What's the Hurry?

 

What’s the Hurry?

Note to readers: I was unsure whether or not to publish this essay because it focused so heavily upon automobiles and speed, when the topic of hurrying is so much broader than streets and highways. Then, about two weeks ago, a 70 year old man was killed by a hit and run driver on Del Mar Heights Road, about two blocks from our home. Del Mar Heights Road is a four-lane city street with a posted speed limit of 40 mph.  Drivers think nothing of 50-60 mph on the stretch from I-5 toward the ocean, which is where the hit and run occurred. I recognize being "in a hurry" and being a "hit and run" driver are like oil and water as topics, but the crime still bothers me so I decided to post these thoughts after all.

 

Despite our reputations for being “laid back”, most everyone in California seems to be in a great hurry scurrying to and fro, emphasizing quantity over quality and quickness over thoroughness.  We want to move quickly to finish whatever we are doing*—even if we thoroughly enjoy the doing—in order to get on to the next activity, which we also will hurry through. Nowhere is this behavior more evident than when we mount our steeds of steel (Ford Broncos, Dodge Colts, Ford Mustangs, for example) and bolt out of the starting gate every morning.

In 2021, driving epitomizes life as a sprint, no longer a marathon. Getting from here to there by automobile has become a competition and a source of stress for far too many people. In contrast, when I was a kid, driving was one of life’s simple pleasures. I recall our family drives on Sundays—the quaint pleasures of sightseeing, smelling freshly mown grass and recently tilled soil in farmers’ fields just outside Naperville, enjoying the breeze blowing my crewcut through windows cranked open. (Summer drives with the windows down was a delight, whereas winter drives with the windows rolled up tight was something else entirely because both of my parents smoked cigarettes while in the car. That was the only time I wanted them to hurry!) Today families rarely go for "family drives" just to enjoy the sights and being together. Instead everyone  drives with a specific destination in mind, going too fast to have power windows down. Cars become air conditioned cocoons, although at least smoke-free air conditioned cocoons. Kids and grandkids, assuming they can be corralled into being passengers, are not sightseeing but rather looking downward and thumbing smartphones, tablets and laptops at a furious rate.  

Speaking of driving too fast, it appears the California Highway Patrol informally allows drivers to decide what the acceptable speed of the flow of traffic should be, irrespective of posted speed limits. From casual observation it is clear that drivers adhering to the 65 mph speed limits on the 5 and 805 are blocking the “normal” flow of traffic. CHP officers offer leeway to vehicles traveling as much as 10 – 15 miles per hour over the posted limits if they don’t have reason to suspect the driver of DUI or other serious offenses.

 Completion of the Interstate Highway system in 1955 accelerated the race toward ever-higher informal speed limits. My gut-level estimates are as follows:

Type of Road                                         Posted Speed Limits      Informal Speed Limit

Interstate Highways                                 65 - 70 mph                            75 – 85 mph

State/County Roads                                45 – 50  mph                            60 – 65 mph

City Streets/Neighborhood                     15 – 30 mph                             30 –45 mph

Shopping Center Parking Lots                8  -  12 mph                             12 – 15 mph  

Interstate Highways (and freeways) are juvenile versions of Autobahns; drivers act as if the 65 - 70 mph posted limits of freeways are more suited to lightly policed state highways and county roads. Traffic on many city streets is dangerous, especially for an aging population committed to heart-healthy walking in their neighborhoods.  Even shopping center parking lots, once considered safe havens, are not immune. Once upon a time parents could take their children, learner’s permit in hand, to a shopping center parking lot at night or on a weekend, to teach them how to use stick shifts. No more. Backing out of a space in front of CVS? Beware of cars coming at you from both sides at 12 - 15 mph, neither slowing down nor waving at your child that it would be safe to back up. It goes without saying today’s adult drivers are poor role models for children learning how to drive. We are sending the wrong message.

*For example, my wife has a kitchen towel stating that congratulations are in order, because she finished a 14-day diet in just three days and four hours.

 

 Drivers in a hurry have bumped up informal speed limits by one road type and unless they are being reckless or are suspected of DUI violations, law enforcement officers seem to prefer traffic flowing to the revenue from speeding tickets. In my estimation, three groups of vehicles qualify as the pace-setters of today’s informal speed limits—drivers of very expensive cars built for speed, like Maserati’s—motorcyclists of any and all stripes—and young moms and dads behind the wheels of Cadillac Escalades and Range Rovers.

What’s the hurry? Is it to cram more activities into a day, giving credence to the inscription on a tombstone: “I wish I’d spent one more day in the office”? Is it because we have too many legitimate priorities, when in fact we do not. We simply do not take the time or make the effort to identify genuine personal priorities, so the list grows longer with each new thought we have. One of the few reasons for hurrying that makes any sense to me is to generate “free time” or “found time” for one’s self. Time unencumbered by the demands or expectations of society or of friends and colleagues…time to read a book, to take a nap or a bath at mid-day, play 9 or 18 holes during the week, or play pickleball…a temporal “selfie”, if you will.

We often read about restoring balance to our lives, achieving a more even balance between work, play and family.  It’s a noble concept, a worthy personal goal.  But if a person never slows down enough to create selfish time (free/found time) there is no way they can straighten out an imbalanced life.  If during the pandemic, when so much of life could not be experienced, if they still filled every minute with busy-ness and hurrying, something is clearly wrong. I would be tempted to call them “speed junkies” but I will not, because the term “speed” has its own drug-related connotation. How about “hurry-up junkies” for those unable to control hurrying, knowing it is damaging to parts or all of their lives, at best causing short-term bursts of satisfaction when random respites of selfie-time occur. But more generally leaving an overwhelming sense of frustration and stress.  I wonder if hurry-up junkies try to speed through sessions with their psychotherapists? 

My wife recently mentioned a fascinating phenomenon occurring as the restrictions of COVID – 19 are being lifted and pressures are building to restore social lives to the frenetic pace of pre-pandemic days.  Several of her friends have let it be known that they intend to back off of one or more activities in order to simplify their lives and create more free time for themselves.  It is too soon to know whether these announcements represent the tip of an iceberg or simply a few (in-person) cocktail party ice cubes floating by.