Into the great wide open
I read an article on Slashdot awhile back citing a study that "found a link between road rage and the number of personalized items on or in people's vehicles."
"The number of territory markers predicted road rage better than vehicle value, condition, or any of the things that we normally associate with aggressive driving,' says Szlemko. What's more, only the number of bumper stickers, and not their content, predicted road rage… Szlemko suggests that this territoriality may encourage road rage because drivers are simultaneously in a private space (their car) and a public one (the road). 'We think they are forgetting that the public road is not theirs, and are exhibiting territorial behavior that normally would only be acceptable in personal space,' the researcher says. (emphasis mine)
Contrast this with interactions along the bike path. People are generally friendly and courteous. They'll wave at each other and say hello as they pass. They will move aside to let someone going faster than them pass. I wonder how much of this is related to way people perceive the bike trail as a public place. Whether you're on a bike, inline skates, or walking/jogging, you're out in the open. There is no confusion about whose space is whose. Everybody's got to share. Everyone has to play nice.
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