Mad as Hell

But I Guess I Have to Take it More

Traveling through China several years ago, I had a driver whose traffic etiquette routinely left me in awe. Road shoulders were passing lanes, and so were exit ramps. Bicyclists he treated more or less like squirrels-regrettable to squash under tire but not really swerve-worthy. He taught me a lot. I even tried out some of his exit-ramp techniques back in Southern California, but somehow the practice didn’t travel well.

But what struck me as much as the brazenness of my Chinese driver’s efforts to speed his path was the reaction of …