Portrayals of Driving Behavior on TV:
What are We Watching?
Kendra Morgan Report 1, Traffic Psychology, University of Hawaii
Introduction: The Mission and Purpose
How Writing this Report has Influenced Me
Instructions for this
Report
When you watch the television or movies, are you conscious of
the influence that the material you are viewing is having on yourself and those
around you? Possibly, but the likelihood is that you are passively participating
and simply absorbing what you see. In the case of the way that driving is
portrayed through these mediums, the results can be very harmful.
This report is about the representation of driving behavior
through television and movies. Driving is depicted in many different aspects of
television including commercials, serials, sporting events and cartoons. Of
course driving scenes are also used in motion pictures that are distributed
through theaters and later to home video and cable channels. In many cases there
are scenes showing reckless and dangerous driving, these images are conveyed to
people of all ages and can affect a person's interpretation of what safe and
appropriate driving behavior is.
I watched ten examples of bad driving and reviewed them for
content. Each incidence is handled separately, you will find a description of
each event that I surveyed. Also included is an account of specific behaviors
that I noted during the sequence, an analysis and evaluation of the driving and
my overall rating of the driving. The rating is based on three key areas; 1)
Prominence throughout the course of the program, how much importance and
emphasis the scene had. 2) How realistic was the scene, is it something that
could be easily reproduced by people who watched it. and3 ) Danger involved, did
the sequence pose a threat to the driver and/or other vehicles, drivers or
pedestrians. The rating is based on a 1-10 scale, with 10 being the worst
example of bad driving. Each category has a maximum number of points available:
Prominence 0-3
Realistic nature 0-3
Danger Involved 0-4
Total possible= 10
Listed below are three reports that were created by students in
Generation 6. All three dealt with the same topic that I will be addressing and
provide additional insight into the portrayals of driving on television.
Additional Sources of Information
Kristy Kato:
Portrayals of
Driving Behavior on T.V
In this report Ms. Kato performed the same activities that I did
in order to complete the assignment. This included watching television
commercials, programs including cartoons and serials, and movies to gain
perspective on how driving is portrayed through the media. We both included
information about the program Dukes of Hazzard, a show that constantly
represents driving behaviors in an aggressive and often careless manner. One
area that Ms. Kato looked at that I didn't, was music videos. This medium
reaches a tremendous number of people and by including it in her report, she
brings this to attention.
Kristin Subia:
Portrayals of
Driving Behavior on TV-Good or Bad?
I found this report to be thorough and well presented. The
information was laid out in a clear manner that was easy to understand and
analyze. Ms. Kato looked at the representation of driving behavior in movies,
commercials, cartoons, and sporting events. I really found the sporting event
section interesting because she watched a NASCAR race where the whole point is
to drive! I believe that one of the reasons so many people are interested in
watching events such as these is to see the accidents that inevitably occur. Ms.
Subia encourages others to do more self-witnessing when they are driving and
become more conscious of their behaviors on the road, good advice I think.
Jennifer Kaneshiro:
Portrayals
of Driving Behavior on TV-Good or Bad?
In order to get data for this project Ms. Kaneshiro viewed
television commercials, serials, cartoons and movies. Her report is very easy to
follow, all of the categories have been broken up into clickable sections. Each
incidence is documented thoroughly and clearly with discussion on how watching
this type of behavior can influence others and how it did influence her
personally.
Back to the Top
2. Clueless
Description of Events
The film is about a wealthy Beverly Hills teenager who is supposed to be the
epitome of fashion and style. Her driving skills remain to be tested though.
Cher, the main character, currently has her learner's permit and is about to
take the test for her license. She has been allowed to drive without the
supervision of a licensed driver and has shown poor behavior when behind the
wheel including hitting objects along side the road and failing to come to a
complete stop at a stop sign. The following events occured during the scene
where Cher was taking her license and took about 30 seconds to complete.
Specific Behaviors
-
Her mind was preoccupied with her romantic relationship and she
was not concentrating on driving.
-
While changing lanes she almost hits a bicyclist and shows
little concern or remorse.
-
She swerves to the right, sideswipes several parked cars and
keeps driving.
Analysis and Evaluation
a) This was another popular film that continued to do well in the home video
market. However, I don't think that the driving depicted in this film was as
destructive as it was in Speed.
b) The character in this movie was often portrayed as superficial and spoiled
and I don't believe many people easily fit into this category. She was extremely
wealthy and had a very surreal life. Still, these images can create the
impression that driving is not a serious subject.
c) By initially allowing his daughter to drive without the accompaniment of a
licensed driver, the father in this movie sets a very poor standard. His lax
attitude toward driving would undoubtedly affect his daughter's opinions as
well.
