Book Review Instructions

ROAD RAGE TOPICS

James and Nahl brought about many topics dealing with aggressive driving from how it has become a socially accepted phenomenon to ways in dealing with this type of behavior.   Some major aspects of this book are, mental health and road rage, the causes of such aggressiveness, emotional intelligence and self-improvement, children and road rage, and the things we can do to learn to break old habits of aggressive behaviors.

The first topic, mental health and road rage deals with the first ways children learn aggressive behavior through upbringing.  They see these violent acts on the highways on television as well as the video games they play. Children tend to imitate things that they see.   In addition, watching these violent acts may taint their minds and believe that it is ok for someone to be in pain and wonât offer assistance if ever encountered with that situation.  Secondly, the book illustrates several causes of aggressiveness and road rage. Congestion, peer pressure, and the road rage theory, ãYouâre not going to do that to me and get away with it,ä all contribute to aggression on the road.  The next topics were on emotional intelligence and self-improvement on the road.   Emotional intelligence deals with the tools we use in order to be more compatible with other drivers on the road.   We use these techniques in order to remain calm under stressful events that can occur on the road. Children and road rage has become an issue.   As mentioned previously, children tend to imitate what they see.   Children learn first hand about road rage through their parents.  They will mimic what their parents say and become just like them if not worse.   Lastly the most important topic that was covered is breaking these malicious habits for the future.  In order to break this cycle of road rage tendencies, we need to start educating our children about better driving habits and about emotional intelligence because they learn in a specific sequence that will allow them to cope better under stressful situations.

DID YOU GET IT YET?

I think the message in this book is very important.   When we look at our society today, we can see that most times everything has to do with violence and aggression, and the sick thing is we watch these things for entertainment. I admit I am the type of person who likes to watch action because ãitâs real lifeä but when I got a chance to think about it, the idea of watching violence for entertainment is very absurd. There is a contradiction in this idea of watching violence as entertainment or the idea that it is ok on TV because it is not real, but in real life violence is wrong.  Because society has brought up this idea we need to take a step back and look at life as it is today. Most times, people push these issues aside because it is accepted. Can we make changes for a better society?  If so, how?  This book starts off by using Road Rage as a place to stop the violence.   It is important to know how to control emotions behind the wheel because youâre dealing with a lot of people not only yourself but also those on the road with you. By taking this one step, I think people can learn to manage their emotions in other stressful events also.

ISSUES AND CONCERNS

There were many problems and solutions that were presented in the book.  Some that I thought were important were children and video games.   These attitudes the children learn from video games can become detrimental in the future, therefore a solution a Detroit Shopping Mall did for their youth was to build a video arcade that prohibits violence, promotes driving stimulation, and added some kiddy rides.   Another problem I thought was important was peer pressure on the road.  I believe Iâm a victim to peer pressure.  I run a light when it hits yellow so that I donât get stuck at the red for another 3 minutes or so.   The book offers reappraisals for situations like this one.   By looking at the situation in a different way may allow you to feel less stressed and not become a victim to peer pressure.   Another problem I feel is a contributor to road rage is congestion on the road.  Sitting in traffic for an hour is very infuriating.  I like to get to places on time and if Iâm a few minutes late getting out of my house, it throws my whole day off.  However, I found that listening to music makes the ride smoother.   The book offers engineering solutions, slowing the growth of vehicle volume on the road with bus and carpools, efficient traffic management, and alternative ways to get around other than the road.   Moreover, I found that trying to maintain emotional intelligence on the road was a problem because as illustrated in chapter five, there is whole neurobiological phenomenon that is occurring during a stressful event. Trying to reappraise a situation when all of these emotions are occurring takes a lot of practice and commitment. The six components to emotional intelligence are to reappraise the situation, self regulation, empathize, plan despite distraction frustrations, control impulses, and think with positive outcomes.   Lastly, I thought that children and road rage was a problem.   We need to start educating children to become a good passenger before they can become a good driver.  The book provides verbal rewards for children as a start in their emotional intelligence career.  Providing children with these rewards will condition better driving habits in the future.

