Psy 409 12/01/05

Psy 409 12/01/05

My Ninth Outline of Assigned Readings

By Ashley Hooks

Present and Future Legislation on Aggressive Driving

Reference: James, Leon Ph.D., and Nahl, Diane Ph.D. Road Rage and Aggressive Driving: Steering Clear of Highway Warfare. New York: Prometheus Books, 2000. Pages 219-233.

Instructions for this activity are found at:

www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy23/409a-g23-oral.htm

Instructor: Dr. Leon James

My Home Page: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leon/409af2005/hooks/home.htm

The G23 Class Home Page: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy23/classhome-g23.htm

I. Congressional Hearings

A. Dr. Martinez was the administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in 1997 when he testified in a congressional hearing about aggressive driving. He pointed out that the total number of highway deaths increases each year, as well as statistics about how many were injured in the past year, how much these collisions cost the nation, and finally how most of these were caused by aggressive driving. From then on, the media acknowledged this huge debate. There were a lot of people who thought that aggressive driving was not dangerous, that they were just being assertive.

B. As a result, the federal government intervened through NHTSA to create more limits as to what behavior while on the road is considered to be aggressive. For example, many common driving behaviors are now considered felonies or misdemeanors, and you can get jail time for threatening or endangering another driving. This is all fairly new, but a huge step in increasing road rage awareness in our society.

C. I think that it is a really good thing that aggressive driving is being enforced in our community. I have never really been introduced to the concept until this class, and now I have a whole new awareness of the dangers that other drivers can impose on me or other people. It is disturbing to hear the statistics, and I think it is about time that more enforcement be used.

II. Federal Agencies Unite Against Aggressive Drivers

A. There are several agencies that implemented different programs/enforcements as a result of the previously mentioned hearings. National Economic Crossroads Transportation Efficiency Act of 1997 (NEXTEA) is one that develops state and community programs to combat aggressive driving. Also, the NHTSA joined their efforts with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to create the state and community highway safety grant program, which would reward states for implementing roadway safety by giving them funds for law enforcement, public awareness education, and the new Intelligent Transportation Systems.

B. All of these agencies have united because of one reason: aggressive driving. The NHTSA issued an aggressive driver advisory that included tips when or if you are ever confronted: get out of their way, hide your pride, don’t challenge the other driver, wearing your seat belt, avoid eye contact, ignore gestures and don’t return them, call the police if you have your cell phone and it is safe, and report any aggressive driving behaviors you witness if the driver is in an accident further down the road.

C. These tips and programs that were implemented are all very good attempts at making the roads safer for everyone. I think rewarding the states especially is a good idea, because rewards cause people to want to do more to make a difference. I totally agree with the tips if you are ever confronted, except for calling the police. In other words, I wouldn’t call the police just if someone flipped me off, but I would if they caused me to get in an accident or tried to run me off the road.

II. Aggressive Police Initiatives

A. Legislators on all three levels: federal, city, and state, have been enacting aggressive driving bills that help law enforcement officials to curb illegal driving behaviors. This is hard to do when cops are in their traditional marked cars, because seeing these cars cause aggressive drivers to behave and follow the laws. This is why a huge effort is being made to increase the number of unmarked cars, especially non-traditional cars like trucks and SUVs.

B. In Florida, a huge project was implemented in 1999 to try out the unmarked police cars. Florida was a good place to try this, because traffic is increasingly heavy every year, and lots of crimes occur on the road, such as shootings. This means that something new was desperately needed in the area of law enforcement. The unmarked cars would help to track down and witness aggressive acts on the roads and therefore the drivers would be punished.

C. Unmarked police cars are very common in Hawaii, I have discovered. I moved from the mainland, and we didn’t have a lot of unmarked police cars. Knowing that they are present here influences me to be more careful while I am driving, to follow the laws, which I should have been doing anyway. I think that they should be everywhere so the roads can be safer.