I recently spent some time driving across a good portion of this fine country and as one might expect I saw a number of maneuvers on our nation's highways that would lead one to conclude we are a nation of idiots.  Or at least a nation that has a good number of idiots.  Actually I would have more choice words for these folks.  And one of the most glaring examples I experienced occurred on I-15 between Salt Lake and Provo, which is currently under serious construction.

Like most of these incidents of idiocy, the I-15 idiocy revolved around a group of cars wanting to go faster than another group of cars.  The latter group, of which I belong, is usually attempting to drive at or near the speed limit, whereas the former group is seeking to move down the road at speeds 10, 15 or 20 miles per hour faster than the posted limit.

If you happen to be one of the former group, who in whipping passed one of those slower vehicles, sees the driver of the slower vehicle (doing the speed limit, especially in a construction zone) flip you off, you might have passed by me.  In many cases I would like to do more than just flip you off, especially when as I experienced on I-15 that day, vehicles zipping right up to my bumper, in what I can only imagine is some pathetic attempt to get me to join their speed, and once realizing that I won't, whipping aggressively into the next lane and then right in front of me as if I was being the asshat.

Let me remind everyone of those folks that cars are a deadly weapon.  Tons of metal plastic and such traveling at high speeds. In situations like an afternoon on 1-15, where all three lanes are filled with vehicles, it only takes one car to set off a chain reaction that can lead to the death and maiming of not just yourself.  You might as well be walking into a crowded room waving a loaded automatic weapon (and then getting upset with those who take issue with such a waving of a gun in a crowded room).

As I dealt with the speeding asshats in everything from semis to minivans with children on board, I was quite aware I was in Utah - one of the most conservative states in the country and, yes, the center of power of the Church of Latter Day Saints. 

This was connected in my mind with one of my favorite history teachers.  He was a conservative Mormon, with whom I disagreed on just about every issue when it came down to opinion. Yet by the time I ended his class, I had more respect for him than just about any professor before or since.  His was one of the first courses I took in college and he spent most of his modern world history course attempting to drive home the notion that one is entitled to one's opinion, but not one's own set of facts.  And something like one's religious beliefs, no matter how strongly one believes them, are, in the end from a historical analysis, an opinion.

And one of the little tidbits of insight he said that has always stuck with me was the greatest variable in traffic accidents was not the speed of traffic, but the degree of speed differential between the cars.  At the time I was taking the course, the enforcement of the 55 mph speed limit nationwide was an on-going controversy.  Proponents cited the safety issue of having a lower speed limit.

As the professor pointed out (as part of the not-entitled-to-one's-set-of-facts), people driving 75 mph was not any more dangerous than people driving 55 mph.  The problem was when the speed limit was 75 mph, one had those doing 85 mph and those doing 65 mph, as opposed to a 55 mph speed limit where the range between speeds was much lower.

So as I drove down the 1-15 corridor, attempting to drive the posted speed limit through the construction zone - 55 mph - and having people speed by - the majority of the drivers it seemed at speeds in excess of 65 mph - it was this issue of speed deferential that was coming to my mind.  If everyone accepted they weren't going to get to go 70 mph on this day and kept to the posted speed limit, we all had a greater chance of getting through it with our lives.

But apparently the law and order conservatives (and yes devout Mormons) of Utah don't care about that.  They would rather speed through a construction zone and put their children at risk of life, put my life at risk in order to save a few minutes of travel time.

I can of course write the same about the liberal areas of this country.  It would seem the one area of common ground the nation can find is that putting lives at risk in order to get where we are going a few minutes faster is more than acceptable behavior.  Believing the right of citizenship includes being an asshat on our nation's roadways is about as bipartisan as it gets.  It would seem at times to be the fundamental defining feature of what it means to be American. 

Well, in my opinion, if you want a purity test for being a liberal it would start with how sane one chooses to drive. I don't care what kind of liberal bumper stickers one has if it is on a car driving recklessly - and that means weaving and whipping through congested traffic or riding on someone's tail going down through some mountain curves or you name it.

What I want to know is where do the candidates stand on enforcing the laws of our road and the reckless behavior of our citizens.  If we are going to be getting into the cultural issues - this is the issue we need to be addressing head on.