people in cars

Help me understand something here.

What is it about that double white line that divides the fast lane from the carpool lane that has such a mesmerizing hold on people?

And not just any people. People who feel the need to drive 100 miles per hour, dodge and weave in and out of traffic to gain a couple places in line, honking and flipping people off as they go–those people.

How is that those people somehow think driving like they’re in a William Friedkin movie but NOT crossing the white line curtain will somehow do less to attract the attention of law enforcement than doing all those things and occasionally diving into the carpool lane for a quick pass?

These yahoos could cause multiple pileups, leave more carnage in their wake than the highway chase scene in The Matrix: Reloaded, and would STILL never cross the magic lines.

This guy this morning was all over the place, gesturing, yelling, telling people to get out of the left lane (rush hour, by the way, so by my rough count he would have had to do this to about six thousand cars before he got where he was going), and the carpool lane beckoned from the left, largely devoid of traffic, and yet, somehow he felt that was a bridge too far, and while driving like Ryan Gosling in Drive was okay (sure, he didn’t drive much, but he drove so WELL), by all that’s holy, he would NOT cross that painted Maginot Line.

People are weird. And cars make us weirder.