Driving in Boston is a contact sport

I've lived in Boston for nearly 4 years now. In the heart of the city, driving a car is something that simply must be experienced. It cannot be adequately explained to the unaware. I know, because for years friends of mine would tell me how "horrible" and "scary" it is to drive in Boston. I would chuckle, thinking to myself "these guys are light-weights" or "they just don' t know how to drive" or some other such thing. Boy was I wrong.

After being here for a while, living in Somerville, and driving a lot through Cambridge, Brighton, Medford, and of course Boston proper, I've learned that driving a car in Boston is indeed a contact sport. You simply cannot be distracted for one second without taking your life, the life of someone else, or at minimum the condition of your car's bumper in your own hands.

I'm convinced the problem is a combination of two things:

1. Overall population density, and
2. Cumulative apathy resulting in obnoxious and agressive behaviour.

It's as simple as that. There are simply too many people (on bikes, walking, and driving) on the streets for the available space. Add to that the real fact that there are way too few cops to enforce the laws (therefore everybody knows they will not get caught behaving badly), and you have a situation similar to the wild-wild-west days of yore. Don't believe me? Come here, rent a car, and see for yourself.

So what's the solution? I'm not sure there is an easy solution to a problem that has been nutured so carefully over time. Yes, nutured. As dangerous as it is, many a Bostonian wears this reality like a badge of honor on their person. Yes, it's crazy, and many of them love it. You can tell who they are; they are the ones driving the beat-up cars and careening around the city, blaring their horns, like madmen on a mission. They don't want things to change because they get away with near murder every day. If you were like them, you wouldn't want things to change either.

They are not the majority of Bostonians. However, the majority of Bostonians look the other way (while blaring their horns, that is just a fact of life here). People who can't take it anymore stay as far away from the city as possible or at least minimize their travel into the city. And life (such that it is) goes on.

My only suggestion to the cities in and around the Boston area: If you want to make a little money, station cops at every streetcorner, and simply ENFORCE THE LAWS. That means all laws, traffic, pedestrian, and biking. Everyone is equally to blame here. I'm sure the town governments would clean up in the near term. And, perhaps, in the longer term, people might learn to behave like adults. But I wouldn't count on it.