We were in the UK for Christmas and it served to remind me the different styles of drivers I see all over the world. Whilst I still maintain that UK drivers are as bad as it gets, at least there's an element of predictable aggression about it. That's what you need when you're driving - predictability. Here in Utah people are so vague and out of it when they're driving that I'm amazed any of them realise they're in a car. Just when you think you've got it nailed down, you find an all-new idiot maneuver that takes you by surprise. Not so much in England any more. Even now, 9 years after leaving, I can predict what 75% of drivers will do long before they do it - as can most UK drivers. The other 25% is the "learning experience" that we all undergo every morning when we get into a car or step on to a motorbike. In Utah it's the opposite - I can barely predict what 10% of these fools will do on any given day, and that I suspect is why they're such dangerous drivers. They're properly random, and in an organised, flowing system like traffic on a road, randomness is the pebble in the stream that causes accidents.
Would I rather drive in England or Utah? Neither. I'd rather drive in Holland where the aggressiveness and predictability are both so high that everyone is almost telepathically connected to everyone else. There, when someone fits their car into the half-car-gap in front of you, it's not a surprise and it's nothing to get bent out of shape about because in a moment's time, they'll be gone again - off in another lane. The most organised chaos I've ever seen? Singapore.
The most disorganised chaos? Malta.
Be predictable, people. It really helps.
