Organizations Against Road Rage and Aggressive Driving

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Citizens Against Speeding and Aggressive Driving

ABOUT CASAD: (From Their Own Words) Citizens Against Speeding and Aggressive Driving is a non-profit, non-partisan grassroots organization dedicated to making our roads safe for drivers, bikers, and pedestrians alike. We are a new organization, founded in February 1997, and are presently served by residents of Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia, but we would like to reach out to citizens in communities across the nation. Our members are people of all ages, from all walks of life, who have come together because we feel frustrated and unnerved by the dangerous driving behavior that we encounter every day in our community. Increasingly, we also have begun to recognize that most car crashes are not accidents. Rather, they are the direct result of drivers who speed, tailgate, run red lights, weave in and out of traffic, and vent their frustration by ignoring basic traffic safety regulations. Traffic safety experts confirm what our members intuitively believe -- that this behavior, defined as AGGRESSIVE DRIVING, has become an EPIDEMIC. Our organization was formed to give voice to this enormous problem. We recognize that it is virtually impossible to change driving behavior on an individual basis, but firmly believe that what we can do is change the driving culture, making it socially unacceptable to speed and drive aggressively on any road under any circumstance.

THEIR MISSION:

Their mission is "to slow down traffic, curb aggressive driving, and significantly reduce auto-related deaths and injuries."

MY COMMENT: CASAD advocates for highway and auto safety caused by aggressive driving for citizens all over the United States. The supporters of CASAD are presently the residents of Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. I think their site is very convincing because they not only explain why they're against aggressive driving, but they also support it with facts using stastistics of crashes they found out last year. They also included a couple of transcripts of their testimony before the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Surface Transportation. What they're trying to advocate is very important because it's for the good of ordinary citizens like us. I think that their site is going to be very effective because it's easy to follow, it really seems that the supporters are sincere, and it's a very informative page. Their methods and approach are these six paths that they follow to accomplish their mission:

I think that the above approach fit in the overall scheme of things in the traffic safety world because they're not hard to do or implement. It's something that can be done if more people would support this organization.

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ABOUT CARR: According to Dr. James, Children Against Road Rage is a newly proposed organization patterned after MADD and SADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving & Students Against Drunk Driving). Children Against Road Rage is the first organization developed to protect children against road rage and aggressive driving. By having children become active (with the supervision of adults) in this kind of organization, CARR hopes that they would learn to develop emotional intelligence on the road.

THEIR MISSION: The purpose of CARR is "to form local organization of children where they can learn to develop emotionally intelligent road behaviors as pedestrians, cyclists, vehicle passengers, and later, as student drivers." Like other organizations for children, CARR attempts to protect children from violence and abuse.

MY COMMENT: CARR advocates anti-road rage awareness among children by using a survey that will help children recognize when and where they are exposed to road rage. The survey was developed for the purpose that children can learn to recognize road rage at an early age and hopefully, learn to reject aggression on other drivers when they start driving, as well. The supporters of CARR are concerned parents, teachers and children. I consider this page to be very convincing because of the informations that were presented about children learning to recognize road rage at an early age. It is important for people to know that children are easily affected by actions taken by adults and that they like to imitate some things that older people do, especially if they see it everyday. As mentioned earlier, the methods and approach Dr. James has taken is -- he create a survey that parents or teachers can use to teach kids in determining aggressive behaviors. I believe that it fits in the overall scheme of things in the traffic safety world because the survey teaches children to detect aggressiveness, and we all know that aggression on the road is the main cause of road rage.

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ABOUT YARR: Youth Against Road Rage, according to Dr. Kirby, is an organization that support the "Youth of the World in becoming brilliantly successful drivers." Also, according to Dr. James, YARR is "a centralized international organization and a socio-cultural movement." Together, Dr. James (aka Dr. Driving) and Dr. Kirby (aka Dr. YARR) work together to make this organization possible and to entice the youth of the world to join Youth Against Road Rage. To find out more about the organization, please click this site: YARR

THEIR MISSION: The purpose of YARR is to let the youth of today lead the way in making our roads safer for everyone or for all of us.

MY COMMENT: YARR is advocating good driving behavior by addressing the "action plan that will tackle this social epidemic," according to Dr. James. It also advocates peace and civility among drivers. The supporters of YARR are Dr. James, Dr. Kirby, and the youth of today. This organization is convincing because both Dr. James and Dr. Kirby give so much information about the organization and what it's trying to advocate. Other than the informations, that are obviously well thought of, the organization has so much activities that the youth of today can enjoy like the upcoming 2000 festivities and competitions, as well as the Million Youth March. I think, most of the informations shared by both Dr. Driving and Dr. YARR are very important because they're reaching out to the youth to help them implement good driving behavior because they know that the youth of today are tomorrow's future. It seems very effective because a lot of the young generations today want to get involve to organizations like this especially that they're sending out a strong message about good driving behavior and they have functions or gatherings that are very exciting for the younger generations to enjoy.

The methods and approach that Dr. Kirby has taken is to design a 1,000 YARR parties from 20 participating cities in each states and each youth is "asked to create a supportive community from extended family, school, church, sports group, hobby club, Internet Special Interest Groups, and so on." Dr. James' methods and approach, on the other hand, proposed these following concepts: a lifelong driver's ed (K-12) with a cumulative program in Driving Psychology; after high school graduation, participation in Quality Driving Circles (QDCs); Self-modification and Self-modification techniques; and Social Activism groups such as YARR, CARR, and CASAD. I really think that both Dr. James' and Dr. Kirby's methods and approach fit in the scheme of things in the traffic safety world because the message they're sending out to people are enlightening and very educational. People can learn from the facts or datas they have gathered about aggressive driving and good driving behaviors.

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