Why is everyone bad at driving? We asked the experts

Q: Why is everyone bad at driving? — Brett G., Tacoma

A: Here it is, folks: The Holy Grail of Traffic Q&A questions.

Every last one of us has been cut off, stuck at a light, hung out to dry on a zipper merge or worse, and we’ve asked it. (Some of us have added some well-placed profanity, based on the urgency of the situation and the egregiousness of the surrounding idiocy.)

So I sought out an unsuspecting panel of local law enforcement officials and put the question to them, without giving them any time to prepare. Here’s what they said (cleaned up with the most delicate of touches):

Johnna Batiste, Washington State Patrol spokeswoman:

(Laughing)

“That is a loaded question!”

“Why is everybody bad at driving? I don’t think that everybody is bad at driving, but I think that it’s one of those things that most of us do on a constant, regular basis, and so we get lackadaisical about it, which then transitions into bad driving, pretty much because people aren’t paying attention.”

Loretta Cool, Tacoma police spokeswoman:

“I’m assuming because everybody does not work on their practical skills like they should.”

Chris Lawler, Lakewood police spokesman:

“You know what I think it is, honestly? It’s the technological devices in the cars. There’s too much going on in the car.

“I was at a car show probably a couple weekends ago and I was looking at one of those ’60-something cars, and there was no distractions in that car. You enjoy driving, and you pay attention.

“Now, I’m in an unmarked police car, I see a lot of people just staring at their devices, and I think that makes you a worse driver than you would be if you were paying attention. I think that contributes greatly to it.

“Otherwise, I don’t know if we’re neglecting people in teaching people how to drive, but I think that hasn’t changed too much. For me, it’s the devices in the cars.”

Kelly Busey, Gig Harbor Police Chief:

(More laughing)

“Why is everyone so bad at driving? Because they were playing video games when their parents were driving them to soccer practice growing up instead of paying attention. That’s the best I’ve got.”

Ed Troyer, Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman:

“I would say that everybody is bad at driving because they all want to get there first.

“Once people are inside their cars, they feel really empowered, just like a keyboard warrior behind a keyboard when they’re typing bad messages on social media — when you contact them directly, they become a lot nicer.

“When they’re secure in their car, they want to be there first — they don’t want anybody to get ahead of them, they don’t want people to cut them off because they think the one car length is going to cause them delay. It’s crazy.

“All the people that I’ve stopped, when they are driving really, really bad, get nice really quick, and they usually admit that they were driving bad. It’s part of the problem, but it’s not going to correct the problem because that’s just the way we’ve become.”

Scott Engle, Puyallup Police Chief:

“I actually think that’s a matter of opinion. Some people are actually great drivers in their own regard; others are definitely bad drivers. I think, in today’s world, we have a lot of distractions when we’re in the car, which causes us to be bad drivers. If we were just to focus on driving, turn up the tunes and enjoy the drive, everybody would be doing a lot better.”

***

Here’s my two cents.

You’ll get there 10 seconds slower if you let that person zipper merge in front of you, but the person in front of you and the people behind you will all get home a little faster.

Whatever text message you want to read on your phone will still be there when you get to your destination.

If you pay attention to the road, stay off your phone and aren’t a jerk to others, you can be part of the solution.

I’m going to leave you all with the most sage driving advice I have found, from the Revised Code of Washington, Title 46, Chapter 61, Section 100:

“Upon all roadways of sufficient width a vehicle shall be driven upon the right half of the roadway ...”

Safe driving!

This story was originally published October 21, 2018 at 12:00 AM.