This year I decided that instead of making my regular 3 hours plane trip towards home for Christmas, I will instead join some friends for a road trip through the old continent. I did that with the clear understanding it will take 3 days - of which the majority would be spent into the confined space of a car. Yes, it does seem counter-intuitive since:

• it doesn’t get you from point A to point B that fast
• it’s holiday season
• there are many cars on the highways
• the weather conditions can be difficult to drive in
• etc.

All of these were dismissed in my mind, since I wanted to take advantage of the situation and do a trip like that. I just love to travel. Of course, I put on the pink glasses a bit thinking it is just going to be a long drive with the occasional congestion on the highway. In reality, we were faced with some crazy rush-hours, 5 hours snail movement at a given border and - most prominently - exceptionally awful drivers on their way towards the Balkans and outside Europe. Here we come to the essence of my post - I would like to share with you my thoughts on the way driving culture displays social norms and mental clashes.

Before I begin, I’d like to say that I am from the Balkans and I know the driving culture quite well. That is not what surprised me though. Also, to be frank, I have learned through experience that all Europeans drive poorly in their own respective ways. My astonishment came from the fact that there are so many people that refuse to acknowledge that a) there are other people besides them on the road and b) rules are in full effect even if there is nobody to enforce them.

I do not know what it means to have poor upbringing. I have been lucky to have a loving family and haven’t felt the hardships of estranged parents, skewed understanding of reality or other problems that ruin a home. On the European highways this Christmas, however, I learned a valid lesson - not all of us are that lucky. Then again it might not be only about family. Environment/culture plays a big role in the way a character has been formed. Year after year it has stricken me how different drivers interpret rules on the road in completely different way. To the extent that at a given point in time it is hard to understand how they can share the same road as you.

“These people are aggressive and reckless” - was the most frequent thought that went through my mind. It is easy for someone with a tiny bit of self-preservation instinct to recognize that the distance between two cars travelling with about 150 km/h in the leftmost lane on the highway during the winter is essential. It is necessary because it gives the driver time to react and break in case of emergency. Yet there are certain people driving powerful old german cars, filled up to the top with everything that they possess, that are putting themselves, their families and others on the road in danger. All of this just to get to their destination faster.

What I see generally missing when it comes to people relating to one another is the so-called “common sense”. It is easy to hide behind the crowd or say that “everybody does it”. Taking responsibility for your actions and thinking how they affect others - that is hard. Extrapolating this a step further - why do people do things that they would not like done to them? There is always a person that is more extreme than you in what you do - be that driving unsafe or throwing firecrackers on the street with people around on New Year. Again - it takes deliberate thought about the well-being of others than your immediate self.

The fight with the reckless and dangerous behavior is one is always hard to start and extremely hard to win. Yet, as educated and moral human beings we need to do it. Otherwise, we risk one of two paths. One is the slow and methodical divergence of our moral compass until we are nothing but limbic mind - reactions upon reactions. The other path is that of ignorance and seclusion - becoming immersed in ourselves, our jobs, our families, our activities until we don’t feel threatened anymore. It is a personal choice … for now.