Last year I read Sinclair Lewis’s novel about America’s relatively nascent car culture, Free Air. Though published in 1919 its set in the early years of the car and it seems right out of the gate much of our car culture was with us, including road rage. There’s a memorable part dealing with a scary hitchhiker. The hitcher was an itinerant farm hand looking to get down the road for another opportunity an it seems like his behavior probably pre-dated cars. I’m sure there were scary hitchers as well as scary ride givers even going back to the horse and cart. But I get your meaning about the media amplifying the dangers - not unlike the “horrors” of razor blades and tainted Halloween candy. The possibilities end up being much worse than the actuality.
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