Rating
Prominence: 1
Realistic Nature: 1
Danger Involved: 2
Total score=4
3. Adventures in Babysitting
-
Day: Friday
-
Date: 10/17/97
-
Channel: 31 - Disney
Description of Events
A babysitter and her three charges are in the cab of a semi-truck that is in the
process of towing their car on an expressway in Chicago. The driver of the semi
truck gets a phone call informing him that his wife is cheating on him. He gets
angry and decides to go to his house, with the other people still in the truck.
The scene is approximately one minute long in a movie that runs an hour and
forty minutes.
Specific Behaviors
-
The cab of the truck is over capacity, the passengers are
squished in and no one has a seatbelt on.
-
The driver speeds up to 70 mph while driving this heavy truck on
a busy expressway.
-
The driver swerves in and out of lanes at high speeds,
threatening the safety of other drivers and his passengers so that he can reach
his destination faster. In this case, it is especially dangerous because he is
towing a car behind the truck.
-
After exiting the expressway, the driver takes his eyes off the
road so that he can reach over to the glove compartment and grab a gun.
-
He arrives at the location and slams on his brakes and all the
passengers lurch forward.
Analysis and Evaluation
a) The driver's lack of concern for his passengers and others on the road is
scary. He is very irrate and wants to catch the man that his wife is having an
affair with.
b) The youngest passenger in the car was a 10 year old girl who after the scene
was finished was very excited. She thought the whole episode was a lot of fun
and wanted to know if they were going to do it again.
Rating
Prominence: 1
Realistic Nature: 2
Danger Involved: 3
Total score=6
Back to the Top
Television Serials
a) This entire series presents a picture that excessive speeding and other bad
behaviors are normal and that there is nothing wrong with them. Promotes
desensitization.
b) Encourages aggression against other drivers if they are blocking the
achievement of a goal (in this case, catching the Duke brothers).
c)No one is injured in this scene even though there is the potential for serious
injuries after the types of activities that happened. In the real world, this
would be highly unlikely, people would probably have been hurt in some way.
a)The cartoon shows a police officer (albeit a canine officer) driving and not
being as responsible as he could be.
b) Both characters remove their eyes from the road giving the implication that
it is not particularly necessary to watch where you are going.
2. The Mighty Ducks
-
Day: Tuesday
-
Date: 10/14/97
-
Time: 7:30 am
-
Channel: 5 - KFVE
Description of Events
The Mighty Ducks are driving in their All-Terrain Vehicle down a street when
they encountered a nemesis who is looking to cause some trouble. The program
itself was half and hour and this scene took up approximately a minute and forty
seconds. In the list of behaviors, car A will be the Mighty Ducks (the good
guys) and car B will be the nemesis.
Specific Behaviors
-
Car A travels down the middle of the road instead of staying in
the proper lane.
-
The bad guy in car B approaches car A headon in the middle of
the road and begins firing a gun that is attached to the roof of his car.
-
Car A pulls a u-turn in the middle of the road, goes into
"assault mode" and begins returning fire to car B.
-
Car A and B sideswipe each other, but both keep driving.
-
Car B shoots car A with a laser and sends it flying into a
building where debris begins to fall on it.
-
One of the passengers from car A jumps onto car B and drops in a
grenade that causes it to explode in the middle of the road.
Analysis and Evaluation
a) Absolutely no concern is expressed for other drivers or pedestrians that may
be in the surrounding area by either the good guys or the bad guy.
b) The depiction of scenes where the cars sideswipe each other is very poorly
representative of actual car accidents where damage to cars and possible injury
to passengers often occurs.
c) When car A collides with the building and the debris begins to fall on the
vehicle, everyone is able to jump out of the car without any injury. This is
highly unrealistic and a poor model for how people actually experience real life
accidents.
Rating
Prominence: 2
Realistic Nature: 1
Danger Involved: 3
Total score=6
3. Speed Racer
Description of Events
Speed Racer is the name of the main character in this cartoon and he drives a
hi-tech car. In this scene, there are essentially two different interactions
involving a total of three cars. Car A will be Speed and his girlfriend (the
good guys), Car B has two people in it, a father and daughter who are wanted by
the police, and Car C which is almost exactly the same "Super" car that Speed
racer drives. This is a half hour cartoon and this scene is two and a half
minues long.
-
A car chase begins with car A and car B. The passenger in car B
begins shooting a gun at car A.
-
The driver in car B suggests that they pull over and turn
themselves over to the police, but the passenger refuses and sticks his foot on
top of the driver's and forces her to go faster by pushing the gas down.
