Cometh The Driving Season, Cometh The Above-Average Drivers

Why we don’t usually see competent driving on our roads

Another above-average driver demonstrates their impeccable driving skills. Image credit: The Independent

With the exception of those elderly drivers who sit bolt upright four inches from the steering wheel (which they grip with all their feeble might) peering out at the terrifying world in front of them as they proceed down the highway at twenty miles per hour, most people who slide themselves into the driver’s seat of an automobile fondly imagine themselves to be “above average” drivers.

Tish, tush, and twaddle. My dears, ’tis like saying everyone is above average height. This is not what the word average means. If you don’t comprehend such simple facts then the chances are you voted for someone like Trump, Johnson, or Le Pen; or for a cause like Brexit or banning the teaching of evolutionary theory in schools. In which case, alas, the contents of this article will be far beyond your ability to grasp and so you can tell the nice person who’s reading this aloud for you that they can spare themselves the effort. It’s time for you to go and practice fastening your Velcro shoe straps.

Now that we’re alone, dear reader, we can proceed.

Let us begin with the dilemma faced by governments around the world. On the one hand, citizens want and may even need to be able to obtain a license…