So why do people try to cram as many cars as possible into things like parking  lots or through a green light?  We're like ants in a row, or some other animal that tries to cram as many of themselves as possible in one little spot.  I was thinking about this question while driving home today. 

I was on a road with construction, making it one lane in the direction I was traveling.  By the way, this is very annoying because the city had just redone this road a couple months ago, snarling traffic, and now it's all torn up again.  Anyhow, I was behind this guy who paused at the yellow light, then decided to go anyway and didn't really make the light.  That left me as the first in line at the red light.  As I watched the cars line up behind me, I noticed the drivers were getting impatient because I was going straight and they wanted to turn right.  But, because of the aforementioned construction, they were stuck waiting for the light to turn green and for me to go.  So as I sat there thinking about their impatience and the guy who considered stopping but decided to run the light, I decided to do a little experiment.  I inched for about 2 feet.  Then watched every other car in line behind me (about 15) get as close to the car in front of them as possible without actually hitting that car.  Why do people do that?  Personally, it's one of my pet peeves.  Sure, sometimes I do the inch-forward thing, but for the most part I try not to.  Is a few feet really going to make a difference?  Is there really a need to creep forward?  It won't give me a jump when the light turns.  In fact, it's the opposite- that few extra feet will give you a chance to get up your speed.  You know, so you can then slam on your brakes to avoid rear ending the car in front of you.  So what's our fascination with getting there first?  Rushing through the light?  Are we really that important or in that big of a hurry we can't wait the extra 3 minutes (or 2 feet!)?