TEST TIME

There were five tests that I found helpful for myself.   First I took the checklist for road rage tendencies and scored a nine.  This checklist goes over several situations that people encounter and reactions that may occur under a certain condition.  This checklist opened my eyes to my behaviors as a driver.  Iâm usually a mellow person and to find that I was a point away from a complete ãRoad Ragerä surprised me.  After all, these were my routine habits.  This test allows people to become aware of their tendencies behind the wheel, the first step in order to make a change in becoming a supportive driver. In chapter four, there were checklists for the three driving behaviors. I found this useful because I was able to see what type of driver I was more of.  I fell under verbal road rage tendency.  I think itâs better than being a road rage epic person but still, it is a bad habit that I should learn to break because I donât feel ãbetterä after venting, I actually feel more stressed.  I really enjoyed the exercise, ãActing as If,ä in chapter five because it was a challenge. Because I usually give in to my tendency to rage, I thought smiling even if I didnât want to was really dumb. But when I did try it, I felt relieved of the situation.  For example, if a person cut me off and I had to brake, Iâd usually start cussing.   Instead of getting mad, I took a deep breath and smiled and thought to myself that at least he didnât hit me. ãNobody got hurt, thatâs the main thing.ä  In chapter six, I did the Self Assessment exercise.  I evaluated myself as a driver, my best and worst traits.   Then I compared it with my best friendâs opinion about me.   I was able to look at the two and compare what things we came up with.  I thought that I was pretty calm when leaving my house but my best friend said that I always look mad right when I leave the driveway, like Iâm ready to kill somebody.   I still donât think Iâm that bad.   I just want to get where I have to be and leave.   I found this exercise helpful because I learned something about myself that I never thought about before.   The last exercise I thought was helpful was in chapter nine.   The scenario analysis develops critical thinking, not only for people learning to drive, but I think itâs also helpful for those who have been behind the wheel for a while.  It helps one to think about situations in a different way and recognize the outcomes of the decisions made.  Just one little mistake can lead into something really detrimental.

REVIEWS

The end notes and bibliography I think would help only if I were to continue to do more research on this topic, only because some of the references are not readily available.   However, I found the web pages easy to get to and helpful.   They are useful for references in both the sociological aspect as well psychological one.

HEALTH AND STRESS

I found that chapters two, three, five, and six, were related to health and stress.  Chapters two and three show the causes of aggression and stress.   For example, on page 52, there is a list on why driving arouses anger.  A few that were listed were, immobility, restriction, regulation, and lack of personal control.   Chapter three reiterates what chapter two covers.   There are the cases of the hostility on the road, pressures of others, and why venting is harmful to our health.   Venting for example is, ãa weakening response that makes you ineffective because youâre handing over power to an opponent- the power to injure your health through venting and dangerous retaliation· Itâs less frustrating when you donât ventä (p. 81).  Chapter five and six illustrates the ways we can deal with stressful events.   The exercises are very helpful as a guide to modify our behaviors.

WHERE DO I CATEGORIZE THIS BOOK?

This book can fit into a few Psychological categories. I would place this book into Cognitive and Behavioral Psychology, Emotional Psychology, and Developmental Psychology.  This would fit into Cognitive and Behavioral Psychology because our driving habits were built upon schemas that we learned through previous events that occurred.  These schemas and scripts are what we call upon to help cope with certain events that happen.  This book also fits under Emotional Psychology because we are also dealing with emotions that occur during a stressful event on the road.  The book describes briefly what "neuro-hijacking" is all about and what's occurring in the amygdala. Moreover, the importance of this subject is to learn how to break free from and control negative emotions so that they become positive ones.  Lastly, it can fit under Developmental Psychology.  In various chapters of the book, we are able to see how road rage tendencies are implanted trough upbringing. Chapter seven illustrates the three stages in which children learn from affective, cognitive, and then sensorimotor skills when driving.  This can also be helpful in a general perspective in child development also.

