A Look Under the Hood of a Nation on Wheels
Freeways get clogged, minutes tick by and tempers sometimes flare, but there's another side to the daily commute for millions of Americans: Most of them actually like it.
So it goes (and stops-and-goes) in the nation's love-hate relationship with the daily task of getting around. In a country where 220 million adults average an hour and a half a day in their cars, views of traffic in America vary as much as highway conditions themselves, from the joy of the open blacktop to the misery of another rubberneck-inspired backup.
On balance the road still offers more freedom than frustration. Three-quarters of Americans say driving often gives them a sense of independence, and nearly half say it's often relaxing. Four in 10 love their cars - not just like them, but love them.
But there's a darker side: About a third can be classified as aggressive drivers. Six in 10 concede they sometimes go well over the speed limit. Sixty-two percent occasionally get frustrated behind the wheel, more than four in 10 get angry and two in 10 sometimes boil into road rage. And nothing fuels driver anger like getting stuck in a traffic jam.
[rest somehwere at <http://abcnews.go.com/us/pollvault/>]