The Endless Exploration in the World of Newsgroups
Table of Contents
Newgroup Topics:
Car Drivers ARE Reckless || Daily Grips: Cell Phones and Accidents
Relative Driving Skills || Brake Lights: Nemesis of the Highways
||
Old Drivers More Deadly Than Drunks
Hostile Drivers: We're Kidding, Right?
|| Left Lane Travelers
Aggressive Drivers...Women ||
Traffic Accident Statistics???
Road Rage || Speeding and Today's Police Cars
What City Has the Worst Drivers
Suggestions for Future Generations
Conclusion
Date: Monday,
February 16, 1998 3:18 PM
Subject: Re: Car Drivers ARE reckless!
What *I* hate is how
people pretend they don't even see you, whether they are driving or walking.
When I'm walking in a store, people just barge through like I am invisible and
I usually end up stepping aside. When I'm crossing a street, drivers try to
take the right of way even though I have the right of way. They barely slow
down at all to avoid hitting me. When I drive I come to a full stop for
pedestrians. When I walk, other people keep creeping their car forward and act
like they're going to hit me if I'm not fast enough. Also they're very
impatient when they're waiting for me to move and they honk their horns. I'd
like to say that the safety of my $21,000 car is infinitely more important than
a few seconds of your goddamn time.
On the other hand
sometimes someone will stop in the middle of traffic or double park for an
extremely long time, like several minutes or longer. I only stop if I'm waiting
for the coast to be clear. I personally haven't been in any accidents and I
don't have any tickets, although there were some close calls. People are also
pushy in grocery lines. They get as close to you as they can and they shove
your food to make room to put their food on the conveyor belt. They really
don't need to do this as they will have plenty of time, but people are just
always so pushy. I really hate it when they push my food and stand too close to
me. Sometimes they bump their shopping cart into my butt or I can smell their
stinking body odor.
My Comments
I think that there is some
kind of "pushy" phenomenon that goes on inside of our brains that
controls our way of doing things. If things don't go our way, we tend to want it
more to go our way, but the fact that when it still doesn't go our way, we
simple get more rushed and more rushed that we don't realize that we are not
ourselves. I find that to be true inside of me and I tend to take that
aggression out on someone else. Displacement of all that anger can turn into a
sticky situation. In response to Mr. Chronus, he seems to be the type of person
with a great deal of patience and kindness. He points out that not even in
vehicles where other people display unaccepted driving behavior, but also in
grocery stores and in food lines.
This attitude can lead to a
very dangerous situation and one of which I had experience myself. One incident
where I acted as if I was in a rush or didn't care for much felt as if another
person was inside of my brain trying to control me. I know I wasn't myself and
still kept on speeding with my motorcycle weaving in and out of traffic with no
car in the world. Somehow that was fun. But almost driving myself into another
vehicle in front of me doing the same thing caused me to panic and I hit my
brakes then I laid my motorcycle down on the road at speeds up to 60 mph. Today,
I take my time with everything that I do and with more thinking involved.
Back to the Top Down to the Bottom
Daily Gripes: Cell Phones and Accidents
It has just been
reported by "The New England Journal of Medicine" that a Canadian
study concluded that cell phone users were 4 times more likely to have an
accident, which is the same ratio for drunk drivers. Even using speakerphones
did not change this statistic. Apparently, it was merely being in the act of
conversing that was a serious enough diversion to increase the probability of
an accident. The NHSTA plans to do a 2-year study of this.
Well don't that just
beat all!
First, does this
also mean that when 2 or more people are in a car that the driver is also 4
times more likely to have an accident? After all, most cell phone calls are
relatively short due to the relatively high cost of making calls, while those
in a car, not having any expense to bear, can talk freely for as long as they
want. And it the latter is true, then you would think that perhaps multi-occupant
car drivers could be as high as 10 times more likely to have an accident.
So what I want to
know is this:
If they do what they
do in Germany, outlaw their use except when you are pulled off the road and
standing still, do we then outlaw occupancy of a car by more than one person
(unless they are sitting on the side of the road going nowhere)?
And what about HOV?
Does this mean that HOV drivers cause more deaths than single-occupant drivers?
If so, lets ban HOV.
Does singing along
with your favorite song on the radio mean accidents are far more likely to
happen, and thus we ban radios, CDs, tapes, etc? Does tuning to those traffic
report radio stations for traffic information cause accidents? Does picking
your nose cause accidents? Does sighing heavily when breathing cause accidents?
Does pressing on the gas to go anyway cause accidents?
No matter what the
conclusion of the study by NHSTA is, there isn't anything practical or
politically sound they can do. And in 1995 the rate of purchase of cell phone
was higher than the birth rate.
You can see that the
shear madness of the issues surrounding the causes of accidents is such that we
should all do what is practical and politically sound to reduce death rates,
but one has to live with a reasonable trade-off and accept some death-rate as
inevitable, as in, if you don't want to risk dying on the highway, then walk
(though as a pedestrian its not all that safe either; hit by car or killed by
murderer on the street).
