Psy 409a, November 13, 2006
Driving Accidents and Fatalities
by Gina Kim
Instructions for
this activity are found at:
www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy25/g25-oral1.htm
Instructor: Dr.
Leon James
Peter Rothe, Editor (2002).
Driving Lessons: Exploring Systems That Make Traffic Safer. (
A. Autocentric Transport System
1. Our world is now characterized by this system
2. It is a high level of dependency on automobiles like cars for transportation.
3. Other methods of transportation like walking are often left unused.
4. The
5. The car or automobile is growing as the dominant mode of transportation but it is also the leading cause of death and injury.
B. Fatalities and Injuries
1. In 1990, there were 999,000 deaths relating to traffic.
2. All fatalities aren’t necessarily occupants of autos. 19.3 percent of fatalities were pedestrians and cyclists.
3. Auto safety has been improving
a. From 1950-1997, the death rate has dropped from 23 to 16.1 per 100,000 and from 7.6 to 1.6 per 100 million.
b. Still the number of deaths remains high because of increased amounts of auto use.
C. Risky Behaviors
1. Cars are becoming more safe and crashworthy
2. This may lead to drivers’ behaviors changing
a. Drivers have a greater sense of safety.
b. Drivers may compensate for the safety by driving in riskier manners.
3. Otherwise known as “hard means of mobility”, bigger cars like SUVS are more dangerous on the road.
a. It has a harder impact if it were to hit something like a smaller car or a pedestrian.
b. If a car and an SUV crash, the driver of the car is 13 times more likely to be killed than the SUV driver.
LINKS
1. Carfree Cities : http://www.carfree.com/
- This website was made to propose that urban life would be possible and even
better is transportation was made so that private automobiles would not be
allowed on city streets. It goes on to explain the negatives of automobiles
like the fact that is kills lives, causes air pollution and wastes energy and
natural resources. The website gives many ideas for getting rid of the
dependence on cars.
2. Automobile Dependency :
http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm100.htm
- This website talks about the causes and implications of automobile
dependency. It explains what this type of dependency is and why we have it. It
also explains the benefits of automobiles as well as the cost of them.
3. Accident Statistics :
http://www.car-accidents.com/pages/stats.html - This is a website that is all about the
statistics of automobile accidents. It gives you links that compare two years’
number of accidents and injuries. It also gives links to accident attorneys, accident
pictures, and many different links for injuries.
My Home page: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leon/409af2006/kim/kim-home.htm
Class Home Page: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy25/classhome-g25.htm