Selfish attitudes are worsening tailbacks

THE motorways reveal the increase of self-centred thinking in British adults, compared to previous generations. 20% of drivers think they own the middle lane, and 5% are the middle-aged ‘boy racers’ who think they ‘belong in the fast lane’.

Both categories are too stupid to recognise the accidents which they cause for other road users, and leave behind.

If you observe the vehicle congestion at the Newport tunnels on the M4 at most hours, you will witness how it is caused by a small proportion of the drivers, changing lanes to gain an advantage of two cars, or hanging back, creating a long gap from the car in front, and then accelerating, creating larger, sporadic fits and starts in a whole mile long length of traffic.

That is what you will see, instead of steady progression of several hundred people towards a shared journey, that just a few cars, spread amongst intelligently responsible citizens, reduce the potential of the motorway to serve us all.

The self-centredness in the personality of some drivers, prevents the brain working effectively, where any rational adult could see the value of ‘convoy driving’, that all the vehicles proceed en bloc, in the same relative position, at the same settled speed in a disciplined manner, until they reach the other side of the tunnel, when they segregate once more. That needs a change in your idea of your importance.

The selfish perspective of some drivers, denies them the opportunity to learn from the facts around them, built into the fabric of society, that communal living requires communal concern and consideration, to the benefit of all, including you. If you never learnt as a child, now’s your chance.

C. N. Westerman

Mid Glamorgan