The reckless driver

What happens when we get into a car? Honestly, I have no idea, but something must happen. Some kind of transformation. That's the only reason I can imagine to explain these strange things that happen each day on our roads.

In our cars, we honk, we harass other cars (actually not the cars themselves but more the people in them) and we curse in a way we would never do outside that thing with wheels on it. Why do we behave so strangely? Or does that happen only in my imagination?

{"thing with wheels on it" is a bit of a "popular orange vegetable" - see the very funny article below for an explanation. Good alternatives to avoid repetition would be eg "in our vehicles", "in the driver's seat", "on the road". http://www.theguardian.com/media/mind-your-language/2014/jan/06/popular-orange-vegetables-silly-synonyms }

Well, I was watching myself for a while and figured out: I am no exception. Outside my car I would call myself a halfway kind and patient guy. If someone does something to annoy me I don't feel harassed and I usually don't get aggressive. But that changes when I'm driving.

{I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "crosses my way" so I might be wrong. Does it mean "does something to annoy me" or simply that you meet them? "to cross someone's path" in English means "to meet someone unexpectedly"}

For example, I always try to keep the required distance from the car in front of me on the freeway {or "motorway" in England :D }. But almost always when I do so some idiot (sorry for that word but I just feel as if I were in my car ;-) ) drives into that gap and forces me to brake. That freaks me out...

Another example: Using the blinker light {or "indicator" in England} in a roundabout traffic. There's no driving school that doesn't explain that you must indicate before you leave a roundabout traffic. So the vehicles who want to enter can do so more quickly because they don't have to wait to see if you'll leave or not. But almost no one follows that rule. {"adheres to" also OK but more formal} Why?

I suppose it is the anonymity we seem to have in our vehicles. We treat the others more like driving machines than humans. Human behaviour can be so strange...

{Hello again, Christian! Another interesting read. My problem is that I both cycle and drive - when I cycle I hate all the drivers, and when I drive I hate all the cyclists...}