Psychology 409a- September 12th, 2005

My First Outline of Assigned Readings

By Kalena Luney

Human Behavior and Driving Safety

 

Peter Rothe, Editor (2002). Driving Lessons: Exploring Systems That Make Traffic Safer. (Edmonton: University of Alberta Press). Pages 10-19

 

Instructions for this activity are found at:

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

 

Instructor: Dr. Leon James

 

I.  The Three Personal Sub-Systems

a.)   health- safe driving includes both mental and physical health

b.)   social- interactions with other drivers is crucial in order to share the road

c.)   cultural- our actions on the road are effected by cultural norms and personalities

d.)   Important to understand each person comes from a different background and

must be treated as such

 

II.  Screening for Drivers

a.)   senior drivers- age related problems and visual attention that can affect

cognition should be screened

b.)   younger drivers- sensation-seeking and reckless, young drivers can be

dangerous

c.)   Many times I’ve been on the road with older or younger drivers and thought

what are they doing? that’s so dangerous.”

d.)   Safety on the roads depends on policies that are created for our protection

 

III.  Human Fallible Behavior

a.)   drowsy driving is similar to the effects of driving drunk.  Handedness can effect the way you drive by where you place your hand on the wheel.

b.)   I’ve been drowsy driving before and drifted to the shoulder or the other lane without realizing it.  It also affects your perception of space and distance.

c.)   Experts have developed effective alerting devices to keep drivers awake, suggesting this is a serious problem.

 

Related Links:

www.seniordrivers.org/home/toppage.cfm

www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/drowsy_driving1/Drowsy.html

www.drivehomesafe.com/

 

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

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