Americans' love affair with their cars has reached new raptures. The road system is terrific, the cars big, comfortable and air-conditioned. Petrol, or gas as they call it, is laughably cheap by Irish standards.
The inter-state system of highways modelled on the German autobahns crosses the country, east-west and north-south. You can drive 1,500 miles from Boston to Miami on the I-95 and never see a traffic light. Switch on to cruise control, put in your favourite cassette or listen to an audio-book, sip your drink (non-alcoholic of course) from the cup-holder and the miles just roll by.
More people are using their mobile phones to chat the hours away and even eating meals on wheels.
Some expert has worked out that 20 per cent of fast food meals and 10 per cent of restaurant meals are now eaten in the car. A denim snap-on bib has been invented to keep the stains off your shirt/blouse.
Some cars have a refrigerator in the glove compartment and Samsung has been testing a car microwave.
Mr Brad Edmondson, who has written about a survey of drivers for American Demographics magazine, says that people are now "turning their cars into parlours and living rooms". No wonder it is becoming a problem to get people to stop driving here when they reach 90. "You cannot live without wheels," in America, a lot of the elderly say wistfully when finally forced off the road.
Mr Michael Marsden, an academic who specialises in American automotive culture told the Washington Post that in a society where many people feel they had lost their mastery over work and home, the inside of the car had become "the one environment in which they are in total control".
Drivers are spending large sums on sound systems and climate control and turning their dashboards into the "modern mantelpiece".
Now we hear that American drivers, far from feeling frustration and road rage at the daily commute into and out of congested cities, actually enjoy it.
This has emerged from a survey to see how best to get drivers' attention for billboard advertising. The admen/adwomen want to know "what is in the minds of drivers". When they figure this out, drivers will see a roadside ad, pick up their mobile phones and instantly order the product/ holiday/animal - whatever.
The Maritz survey says that "Driving is often portrayed in the media as a chaotic, dangerous, and frustrating activity, but Americans get a lot of pleasure out of driving and they are not overly concerned about congestion or crime." Only 36 per cent agree with the statement: "Traffic congestion is a source of stress in my life."
"Driving is my time to think and enjoy being alone," most commuters are saying.
Mr Steve Barnett, a New York advertising executive, has studied the behaviour of commuters which he calls "road Zen". The commute helps to settle drivers into a relaxed mental state. "It centres them. It's just the opposite of road rage," says Mr Barnett.
The commute must not be too short. The most popular time is 30 minutes to an hour. Less than this and "it's not enough to change your emotional and mental state". More than that and the drive becomes a burden.
The Post reporter has found drivers in the Washington area who are Zen-like about the experience. Mr Keith Brown (42), a commuter programmer, says: "As strange as it sounds, I'd rather have an hour-plus commute than a five-minute commute. In the morning it gives me a chance to work through what I'm going to do for the day, and it's my decompression time."
Mr Barnett says that whether the traffic is flowing freely or bumper to bumper, "people get into an internal state. What they're listening to and what they're thinking about is more important than the drive itself. They go on automatic pilot."
Nine out of 10 American adults drive, men for an average of 81 minutes a day and women for 64 minutes, according to a Department of Transportation survey. This is more time than the average American spends cooking or eating and it is more than twice as much as the average parent spends with his or her children according to a Use of Time survey by the University of Maryland.
And two-thirds of all car trips are made alone with only the radio and billboards for company.
This is the great thing about America. You can go from Zen to billboards effortlessly and from road-rage to refrigerated glove compartments while you decompress in the daily traffic jam.
But I get garage forecourt rage when I try to put air in the tyres. In the garage of the smallest Irish village you get free air and you can see the pressure on a dial. Here you put money in before the air blows but nothing shows you the pressure.
You need your own gauge. You become like a doctor with a thermometer, consulting it bent double as you pump air and then the coins run out. Just the kind of thing to knock you out of your road Zen trance.