I just got back from a quick trip to Florida for my eldest niece’s 16th birthday. The drive down was decent, but the drive back was disgusting. There are too many people on our highways who simply do not understand the basics of how to drive. And, if you think about it, how can we blame them?
In this country, all it takes to drive is to pass a trivial driving test and a written exam. We make very little effort to actually train people to drive. Most everyone learns to drive from their parents - who are probably horrible drivers themselves. And that training, such as it is, probably takes place mostly in a parking lot.
Proper lane-changing, use of turn signals, the passing lane, yielding right-of-way (and NOT yielding right of way), awareness of traffic all around you. People do not learn these things. People do not learn to actively drive - they passively drive.
How about we spend some of that lottery money towards educating our drivers? How about a real driving test that must be passed every 5 years, and every 2 years for those over the age of 65? It’s not just about driving efficiency as our roads become more and more congested. It’s about safety.