My Second Oral Presentation: Chapter 12 "Claim Making and the Drive for Greater Control"

From the book: Beyond Traffic Safety by; J. Peter Rothe

Table of Contents
Instructions for this report
Summary of the Chapter
Questions and Answers
My Reactions and Observations
Other Reports done by 459 Students of G11
Suggestions for Future Generations

Summary of the Chapter

There were two questions that Rothe aimed to answer in this chapter. Who defines traffic safety, and how do those definitions affect driving activities? Rothe answers these questions by saying that certain groups have the ability to control what kinds of traffic policies, laws, and standards are made. The groups range in power, influence, and expertise, but they all share one common goal. They are aiming to reduce the number and severity of traffic accidents. Their shared game plan is to crack down on deviant drivers. Rothe says that these groups possess a "victim-blaming ideology." What this means is that drivers involved in car accidents take the blame for what happened even though it may not have been their fault. This is the principle that Rothe argues for throughout the chapter.

Groups like auto makers and insurance companies have no problem accepting the philosophy that drivers are at fault for accidents. Insurance companies are justified in charging their clients an arm and a leg in order to keep their cars insured. If the driver is more prone to cause accidents it will cost more to keep that driver insured. Auto makers embrace the driver fault ideology because it makes them appear to be responsible in their manufacturing. Rothe included a statistic that does not get widespread publicity. Between 1966-1985 over 100 million American-made cars were recalled because of safety defects.

Traffic researchers basically come up with the same conclusion, that drivers are largely to blame for traffic accidents. One way these researchers compile evidence and statistics is by collecting information from police accident reports. One study compared accident reports done by police to those done by hospital emergency rooms. It was found that police reports consistently left out certain kinds of information (demographic, social, crash factors, and severity of injuries incurred). Furthermore, Rothe argued that police handle their investigations of accidents in an automatic fashion. Another problem with obtaining all vital statistics and information from police is that they have other duties to handle other than traffic accidents. In certain areas of the United States police try to handle reports quickly in order to better serve the public. The problem is that trying to rush through reports can allow for details to be overlooked.

Many experts claim that speed is a major factor that contributes to accidents. Rothe argues against this idea. He says that many other confounding variables are in conjunction with speed. In order for speed to be confirmed as the ultimate causal factor of accidents, all other factors would need to remain constant. Weather conditions, traffic flow, drivers' moods, etc. would all have to remain exactly the same as speed is manipulated. This is just not possible; therefore, it is not safe to conclude that speed is directly related to and increase in accidents on the roadways. Car size was also something that Rothe mentioned. At a certain time there was a huge influx of foreign made automobiles. These foreign cars were smaller in stature in comparison to American made vehicles. In the event of a collision, smaller cars take more of a beating. They are more susceptible to greater amounts of damage.

This chapter was an attempt to give drivers back a sense of power. The majority of claim-makers often attribute accidents to the wrong elements, or they are too hasty to blame drivers. I thought Rothe raised some good issues, but I don't totally agree with his ideas. I believe that more accidents are caused by the human factor rather than other factors.

Back to the Top

Questions and Answers

Dr. James
Relating to accidents: What about driver error? Do you see them as causing crashes? (inattention, alcohol, recklessness, speeding) What about driver personality?

I think that driver error is a major factor in auto accidents. In many cases driver error is the primary causal factor of accidents. However, I don't think that drivers are at fault for accidents 100 percent of the time. I think that driver personality could also contribute to the number of accidents a person has. If a person is aggressive, it is more likely that they will also be aggressive as a driver. This would increase their chances of getting into an accident.

Alma Valvieja
How can officials determine who is at fault of accidents? How can they prove it's the drivers fault of the accident?

I think it's a difficult job to figure out who is at fault of an accident. I'm not sure how they come up with their conclusions. I know that there are experts who can observe damaged vehicles and estimate how fast the driver was going at the time of impact. I think that most of the information comes from the parties involved in the accident. If the stories don't match up, authorities can inquire of anyone who may have witnessed the accident. I think there is only so much that someone can determine by looking at damaged vehicles. Hearing the stories form the drivers themselves must be the main source of information on the cause of accidents.

Jason Thompson
Do you think that officers should be trained to evaluate accident scenes?

I think that it would definitely help if police officers were experts at evaluating accidents. Unfortunately, there are many other things that police officers need to attend to. I remember what you said about the insurance companies and how they should have personnel available to investigate accidents. I think that's a good idea because police officers are busy people and they need to be available to everyone who needs help. It would be great if they were at an expert level of making assessments of accidents, but I don't think that it should be require of them. Officers should be free to leave accident scenes if necessary. Placing them as the only ones capable of assessing accidents would be a disservice to drivers who need help. Accidents are prioritized, and when other situations arise that require more attention, officers need to be there.

Don Huynh
Do you feel that there could be a widespread number of people increasingly claiming that drivers' negligence is not to blame when driving accidents occur?

I don't think that there are too many people out there who will try to go against driver negligence as a cause of accidents. Generally, I would guess that only drivers who want to avoid being at fault for accidents try to claim that driver negligence was not a causal factor. If people drive as safe as they should, the number of accidents would be very minimal. It's too hard to account for accidents by variables that are difficult to measure (like car malfunctioning). Even with car malfunctioning there's a possibility that the driver should have kept up with some sort of preventive maintenance.

Karla Hampp
In your opinion, are accidents mostly driver's fault? If there is a situation where someone/something else is at fault, please give an example.

Many times accidents can be attributed directly to driver error, but there are some incidents where drivers are not at fault. For example, someone may be driving and a child decides to run across the street without looking. Even though the driver may have his full attention focused on the road, there is not much that he can do in that type of situation. Either he will end up hitting the child, or he will have to swerve and maneuver his vehicle in order to avoid hitting the child. There are just certain situations that cause accidents that are beyond the driver's control.

Back to the Top

My Reactions and Observations

I was happy with they way my presentation turned out, it produced some good discussion. It was also a learning experience for me. I went in with a few ideas of my own, and I walked out with some fresh perspectives. Even as I am writing this report I am still sifting through all kinds of ideas. Rothe was pretty convincing in some areas of his argument that there are other factors that contribute to accidents besides driver error.

Back to the Top

Other Reports done by 459 Students of G11

One thing I looked for was the changes from the oral 1 to the oral 2 reports. Many of the reports held the same format and appearance. I try to make each report look different. However, I think the structure of my reports usually don't change. I'm impressed with how fast everyone is and how on-time they are. Everybody is obviously working hard.

Back to the Top

Suggestions for Future Generations

Start as early as you can for any report that you do. Maybe you are someone who works quickly, but I know that doing these reports has taken me a long time. Use other reports to give you ideas, but the best way to be satisfied with your page is to create. Try to make your pages interesting for the visitors. I know that I have come across quite a few reports that I didn't bother with because they did not grab my attention. Make reading your report fun for anyone who happens to visit. Remember, anyone can see these reports online.

Back to the Top

ike@hawaii.edu