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The appeal of México is immediate. Whether it is the long, warm sandy beaches of Puerto Vallarta with its marvelous nightlife and eco-jungle tours, or whether it's the mountain life of México's highlands with stable year-round temperatures and provincial conservatism, México is an appealing place. More than one or two couples have come for a vacation and have ended up buying property on an impulse. This happens more than you would think. When we came for a Spanish study vacation one of the many things that caught our immediate attention was the lack of tension in the environment. You know exactly what I mean if you are an American. There was not the wild-eyed sense of stress that seems these days to dominate America. We didn't see the same stresses causing the prevailing rage that causes such havoc on American streets. Do not misunderstand me here. I've written of this in past books and articles and get such rancor filled e-mails from my fellow Americans who think that I consumed with bitterness against America. I am not. I am neither bitter nor angry. One of the reasons why I am not either of those things is because I live in a country in which these negative and life-wasting emotions are replaced by a different worldview and it is, thank God, contagious. Whatever the cause, let's face it: There is an attitude of rage in America that dominates our lives. You cannot go the supermarket, the mall, or drive down the street without seeing it or being a victim or perpetrator of it. My purpose mentioning this is not to harangue about the faults of America. I've left the United States and no longer living there have, in a real sense, forfeited the right to complain and gripe about the country of my birth. All I am doing is making an observation. I am saying that one of the most attractive things about where we live, in the center of México, is the lack of public rage that once made us too terrified to leave the confines of our home in America. Road Rage "As Americans spend more time in their cars, racing to and from work, navigating suburbia and fuming in sprawl-induced gridlock, incidences of aggressive driving, or "road rage" have drastically increased. Last year the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration declared road rage the most pressing traffic safety problem facing America today." Road Rage is defined as, "…Road rage is defined as an incident in which "an angry or impatient motorist or passenger intentionally injures or kills another motorist, passenger, or pedestrian, or attempts or threatens to injure or kill another motorist, passenger or pedestrian." In this sense, road rage incidents can be distinguished from other traffic incidents by their willful and criminal nature. They are serious crimes that just happen to occur within the roadway environment." My purpose being to observe and report, I will not draw any sort of conclusion as to why Road Rage is so prevalent on America's roadways. The simple fact that it is and it is a huge problem. It being the most pressing traffic safety problem facing American today is not, and get this, the result of alcohol or drugs. Only one quarter of the Road Rage incidents are because of intoxicants. More than 75% of the incidents are cases where Americans refuse to control their anger. Do you think there is a lesson in that statement about Americans? Even under "moderately car congested" highway and street conditions, Americans cannot control their tempers. My wife and I were victims of a Road Rage incident in Kansas City some years ago where we believed this guy was going to kill us. We were driving home at night from the movies. It had started raining, the streets were slick, and the water-covered asphalt was deceptive. I didn't see that I was in a left-turn lane and a street divider was coming up fast. I thought I was going straight. I had to slam on my brakes to keep from colliding with the divider. This young man, behind me, had to slam on his brakes to keep from rear-ending me. Everyone was fine, no one was hurt, and I thought that was it. This guy, in his gigantic truck, chased us in our little Metro for blocks trying to crash into the driver's side of the car and run us off the road. You have thought that he should have collided in the rear-ender and finish us off then. But instead, he chased us trying to kill us after the fact. Like a crazed beast bent on completing the killing of his hapless prey, he chased us for blocks until finally giving up. Now, why someone would do that, and according to the study, I've quoted, only one quarter does it because of intoxicants, is not my call here. I have opinions for sure, but that is not the point of this book. The point is that where I live in México, I have yet to see or hear of some maniac chasing down someone with their car and killing them because of their irrational and psychotic anger. Yet, in America, it is, "…the most pressing traffic safety problem facing America today." I cannot begin to convey what a relief it is not to have to deal with this rage syndrome that seems to control so much of American life today. Not only do we not drive anymore, but also it is not even necessary to own a car here. However, I watch the news in México, and road rage seems to be absent from the Mexican scene. If it happens, it does not happen the areas in which we've lived.
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