There’s a problem with theway we drive. And I’m not making a metaphor for anything. It’s hardly something thatusually occupies my mind. Yet, I often see it on the road: reckless driving forno apparent reason. Perhaps my usual, lack of reaction is indicative of howaccustomed we’ve become to such stupidity. Or, perhaps we are even guilty ofit. It was brought to theforefront of my thoughts this week when I heard an old friend was killed in acar accident – a single-car car accident. It was his fault; there was no way tomisplace the blame. And it was an accident that he could have chosen to avoid.In fact, I hesitate to even call such preventable occurrences “accidents.” It was the direct andultimate manifestation of very real and very poor judgment. It can take a life- just like that.   But again, we see this allthe time. I actually found myselflaughing in the driver’s seat one day when a middle aged man – not a teenager –passed me in a strict no passing zone – just before the crest of a hill andfifty feet before a traffic light glowing red. And one of my recurring favoritesis the wild burst of speed when a light turns green – after just watching thenext light simultaneously turn red. Better hurry up to stop again.  A different occurrence on theinterstate left me shaking my head.  A car entered from theon-ramp and immediately shot over to the far left of the three available lanes.Well, that’s fine – a little aggressive but fine. I supposed the driver had a longdistance to cover and wanted to establish a nice cruising speed. But thatwasn’t the case. As we approached the next exit, he cut across both occupiedlanes of traffic with little more than a full car length separating him fromthe front of my car and the car beside me - then exited the highway.  What really irritates meabout this particular situation – and what I suspect a lot of impulsive driversfail to see – is the diminishing effect speed has on driving time as a distancebecomes shorter. If a motorist is only going to cover a five mile stretch ofinterstate, the actual time he or she saves by going 80 mph, for example,instead of 65 mph is probably not worth the heightened risk. Conversely, if amotorist is driving all day, even a modest 5 mph increase can produce a notablebenefit.       I could go on for the rest ofthis page about reckless decisions that I’ve witnessed – and I’ve only beendriving a fraction of the years that some readers have been driving. We’ve allseen this sort of behavior. Furthermore, most of us recognize it for what it is– recklessness.   So, why do we do it? I’ve heard many times that anautomobile can be a deadly weapon. But, if that reasoning is not enough tocause caution, remember that you’re sitting inside the bullet.