I just came back from Canada. (I want to move there!) There are many points of comparison I can blog about between my current country of residence (USA) and my country of frequent visitation (Canada). Right now I will focus on the style of driving I've observed in the general population. (And yes, the main point of this post is to start listing all the reasons I want to move to Canada, and another thing to rant about against the U.S., so if you are an over-sensitive over-patriotic fellow American, you have been warned!)

The first time I went to Canada, years ago, I was struck by what skilled drivers Canadians are. I was on a major highway, during rush hour, and the highway was PACKED with cars moving at 100 or 110 km/hr (about 70 mph). The thing that stunned me was how packed with vehicles the highway was, and yet how quickly and smoothly traffic was moving. In comparison, a typical highway in the NYC area here, when packed with lots of vehicles, moves in a way resembling intestinal peristalsis. The cars will boom along for a while at 65 mph or so, then, all of a sudden, BRAKE LIGHTS!!! One minute booming along at 65 mph, the next moment screeching (literally) to a halt, then crawling along for a while at 10 mph... and then, 10 minutes later, everyone speeds up to 65 again. And so it keeps going in this manner, back and forth between fast speeds and slowdowns, for no apparent reason. WHY?!?! I never witnessed such a thing happening in Canada.

Over the years I've driven a lot more in Canada, and have been amazed at how polite they are. I have a long list of complaints about American drivers. I lot of their habits seem like they are simply out of rudeness or self-centeredness. I will rant about some of them here:

1. Failing to use turn signals. Changing lanes, making turns without signalling... WHY?! Is it so much effort just to tap the signal on? It seems like they simply don't care enough to inform the person behind them of their action. To me, failing to use a turn signal is an act of laziness or egotism. Canadians seem to always use their signals.

2. Tailgating. Again, WHY?! Why must there be a car stuck to my back bumper like a leech?! I can't even begin to think of an explanation for that one. This happens sometimes in Canada, but not to such a ridiculous extent.

3. Driving slowly in the left lane. The left lane is for passing! Do people not know this, or do they not care? Again, in Canada the lanes are used in a very orderly way: left for passing, right for traveling.

4. Driving with the horn. This is especially a problem in the NYC area, and causes much noise pollution. For one thing, it's dangerous. I hear honking so much that at this point I ignore it, figuring it's just some a**hole. Which means that a genuine "danger!" honk could go ignored! And secondly, it's very rude, makes for a loud stressful environment. If you're stuck in traffic, is it really necessary to make it worse by making noise? The horn will not make the traffic move! And is it really necessary to honk every single time the light turns green, as soon as it turns green? Do they think the people ahead of them at the light are blind? Argh. Again, I hadn't noticed this to be a problem in Canada.

5. Leaving high-beams on. Laser-beam headlights. I think these are illegal in Canada (thank god!!!). They are absolutely blinding. They make driving at night painful. This also goes for leaving on high-beams. Why is it necessary to leave one's highbeams on when there are streetlights lighting the road? Is it too much to ask to turn them off for oncoming traffic? Only a self-centered jerk leaves continues to leave them on without regard for how much they're blinding oncoming drivers or those directly in front of them!!

6. Merging. Either Americans don't know how to merge, or they don't care; they just want to get into their lane at any cost, screw the other drivers. In Canada: orderly merging, one car from one lane, then one car from the other, than one car from the first, etc. one by one everyone merges smoothly, without so much as a hiccup. America: whoever jumps ahead first wins! hurry, get in, who cares if it's not your turn! And thus, due to either ignorance of merging rules or that selfish "me-first" mentality (probably both), the whole merging process ALWAYS causes heavy bottlenecks. So everyone loses.

These are just a handful of the standard American driving problems that seem thankfully absent in Canada. Then there are the less-frequent, but truly ridiculous incidents. Sometimes, when I slow down for a yellow about to turn red, there is a car behind me honking like mad! When I slow down anyway (in order not to run the red, of course), the car actually swerves around me to RUN THE RED LIGHT!!! What is this about?!! What nerve?!?! That a**hole better be racing to a hospital with someone dying in the passenger seat, but I doubt that it's that important! I never saw anything even close in Canada. No road rage, no middle-finger-waving, no incessant honking.

Then there are the a**holes who do the following: you're in one lane, and you signal a lane change. So the jerk right behind you in the lane you want to be in moves up ahead specifically to prevent you from changing lanes!! Then the one behind him moves up, and so one. You often have to wait several cars before some kind soul holds back to let you in (and of course sometimes this waiting causes you to miss your turn or exit!). So why are these people so MEAN that they won't just let you in?!?! You are signalling specifically to be polite, so as not to just cut them off and jump in front of them, and yet they scorn your politeness. Canadians, on the other hand, respect your turn signals and let you change lanes with no problem!

So why is it that Canadians, who some claim are not all that different from Americans, are so polite in their driving, whereas Americans are so psychotic in their driving? My theory is that relative driving style is a reflection of inner cultural personality traits. Many Americans are used to thinking of themselves as "We're #1!" Whether it be in business, in sporting events, or anything else, Americans seem to have this need to always be the best and the first. Not that people of other countries don't like to be the best, but they are not so obsessed with it. #1 is really a cultural obsession here! And so, it translates to individual attitude, and down to individual driving style. A person who believes he is the most important one will not care about his headlights, or signaling a turn, or the noise caused by his horn, or a red light. And no way will he ever let a car in front of him out of the kindness of his heart! His destination is the most important at any cost, screw all the rest. It is the same mentality that gets Americans ahead in business. Climb up that corporate latter, doesn't matter who you trample on the way. That screw-you-I'm-first attitude is totally reflected in peoples' driving. Canada does not strike me that way; Canadians seem more concerned with being friendly, polite, orderly, and their driving reflects that cultural attitude.

And the difference is really striking. Driving around in Canada was quite relaxing. I was back LESS THAN ONE DAY, still all the way up in Maine barely in the U.S., and I already witnessed driving a**hole-dom. I looked on, amazed, as some psycho was honking like mad at the car in front of him waiting to make the left turn he was signaling. I don't get it, did this psycho expect the driver in front of them to give up on the left turn due to his honking insistence?! WHY?!?! Argh. After a couple of very pleasant weeks in Canada, this was one of several things that made me instantly sorry to be back.

Of course, for this comparison I only used 2 countries. I have observed interesting differences in a couple of other countries I've visited as well. Finnish drivers seem even more stunningly polite than Canadian ones, while Russian drivers are even more psychotic than American ones! I have not observed those cultures enough to form any theories, however. What observations have you all made about drivers in your respective countries?