MY FAVORITE PARTS OF THE BOOK

I really liked what was said on page 80, under the sub-heading Caution ö Venting is Harmful for Your Health. ãExpressing or venting anger is literally bad for your health and well-being· Donât express it, donât suppress it, confess it.ä The idea of this expression is to just acknowledge that I lost my cool and instead of acting upon it or hiding the fact that Iâm mad, I let myself be free of the feeling because thatâs exactly what happened.  I didnât cause any harm to anyone else nor am I causing any stress for myself by keeping it inside. I find it less stressful and more positive about the world and about myself when I don't vent.

Another part of the book I thought was helpful was in chapter seven - "Verbal Rewards for Good Passengers."  My sister and her kids live with my family and because she does, I feel that I play a part in raising her children also. When she's gone, my parents, other siblings, or I have authority.  Thus, each and everyone of us will have an influence on their behaviors especially on the road.  Because I am now aware of my own behaviors, I am more cautious about the things that I do around them so that they don't pick up my bad habits.  I've seen the kinds of things they've heard from their mom and I tell my sister that it's bad that they copy what she says.  She however, doesn't see the negative outcomes because she's not aware of her own habits herself.  So I've been trying to counteract what they've learned through my sister and use verbal rewards when they are good passengers.  They have become better passengers around me.
 

STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES/ WHO SHOULD READ THIS

I found this book to be really helpful in self-help and with the understanding that Road Rage shouldnât be accepted.   I agree with many things the authors brought about because I accepted things as it was, but now see the opposition to my own behaviors.   The one thing that I found as a weakness was the fact that the book was very redundant and can be condensed a bit.   Most of the information presented, like in the emotional intelligence and drivers education or children and road rage I feel can be combined or cut out.  I think it would be more helpful if it was condensed for different audiences.   I remember how I hated being in drivers education because it was boring and I just wanted my license.  If however, this information was presented in a compacted manner with the important information about emotional intelligence, it will be beneficial for them in the long run.  I believe it should be condensed for those who have been driving for a while also.   It is important for those who have been driving to modify driving habits but I donât think people want to be lectured too much about how bad they are.  We all want shortcuts to things. Iâm not saying that reaching emotional intelligence is easy. Iâm saying to make it easier for the person reading to go through the steps in the areas they need it for.  Furthermore, this book is universal.  I think many people can benefit from reading it.  Professional driver, those still learning, those who feel like their lives are in dangered while in a car with a loved one, and those who need improvement,

WEB PAGES LINKS AND REVIEWS
 

Stress + Hostility = Violence Road Rage Is a Highway Hazard on the Rise by George Abry talks about the violence on the rise.   It illustrates some ideas why people are more stressed and some actions results in violence in other aspects in life such as on the road.    It talks about truck drivers and the kinds of stress they are under being on the road day in and day out.  Possible solutions the article mentions is using ãinner power toolsä taken from our book.

In Driving, Beginners' Luck Isn't Enough Teen Crash Deaths Are Down, But 16-Year-Olds' Are Rising. Is There a Way to Stop the Climb? By Phil Berardelli talks about teens and driving. Most fatalities are at the ages of 16 where most teens are able to get their license.   The article brings about some more facts on teen deaths and ways to lower the fatalities through graduated licensing and drivers education.

Detroit Free Press Despite Media Hype, Road Rage Not on Rise Little evidence backs notion of an epidemic by David Zeman
talks about how road rage isnât as bad as how the media makes it out to be.   In fact there isnât much supporting evidence of the rage hype.   One research analyst says that there is no definition for the term ãroad rage.ä This article also refers to our book and Dr. Jamesâ online survey.

Other reviews about this book can be found on this web page.

Citation:   Amazon online review from customers Internet. March 17, 2002.

  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-/books/1573928461/customer-reviews/102-9544250-5774577