People in Cars vs. People on Boats

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Here's something I noticed. There seems to be a BIG dichotomy in how people acts while driving cars on the road vs. how they act while operating boats on a body of water. (This post will be US-centric.) Car drivers tend to be very aggressive, more so in some US regions than others. It's often difficult to merge into a lane or pass someone without getting an angry reaction from at least one person. People tend to isolate themselves within their cars, and ignore other drivers except to avoid colliding into them. And when there's a traffic jam, then all hell breaks loose. It's called "road rage" for a reason. Gunshots have even been fired over frustrating but mundane things like cutting someone off.

At the same time, there doesn't seem to be such thing as "water rage" on boats. It seems like other boaters instantly become your friends. While people may do stupid things to show off or impress girls, boaters generally don't see each other as the enemy. Quite the opposite, it's customary to wave to other boaters while passing them. It doesn't even matter what kind of boat you're on. Heck, I was on a gleaming white cruise ship, exchanging waves between my ship, a ragged-looking fishing boat, a big group of jet-skis, and a municipal construction boat. Everybody seemed to be having a good time, with no trace of aggression. (Jet skiers often like to follow cruise ships, to engage in wake-jumping.)

Why is that? Why do drivers see each other as the enemy, but other boaters are suddenly your new best friends? It seems like the rules of the road are conveniently ignored, while maritime sailing rules are widely respected.

I can kind of agree to this in that boaters seem to be a lot more friendly overall than car drivers. I think the reason is because boating for the most part in the U.S. is more of a recreational hobby than driving a car is. I went on my neighbors boats once and with almost every boat we passed, either we waved to them or they waved to us and we would exchange the greeting. While a majority of people have drivers licenses, only a certain number of the population have boating licenses, which kind of makes it a culture in itself.

When it comes to cars and motor vehicles, I find that people who drive vintage, antique, and classic automobiles tend to be treated better and respected by other drivers on the road. I drive a 1986 AMC Eagle so I am a part of this group and while depending on who you ask, my car is or isn't considered one of these vehicles, I have had reactions that I could never get with a common Camry. I have had people give me a thumbs up, honk at me to give me a thumbs up, even say a few positive words while I am at a stop light or in a parking lot. It is even more apparent in my dad's 1957 Chevrolet 210. People have done acts of courtesy you would think are extinct nowadays. Whenever I meet another vintage car on the road, I will acknowledge my appreciation for their car just as others have done for mine.

So all in all, I think it depends on the overall culture of the mode of transportation. Boating is something that is enjoyed by many people as a hobby while motor vehicles, aside from the vintage, collector, classic, exotic, and unusual cars which enjoy a similar culture, are unfortunately seen as point A to B appliances.

Because there's a lot more room on the water, people aren't boating to and from work, they don't boat places in a hurry and they usually don't get stuck in boat traffic. Boating is for pleasure and people go into it with a different mindset than they do when they drive to the store or wherever. People choose to get on a boat and go somewhere, people have to get in cars to go somewhere.

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Boats don't have brakes for one.

Getting the hang of drift is quite tricky. If you are going to go fast at all, you need to stay a good distance away, or else you could find yourself in trouble.

There is different system, and etiquette on the water.

Cars do inherently make people more narcissistic. There is a less of a feeling of a boat being an extension of the person. Instead you have to respect nature.

I also think that there might be something in not having, all the signs, lights to tell you what to do. This helps. Everybody knows that sailing and boating can be dangerous is you don't know what you are doing, you could be in trouble.

There is a hypothetical question: What would make someone drive more carefully, air-bags or putting a spike in the middle of the steering wheel?

You are also expect to look out for one another. There isn't an equivalent on the road. Nobody sends a distress call to all drivers in the area.