Outline of My Fourth Oral Presentation

Road Rage: Who is at Risk?

This is a presentation of Road Rage and Aggressive Driving: Steering Clear of Highway Warfare, By: Dr. Leon James and Dr. Diane Nahl, Prometheus Books, March 5, 2005, Pages 57-66, Dr.Driving.org.

By: Amy Beeler

 

Instructions for this oral presentation are found at:

www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy22/g22-oral.htm

 

I. Aggressiveness of Men VS. Women

 

 A. Men experience rage, impatience, danger, violence and competition.

B. Women report positive emotions while driving more often than men.

C. Men report doing each aggressive driving behavior more than women.

                        1. Growing # of women engage in each aggressive driving behavior.

2. The number of men and women: not signaling lane changes, swearing and name calling, and yelling at other drivers are close for both.

D. Attributed rise in women’s aggressive behavior to growing number of women commuting to, and being in, the workplace.

 

 II. Driving Impaired

 

A. Both Physical & Emotional factors interact, & can contribute to driving aggressively or in Rage.

1. Common Physical impairments: Alcohol, illegal drugs, over-the-counter drugs, prescription medication, Extreme fatigue or sleep deprivation (driving while drowsy), Incapacity due to: disability, pain, aging, or illness.

B. Most of 35 million people who use legal and illegal drugs everyday drive at some point.

C. Estimated 15 thousand people die every year in crashes.

D. Emotional impairment factors are just as dangerous, but are more difficult to manage because they arise suddenly.

 

III. Emotional Self-Control

 

A. Research on how people manage to control their feelings shows that the ability to regulate our emotions is a learned skill with two main components:

1. Self-Appraisal

2. Self-Regulation

B. Every one can become aware of their thoughts through systematic self- observation.

C. Most people are not able to accurately gauge their mood, and lack of emotional awareness is a primary problem for motorists. Negative emotions encourage, and even invite, negative, judgmental, and self-serving thoughts.

D. Checklists: Aggressive Thoughts and Feelings

 

Helpful Links:

 www.drdriving.org/articles/gender.htm

www.aaafts.org/resources/index.cfm?button=agdrtex

www.drivers.com/cgi-bin/go.cgi?type=ART&id=000000353&static=1

 

My Home Page: www.soc.hawaii.edu//leonj/409as2005/beeler/home.htm