Psych 409a: November 23, 2006

Speed Limits

By:  Justin Koito

 

Instructions for this activity are found at: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy25/g25-oral3.htm

Instructor: Dr. Leon James

 

Dr. Leon James and Dr. Diane Nahl.  Road Rage and Aggressive Driving.  Chapter 11: Speed Limits The Great Motorist  Rebellion.  Pages 236-253       

 

Speed Limits

I.                    Aggressive versus Assertive Driving

 

A.     “Speed limit + x Rule”

a)      i.e. x = 15 speed limit = 35……….15 mph + 35 mph = 50 mph is when speeding begins

b)      policy say anything above the speed limit is considered speeding

c)      cultural norm of speeding is anything 15 mph over the speed limit

d)      Attitude of “No caskets needed for fast drivers who are attentive”

e)      Believes aggressive driving is ok in certain situations, but not ok in dangerous conditions

 

II.                 Citizen Activism Against Government Paternalism

 

A.     Two types of ideological groups of drivers formed when government tried to fight aggressive driving

 

a)      “Ideological right” – consists of “assertive” drivers who take driving seriously (consider themselves skilled, complain about laws, have aggressive attitudes, inconsiderate, responsible for most accidents)

1)      National Motorists Association – believes that speed limits were made so that the government can get revenue from speeders

b)      “Ideological left” – consists of safer drivers (promote government intervention)

1) Federal Highway Administration – calls for more regulation by government

c)      Results: increased speed limits actually decreased the national fatality rate

1)      There is a need for predictable speeds in order to help determine decisions and anticipated responses while driving

2)      Traffic engineers believe that speeding breaks up the homogeneity of drivers flowing at same speeds (when there’s traffic signs)

3)      Drivers drive at confidence level when standards are set too low

 

B.     Police Presence

a)      People tend to slow down and not pass a police car when seen

b)      Passing a police car at any speed seems to be illegal to everyone

 

C.     Traffic Calming: “combination of physical measures that reduce the negative effects of motor vehicle use, alter drive behavior and improve conditions for non-motorized street users”

a)      Indirect Methods of Influencing Driving Behavior: increase quality of life, create safe and attractive speeds, reduce negative effects of motor vehicles on environment, promote pedestrian, cycle, and transit use

b)      Benefits of traffic calming: allows safe neighborhood, reduce need to police enforcement, enhances environment, increase access for all modes of transportation, reduces cut-though motor vehicle traffic

c)      Traffic calming is needed in urban areas where traffic is high.  Because of traffic calming, rivalries have been formed.  I.e. Drivers vs. bicyclists, Drivers vs. pedestrians, etc.

 

D.     Electronic Traffic Surveillance

a)      At red lights, cameras are set up to detect a speeding car with the radar and take a picture of the driver

b)      The driver receives a ticket in the mail

c)      NMA doesn’t believe in the cameras due to the clarity of the picture and the calibration of the radar not being accurate

d)      NMA also argues that red light runners won’t care whether there is a traffic camera or not

e)      Overall Americans are for electronic surveillance and has proven to have an impact on red light accidents

 

E.      Speed Trap Registries Around The World

a)      governments post the location of speed traps because it is legal by law to know where they are and it’s being used as a intimidation factor

 

F.      Activism Against Aggressive Drivers

a)      Citizen Against Speeding and Aggressive Driving: nonprofit that encourages communities to traffic-calming methods, encourages more law enforcement and legislation action, change car commercial advertisements

b)      Road Watch Program: where people can post on the world wide web a vehicles information and what violation they have done

c)      Two emotional dynamics in activism directed against bad drivers

1)      undergoing a scary experience while driving

2)      compulsion to vent and retaliate

d)      the emotional dynamics leads to further aggression because each time the incident is retold, the aggression gets larger

 

Related Links

 

  1. The National Motorist Association:  http://www.motorists.com/ - I chose to use the whole website of the NMA since it was mentioned several times throughout the chapter.  The NMA is described as an organization that fights against laws and speed limits.  In a way, the NMA is similar to how the NRA acts towards guns.

 

  1. Speed Trap Exchange http://www.speedtrap.org/rules.html - This article is linked to the NMA.  The speed traps of the website discuss ways in which people are fighting to do away with speed traps.  The website also identifies where certain speed traps are so that motorists know where to be cautious so not to get a ticket.

 

  1. Traffic Calming: http://www.trafficcalming.org/index.html - On this website, it brings up the point of traffic calming.  Some of the ways to try traffic calming is through speed control measures, volume control measures, or both.  The website gives a general awareness of how beneficial traffic calming is to the driving population.

 

My Home page:

http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leon/409af2006/koito/koito-home.htm

Class Home Page:

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