My
Comments
In accordance to the
article, I don't really have an opinion or a decision to make on who is right
or wrong. What I do think is that both sides had something
interesting to say. On the side of the NHSTA, they have points that are
backed up by research and development. On the side of the commentator,
he or she is speaking from an abstract and moral point of view. On the issue of
talking on a cellular phone while driving, the NHSTA says that
the chances of a driver getting into an accident is greater for a driver who
is not. The commentator tries to pass a point that it's not talking on
a cellular phone that may cause a driver to get into an accident.
What may cause a driver to
get into any kind of accident is the fact that the driver may be
preoccupied with another activity that may
cause him or her to not
pay attention to the road and thus resulting in the accident. The commentator points
out that what if a driver was picking his or her noses? Or what if a driver was
singing a favorite song. What the general public don't
know is the facts on other occurrences of automobile accidents. What we do know
is drivers do get into accidents while talking on a cellular phone.
Back to the Top Down to the Bottom
FWIW, from what little I know of Marc, he is an
autocrosser of some experience and success. Given that, it would be an upset of
the highest order for me to 'outdrive' him at this time. I'm still learning,
especially with regard to autocrossing.
We're talking about street driving where your life and the life of everyone
around you is in your hands, hence one's mental ability is far more important
than the physical ability. In spite of our differences there is no doubt in my
mind you are light years ahead of Marc in that regard.
Thank you. This is
why I used 'outdrive' in quotation marks. The only situation I can understand
outdriving someone is in competition. Street driving is not competitive, and I
don't know of any way to measure who outdrove who.
This brings up
another question I have for Earl, or anyone else who knows. Does the National
Academy of Police Driving autocross school still exist down in Dallas? Has
anyone here attended it? If any of the above are true, what was their
impression?
n
"To be a serious automotive journalist, it is said, you must have owned an
Alfa Romeo." -À [ John Simister ]
My Comments
I think that the idea of
out driving is a totally relevant term in describing how a lot of motorist on
the street drive. Although the writer leads into another topic of
driving schools, I would like to focus on
how people think the
public roads seem to be though of as a race track. Many of us think that when we
get into an automobile, we think we're driving in the Daytona 500. Well, I've
got news for you, we're not. The main purpose of the
street and your personal automobile is for transportation. Not competition.
This reason may seem irrelevant, but as children, we are brought up with many
ideas one of which to be toy cars that resemble fast moving
vehicles.
Through our entire lives,
we are surrounded by the media and other sources of fast
moving vehicles. I just wonder how valid is the
idea that our surrounding
plays a role in how we react. Well, the idea of conditioning has it's few good points.
Since we are brought up by many of these fast machines whether it's in the
media or we are participants, we are conditioned to
want to go fast and break rules. Let alone compete against one another,
because some of us live by the saying, "Only the Strong Will
Survive!"
Back to the Top Down to the Bottom
Brake Lights: Nemesis of Highways
Have you ever pulled
away from a stop sign in a stick shift car, and for some reason, either lack of
skill or bad timing, the car repeatedly lurches forward, like a ball bouncing
down the road. No doubt this is rough on the car as well as it's occupants, and
isn't a very pretty sight. Now extend this to the freeways. Stop and go
traffic. Lurching, accelerating, stopping, lurching again. Unlike a good start
from pole position, there is no attempt for a smooth and steady, constant
movement.
People run up on
each other and then slam on the brakes. Like the previous example, this affects
the car and it's riders. The car's brakes are worn, gas mileage is shot and the
people inside just get more and more frustrated. Solution: Don't ride people
asses on the freeway. Move at a steady constant speed and strive not to use
your brakes EVER on the freeway. Besides reducing stress and wear, you are also
allowing others to merge in the ample space you have now created between you
and the car ahead. [ Chow, Chaz ]
My Comments
The writer has a good
strong point. Operating an automobile has many responsibilities and it takes a certain
amount of skill. I find that the two main reasons for traffic to exist is that
either there is some kind of accident by congesting the
streets with people "rubber necking" or blocking passage ways or the
people in the front of the line is pressing the wrong pedal. This brings me
back to the idea of "outdriving" others on the
street. If we all didn't try to cut and get in front of the line and simply
drive in accordance in a smooth, but gradual speed, traffic
wouldn't exist.
Everyday I drive to work
from the University of Hawaii to University Square with my moped. Although it
is a short distance, less than 5 minutes away, I think there is a pattern
that is developed. I wake up in the
my morning and do my
daily washing of the face, brushing the teeth, breakfast, change of clothes,
etc. and I get on moped and leave almost at the same time
and enter a little traffic about the same time and get
to my office at almost the same time overall. I don't find any problem
with it. I think that traffic is just
the over abundance of
cars on the street. If we all know how to develop our own patterns that
we can live with in our daily driving lives, I think that we
can alliviate the problem of rage.
Back to the Top Down to the Bottom
Old Drivers More Deadly Than Drunks
Did you know what
group of drivers caused the most fatal accidents last year in Las Vegas? With
all the free drinks served at Casinos you would think that it would be drunk driving.
But that is NOT the case. Last year, the old, gray and senile drivers caused
more accidents.
