I'm afraid there's nothing particularly new about that.

Indeed, Bob. For a given value of "we"... 30, 40, 50 years, we were the ones being muttered about by our 'elders & betters'. Now we do the muttering! In the days of my youth, normal motorway speed for me was 80-85 mph (I don't recall that I ever got impatient with someone in the fast lane going slower than me, mind). An old habit, also, was, just once, to see how fast a new car would go (on a suitably straight & empty piece of motorway, I hasten to add!). I'm not sure I've broken that one, cos I haven't had a new car for 10 years. Which brings me to...

Normal M-way speed dropped to 68-75 years ago (I don't recall when). Ten years ago, when I was doing a 152 mile round trip to the office, much of it up & down the M11, I went from a Volvo 940 to a V70. All of a sudden, I had an electronic dash. I could see my fuel consumption. I very quickly got into the habit of tucking in behind a juggernaut doing 56-58mph. It makes a hell of difference to the fuel you burn. It also added a mere 10 minutes or so to a journey that was 90-odd anyway. I now actually find it very difficult to make myself drive at over 60, unless it's a quick sprint to overtake! Another side-effect was no more irritating concertinas / rolling traffic jams. You know, those moments when you get slowed down to 60 / 50 / 40 mph for no apparent reason, only to speed up, slow down again, etc, sitting there, fingers tapping the steering wheel, thinking "What the f***…"

All of which is to say, when we're young we think we know it all. The older we get, the less we think we know, as a rule. I think most people realise, as they age, that rushing around like a maniac doesn't get you there (for any given value of 'there') any quicker, and that taking a tiny bit of trouble to nod, smile, hold a door for someone, have a door held for you, oils the wheels of human interaction & makes the world feel a nicer place.

And there's your damned 'ists in a nutshell (alrighht, so it's a coconut, so what? :p ). The problem with traffic is that everyone is dashing around cocooned. For a motorist, it's a metal box & a mindset, for cyclists, it's just the mindset. But it's been observed time & again (remember the Goofy cartoon? It's that old...) that when wheels get involved, we isolate ourselves, and human interaction only restarts when Something Happens, by which time we're all steamed up and It Was Their Fault, Not Mine!!!

You know the good thing about the Good Old Days? They're the OLD DAYS! If you stop & think about for minute, the world has, on the whole, improved through the years. I just wish I was still young so I could enjoy it for longer! ;-)