Having more gentlemen in traffic is a noble achievement to work towards. Both men and woman can learn to become this in everyday life travelling to different places. It is great for our society in its entirety to achieve friendly, gentle driving and being kind to your fellow drivers. It is even better for yourself to be an enjoyable driver for the people around you. For the people you know and even the ones that are unfamiliar for you. Stopping for an elder couple to be able to cross the road safely, is a good thing for society but also for yourself. You will feel great doing it and you make sure that the society starts to think about elderly. You will open the world for your parents at an older age.
It may not look a diserable goal to help others in traffic, to let people in front of you. But it is the overall feeling that trumps those short moments of worse placement. It is easy to focus on yourself and the fastest route to reach your destination, despite the needs of the people around you. It’s way more difficult to find the fastest route as possible without displeasing the ones around you. Cutting in line is never ok, using the highway instead of the smaller routes is general wisdom.
A gentleman is one who puts more into the world than he takes out. – George Bernard Shaw
Although becoming a gentleman in traffic is desirable, you should not push it too far. Like with anything, going too far is rarely a good thing. There are some people out there who are overly friendly. This is a driver that remains friendly in every situation and pushes this to it’s limit. For example. Having two full lanes of cars waiting at a red light with a parking lot a couple meters before reaching the light. The light turns green and everyone starts and accelerates. All of a sudden before you notice it the car in front of you completely stops, while the light is green, because someone approaches the exit of the parking lot. This can either end in a accident or a near accident caused by a driver wanting to be too friendly to everyone.
Be gentle in your interaction with fellow drivers, but don’t go to the extreme to please others. Consider the health and patience of the drivers around you. When waiting at a stoplight it is ok to let a driver enter in front of you. But don’t let a bunch of drivers go in front of you. The people waiting behind you also deserve the chance to continue on their path in a reasonable amount of time. The same goes for switching between lanes. When you are surpassed the driver in front of you go back to the right lane. Don’t be the one who remains on the left lane driving the speed limit. There are always people who want to drive harder. Not speeding yourself is very great, but it doesn’t mean you should stop other people from doing it. This way you only create more road rage and dangerous situations.
Be polite, gentle, and keep your head cool at all times. Joining in on road rage is never a good idea. Be considerate for your fellow drivers and constantly attempt to improve your driving skills.