PSY 409a November 28, 2006

Speed Limits

By Rhiannon Tokita

 

Instructions for this activity are found at: http://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 236-253.

 

I.                    What is speeding?

a.       “Speed limit + x rule”

                                                               i.      Consider the start of speeding to be the speed limit plus a value of x

1.      For example: if x=15, and it is a 35mph zone, the driver would not consider his or her self as speeding until 50mph

 

                                                             ii.      The size of the x variable is determined by neighborhood norms and usually remains constant

b.      Police

                                                               i.      Police say they consider speeding to be anything above the posted limit

                                                             ii.      There is a 15mph discrepancy between the law and the cultural norm

                                                            iii.      Is the source of the American speed limit rebellion

 

II.                 Ideological groups of drivers

a.       Ideological “right”

                                                               i.      Consists of assertive drivers, those who consider themselves skilled, complain about law enforcement, and have an aggressive attitude toward other drivers they consider incompetent and the reason for most accidents

 

b.      Ideological “left”

                                                               i.      Promote more government intervention for restricting the behavior of motorists

1.      Initiative by police: electronic traffic control devices, total speed enforcement, and a hotline for reporting license numbers of cars driving aggressively

 

III.               Police Presence

a.       Police patrols lessen aggressive driving and quick reductions in speed

                                                               i.      When drivers see a cop they usually hit their brakes

                                                             ii.      When a cop is driving on the road drivers seem afraid to pass the cop

 

b.      When police cars go over the speed limit, it is not smart to pass them

                                                               i.      When a driver passed a cop going over the speed limit, he or she was given a ticket

                                                             ii.      Is not wise to give the excuse that the cop was also speeding

 

c.       Drivers feel that the police should use their time to fight crime and not patrolling the roads for speeders

 

IV.              Speed trap registries

a.       There is a directory on the web which lists speed traps to alert drivers

                                                               i.      Includes: place, date added, speed measuring technology used, type of police car, and scanner frequency

 

b.      Law enforcement agencies are not against these information sharing websites

                                                               i.      Law enforcement feel that it is another way to put pressure on drivers not to speed

 

Related Links:

http://www.speedtrap.org/

This website offers information about speed traps in North America as well as how to fight speed trap tickets.  The site offers state by state information as well as city to city information.  It provides the place of the speed trap, the type of technology used, and the time of day it is more enforced in.

 

http://www.ibiblio.org/rdu/sl-irrel.html

This article is about a study that was done regarding raising and lowering speed limits.  The purpose was to study the effects of raising and lowering speed limits on driver behavior.  The article also provides results of the study as well as a conclusion.

 

http://www.azdot.gov/Highways/Traffic/Speed.asp

This website offers information about how the state of Arizona establishes their speed limits.  They also offer the effects of realistic and unrealistic speed limits.  They explain how the realistic speed limits in their state are established.

 

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

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