression, hostility, and rudeness.