I recently had to drive from San Francisco to Santa Monica. Along the 380 mile drive, I was reminded of something I noticed way back when first got my license — actually, right after I got my first speeding ticket.

For the first five years after my first (and ONLY) speeding ticket, I drove the speed limit, which, at the time was 55 mph nationwide. I drove not only the speed limit, but every one of my passengers crazy. Oh well.

Very few people drive the speed limit down major freeways. When you slide on over to the slow lane, and chug along at the speed limit for hundreds of miles, you notice that we travel in packs. At 55 mph, you have the highway all to yourself — about two thirds of the time. The other third, you are surrounded by a clump of cars — all traveling at about 8-10 miles over the speed limit.

There are a number of good books that explain this phenomenon, among them Sync: How Order Emerges from Chaos by Steven Strogatz.

During those times when I travel with the pack, that is all I know. The entire journey is spent jammed in with twenty to thirty other cars. Sometimes, when I'm driving the speed limit in a half-aware state, the pack will descend upon me, and I find myself speeding to keep up.

I'm not saying there is anything inherently wicked about the pack, I merely point out its frequently unconscious nature. It is interesting to note how we are sometimes controlled by our environments without us being aware of it.