I believe there is a subtle change in some of the fellow road users in HK when there is a climate change. Climate change is not necessarily same as the weather change. The result of the climate change would result in more aggression in some of the keen road users, or a slight disrespect of other road users and less polite road manners in others. I found this change taking place today (9/18) even though the weather has been dry and cooler since early last week. I remember the similar case two years ago during a small traffic accident on June 30th where I ran into a frentic young Mercedes CLK230 driver. He slammed his car into my Subaru and sued me for riskless driving. Of course my wife and I made sure that he dropped his case.
In my own case, it results in a more defensive driving attitude towards my road rights. By that I mean I am least tolerant of the road users that do not meet my 'own' set of rules of driving, and subsequently tell them the explicit message of who is the 'boss' here by flexing the traffic muscle. Of course while doing so I myself sometimes commit traffic offence, minor as they may be, and ugly behvaior which makes myself laugh and embarasses my passenger (90% of the time it is my wife). Sometimes I explain to myself that rules are made to be broken when the traffic is thin but good for all when it is thick. Anyway I try to feel least guilty about it, even if sometimes I get myself into trouble. I just treat this as an inevitablity in life and tell my own ego to let go.
Sometimes it is difficult to tell the other driver not to get into my way if I am driving a wrong car, or a car that lacks the presence on the road. An Toyota Echo or C200 Mercedes Benz is hardly convincing. Of course there would be least problem with the C36 AMG or the roaring DC2. People usually give way when I am thundering down the road twice the road legal speed limit. I have no idea why there is a difference between the C36 and C200 because they look the same to me. But on the road C36 has road presence, even with its subtle innocent look. And it was the main reason why I gave up the C200 that is on the top of my pre-owned list. MX-5 is a mixed bag. It needs to drive relative swift and go around corners fast in order to create a road presence.
There I have the solution to myself during the time of climate transition. Drive cars with more road presence.