-
Car A and B speed through a winding road swerving back and forth
between lanes.
-
Car B is able to escape because Car C blocks the road so that
Car A cannot get past. Now a chase ensues between these two cars.
-
The speedometer on the car is shown and it says that the cars
are driving over 180 mph - on a winding road!
-
The driver of car C purposefully launches his car over the
guardrail and car B follows him.
-
Both cars then go underwater (don't worry they are well equipped
for this kind of driving), however, the scene shows that tires moving, but they
are floating, not driving on the ocean floor.
-
The cars emerge at a cliff and then both drive straight up the
cliff which is at a 90 degree vertical incline.
-
Car C begins to fire lasers at car A, but is not able to damage
the car.
-
Finally, other cars come to help and they surround car C and
manage to arrest the driver.
Analysis and Evaluation
a)This scene is highly unrealistic in several respects. First, the excessive
speeds that these cars are able to travel at on a regular road.
b)Second, the images of the cars being able to submerge themselves in water and
still appear to drive as fast on land as they can underwater is very
unrealistic.
c)When traveling down the road at such high speeds, no concern was given for
other cars that might also be traveling on that road.
Rating
Prominence: 2
Realistic Nature: 1
Danger Involved: 3
Total score= 6
4. Secret Squirrel and Morocco Mole
Description of Events
Secret Squirrel and his sidekick Morocco Mole are undercover agents who are out
testing their car to make sure that all of the special features still work (kind
of like James Bond). Morocco Mole is driving the car and while testing it, they
come across one of their enemies who decides to wreak a little havoc on the
streets. The entire scene was three and half minutes long, and the program was
half an hour.
Specific Events
-
Mole, the driver, looks away from the road for 5 seconds while
taking to Squirrel. This happens on two separate occasions.
-
Driver and passenger decide to test their weapons in the middle
of the road, firing one right past a police officer who has virtually no
reaction.
-
The test the helicopter mode of the car and it goes up okay, but
comes crashing down when the parachute fails. The car leaves a huge hole in the
road.
-
The bad guy shows up and Squirrel and Mole begin chasing him,
they tailgate him and rear end his car.
-
To retaliate, the bad guy begins firing his machine gun at Mole
and Squirrel.
-
Squirrel and Mole start driving away, but they are yanked back
by the criminal and he begins to use a "smasher" to pound their car into a metal
pancake. In the next scene, the car has completely recovered from this.
-
Squirrel and Mole get behind the bad guy and use the "mangler" a
large drill bit that pops out of their car and begins drilling away at the bad
guy's car until there is nothing left of it.
Analysis and Evaluation
a) This cartoons gives a very tainted view of normal, typical driving behavior.
This is accomplished by the use of attachments to the car like the "mangler" and
"smasher".
b) There is never any sign of someone getting hurt, no matter how many bullets
were fired or how smashed the car was, no one was injured. In real life the
situation would probably be much different.
Rating
Prominence: 2
Realistic Nature: 1
Danger Involved: 2
Total Score=6
Back to the Top
One of the first things that surprised me when I started this,
was the difficulty in finding enough examples of bad behavior that I could
successfully evaluate. I expected there to be more examples available, but I had
to watch a considerable amount of programming and movies to find the 10 required
situations. There was a relatively large number of examples of people driving
responsibly and with consideration for other drivers. This was promising, but
what I also discovered was that it is the scene depicting bad behavior that
stands out in the minds of the viewer.
For instance, in the movie Speed, all of the action scenes
containing generally inappropriate behavior are the ones that the audience paid
to see. They wanted to see that action and potential danger it is a major
premise in the movie. This is also true in programming like CHiPs or Dukes of
Hazzard where driving holds a prominent position in the story lines.
I found that I generally rated cartoon programming for children
lower on the scale of realistic nature. I realize that for many children of a
young age, this can seem very realistic and the children may be deceived about
the level of danger that would be involved if this were to actually happen. It
is important for parents to discuss this with their children and for those who
are too young to distinguish between reality and what they see on television,
the parent should exercise more caution before allowing their child to watch
programs like these.
Modeling is a very powerful influence for people of all ages,
and when they see a character that they admire or are attracted to commiting bad
driving behaviors, this could have an influence on them. I am concerned about
the process of desensitization and how it people people who are watching
television. I think that shows that depict aggressive driving without the
presence of any repercussions are exacerbating the problem. Showing massive car
crashes were no one is injured promotes a false sense of immortality.
There are many other situations where people are
influenced by bad driving behavior. By watching parents and friends
drive, we are affected by their expectations and behaviors. Television
is heavily watched in most homes around the country and the images that
are depicted undoubtedly have an effect on viewers.