The Editor, Sir:

The Caribbean on a whole, and specifically Jamaica, has always been known for its easy-going nature. If an event is scheduled to start at 7 p.m., chances are, it won't and that has been something that we have dealt with for quite some time now.

However, in more recent times, everyone seems to be in such a rush. The behaviour being exhibited on our roads is atrocious. No one thinks they should wait in a line of traffic anymore and anywhere. The most common examples of this poor behaviour are those persons who drive in a lane with an arrow indicating permission to turn to the left or the right, only to have them cut across in front of you and go straight when the light changes to green.

I always observe this practice and wonder how much more quickly that person will get to his/her destination. I often consider that a building must be on fire somewhere or someone must be having a baby. You can't help but feel sorry for the person in the arrow lane who actually wants to turn but who is stuck behind the person(s) waiting to go straight. You don't only have to worry about this behaviour at peak traffic times.

Reckless driving

The same thing will occur on an empty road on a weekend. Someone will zoom past you and drive on the wrong side of the road, only to end up one car ahead and waiting at a stoplight. There he/she is, right in front of me and I sit at the light with a puzzled look on my face thinking 'you haven't reached where you're going yet?'Many readers are probably nodding their heads in agreement, having experienced such reckless driving on our roads. For those of us who think these occurrences are confined to public-passenger vehicles, think again. There are many persons in private vehicles who do the same things. They are no better than the public-passenger vehicles. At least the public-passenger vehicles can argue that they have passengers who need to get to various places on time. Those private vehicle persons, what are their excuses?'I don't get the impression that as a nation we are collectively more concerned about things starting on time or arriving at places early. So I ask, what has happened to the behaviour on our roads? Why are we so impatient and reckless?

I am, etc.,

SHADAY A. GALLIMORE

shazure@hotmail.com

Kingston 8