Instructions for this activity are found at:

www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy25/g25-oral1.htm

Instructor: Dr. Leon James

Citation: Leon James and Diane Nahl (2000). Road Rage and Aggressive Driving: Steering Clear of Highway Warfare. (Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books). Reviewing pages 254 to 270.

I. Listening to Music When Driving

1. Music has become almost essential to drivers in today’s society.

2. Sound systems have become one of the popular accessories and people spend hundreds of dollars to purchase one.

3. Listening to music can cause speeding because you are so entranced in the music that you do not pay attention to the speedometer.

A. It was reported that a teenager took longer to apply the break when a sign came up while driving to loud music.

B. They instead responded faster when there was no loud music playing

4. “Music has the power to calm or excite, to sooth or to inflame any person. If listening to music works to ease aggressive thoughts and feelings while driving, it can be an effective preventive agent. If drivers choose provocative music that encourages aggressive thinking, it may exaggerate emotional reactions in routine incidents.”

5. My Feelings

My seventeen-year-old brother has a top of the line sound system in his lifted black Toyota Tacoma. He paid hundreds of dollars for it and blasts it while driving and waiting in traffic. I, on the other hand, do not have a sound system in my Toyota Scion TC and I can tell you I am so jealous. What do I want for Christmas? Most definitely a name brand high tech sound system. I think that music is calming and I can’t imagine driving to silence. I think that without music, something to focus on I would be so outraged while sitting in heavy traffic. Sometimes singing along to music relaxes me and makes me forget of other drivers’ mistakes. I thin music has its negative and positive points, but for me I think listening to music while driving is a concrete positive.

II. Eating While On The Road

1. Simply munching while driving is being upgraded into luxury meals on the road. Cars are being equipped with elaborate eating equipment.

A. These in-car appliances are including: mini-microwaves, refrigerated glove boxes, coolers designed for autos, trucks, and utility vehicles, trays that fold down, warming cup holders, and trash compactors.

2. Eating while driving is becoming such a part of our society that fast-food restaurants are responding to it.

A. Taco Bell is folding their tortillas in a certain way, Kentucky Fried Chicken offers a pita sandwich with a pocket on the bottom to catch anything that falls, some are designing omelets and hamburgers in the shape of hotdogs.

B. Lap mats are being supplied by In-N-Out Burger, finger foods are being more and more available, basically car ready food everywhere.

3. Eating while driving is common but can be dangerous. A woman who was eating took her eyes off the road to bite into a hamburger and ran a red light. It has been estimated that Americans eat about 18 percent of their meals in cars (that’s about one meal in five).

4. My Reaction

I think that eating while driving sometimes can not be helped but I see the possible danger of it. I even experienced it, when I got into my first accident I was eating French fries from McDonalds. In some ways I think it took away some of my concentration of the road. I can’t believe what new car companies are coming out with. Trash compactors, are you serious? Sometimes, I am amazed at the things companies come up with. While these contraptions are convenient, in some ways, they are ridiculous. Restaurants are just trying to find ways to make money so it doesn’t really surprise me on them coming out with car ready foods. I just think we need to really be concerned at where the future is heading.

III. Cell Phones on the Road

1. The National Traffic Safety Administration estimates that there will be 80 million cell phone users by the end of 2000. In that year, one percent of traffic accidents will be due to the use of that cell phone.

2. Talking on the cell phone while driving can be distracting and lead to close-calls or accidents.

A. People who get involved in “complex conversations” have slower reactions and sometimes fails to react at all to which they would react while not on the phone.

B. A study found that older drivers (55+) are twice as likely to be distracted by phone use as younger drivers.

3. I think that talking on the cell phone can really be a distraction. I have to agree that when I am having a “complex conversation” like arguing with a boyfriend, I will have more difficulty keeping my attention to driving. Whereas, if I am just on the phone to answer a quick question I am less likely to lose concentration. I don’t think that we should ban cell phone use while in the car because it may be a personal emergency. But, I think that we need to use our own intuition on what conversations to engage in while driving. Ultimately it will be up to each individual to make the “right” decision, whatever that may be.

IV. Three Links

1. http://www.dietitian.com/danger.html

This site takes you to an interesting and fun read. It reveals the dangers of eating while driving. But, it’s a little different because it gives you the possible “bad” scenerios for an individual food. For example, if you eat chocolate you will leave sticky fingerprints on your car interior.

2. http://speakout.com/activism/issue_briefs/1334b-1.html

This link takes you to an essay that written by activists who believe that cell phone use while driving should be illegal. Its very informative and lists statistics that research has provided. There is even a story that one state banned the use of cell phones after a 2-year-old girl was killed because a driver while on the cell phone ignored a stop sign and struck the car she was riding in.

3. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3623237.stm

This site warns drivers that they should not listen to loud music while driving and the lists the reasons why. They also have a top five list of the music you should listen to and lists five others to leave at home. It also has reactions from various people so you can read different views.

My Homepage: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leon/409af2006/alcover/alcover-home.htm

Class Homepage: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy25/classhome-g25.htm