Driving is an IQ Test

A Simple IQ Test: Want to gauge someone’s intelligence? Watch him drive. Does he tailgate?, fender swipe when passing?, change lanes without signaling?, expect one to hit the brakes for him when he’s using a freeway onramp?, speed to each light, only to slam on the brakes? Do any of those things with children along for the ride? These things are a good indicator that the driver is on the shallow end of the bell curve. And that applies even if not especially to those affluent motorists who have expensive SUV’s and think they are Mario Andretti. Driving requires all the aspects of intelligence. One has to anticipate the consequences of actions, the effectiveness and drawbacks of various strategies, and the efficiency of methods. One has to learn, and adjust one’s actions according to what one learns. I’ve often wanted a package of bumber stickers that say, “if you can read this, you’re not as swift as you think.” Or – to stick on the cars of motoring morons: “Driving is an IQ test. You failed.” An old saying: “The first law of driving is getting there.” With the current rule of culture, “use your heart not your head” one suspects that fewer and fewer people are actually getting there at all.