Why is gray driving
as deadly as drunk driving? While alcohol impairs the body's ability to see,
react and reason - age eventually does the same thing. When you get too old,
you can't see, hear, react, or contain the same mental capacity as when you
were young. You BECOME AN IMPAIRED DRIVER !
According to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police
Department Captain Carl Fruge "It is the senior drivers more than ANY
OTHERS that are dying." Fruge said, "Their numbers are climbing
faster than anyone else. We have had many cases when an officer, after an
accident notices that (an elderly driver) may not be coherent, aware of their surroundings
or have their complete mental capacities."
[ " Traffic
especially deadly for seniors in '97,". http://www.lvrj.com 1/17/98 ]
According to the
Bureau of Transportation Statistics, per 100 million miles traveled, drivers
over 85 are 10 times more likely to be in a fatal accident than the population
norm. Meanwhile, the blood alcohol limit is set at a rate that would make a
normal driver twice as likely to be in a fatal accident. So, you have in effect
a law that punishes people who statistically are 5 times less likely to be in a
fatal accident than older people. I don't advocate drunk driving, but I see no
reason to allow drivers that are 5 times more likely than drunks to cause
fatalities to be on the road -- At least without frequent testing.
[
http://www.dontgrayanddrive.com ]
My Comments
I find that really hard to
believe that there are elderly people out there in the world who would take a chance
at driving. Once I have heard some dancer say that she'll dance until she
is 90 years old. But having people say I'll drive till
I'm 100 years old or until I die is something really to think about. I mean.
Studies have shown that the average person who reaches the age of sixty starts
to lose a large aprt of their senses. One of
the first to go is the sense of hearing. Then the next thing to go is the sense
of taste and smell. Commitment to some kind of activity is a good thing,
but elderly drivers have to draw the line
somewhere. I mean times are a changing and moving rapidly. Most
motorist on the road don't want to drive behind
some old guy who is going 30 mph under the speed limit. This is the
age of speed and technology and if you don't get out of the way, someone is
just going to get run over.
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Hostile drivers: We're kidding, Right?
Wed, 14 Feb
1996 09:50:02 -0600
I think a
variation on this idea really has merit. Substitute paint-balls for
darts, and you've got it. Anybody driving like an A**hole gets
paintballed. Cars with multiple "splats" are marked as obvious
frequent offenders. It might make drivers a little more consciencious of
how they are driving, warn other drivers (and cyclists) when they are dealing
with an idiot, and ultimately draw police attention to unsafe drivers.
Ummmm...this _is
not_ a flame. I appreciate the humor of this thread. However from the lack of
smileys I am starting to fear that we are getting serious. I live in Northern
Florida...read high redneck titer...and if I pulled anything remotely
resembling a gun, I would be likely be shot. Further, if I anger a driver by
splatting their car, they would likely squash me flat (OK tire print
me...I wouldn't really be flat).
I will (and have done
so) report hostile drivers to the police. If I can identify them, I will (and
have done so) write them a note informing them of their lack of courtesy. I
have considered using some of the Zip Code/address software available to send a
mass mailing to their neighborhood, informing their neighbors of the driver's
lack of courtesy. I have fantasized about damaging their cars, cussing them
out, and otherwise seeking revenge.
However, frightening
or angering someone in a 1500 pound, 300 horsepowered weapon strikes me as
unwise. Therefore, I will continue with relatively passive resistance. I hope
that none of us are inspired to attack an automobile in a rage...as Sancho
Panza said...whether the rock hits the plate or the plate hits the rock...the
outcome is bad for the plate...Smile and wave (in a way that cannot possibly be
construed to an obscene gesture), call the cops.
I am a sizable
person, served in the US Army Special Forces in Viet Nam and am afraid of
little (or at least like to think so). However, when we cycle, we are very
alone (usually) on a very small vehicle...our opponent isn't alone...and
his/her car is very big... I hope none of us take this thread seriously.
If, on the other
hand, this has all been in jest, and all understand that, Accept my solemn
apology...ya fooled me! Carry on.
My Comments
I guess you could say that
Jim Harper has a point. I agree with him dealing with things in a passive way.
In the beginning of his article, he talked about marking people by shooting
them with paintballs and your problem is solved of trying
to avoid people who drive without common courtesy. Though a
more effective way is just to take their licences away from them for good so
people wouldn't have to look out for "a**hole"
drivers.
But I thought his passive
idea that he had mentioned about sending them letters to inform inconsiderate drivers
was a really good idea. Though I think that people who may receive such
mail would be offended kinda like a chain letter.
People would just either ignore it or do something about it. I think that
I would think twice about it. I mean, if I were to
receive a letter saying that I acted inconsiderate to another motorist I
would probably do nothing and simply try to think about how I drive the next
time.
Jim's other idea of
notifying the proper authorities was a more effective way in dealing with
inconsiderate motorists. I think that would
be the best way in catching or informing bad drivers or dangerous drivers for that
matter. It's almost a crime to be driving dangerous on the streets and
risking the lives of others. Something simple as cutting
inbetween lanes can cause harm to another. I think that if someone was driving
really terrible, I would pick up that cell or car phone and call 911 and inform
the cops that, "a driver at this location is driving like
this" Maybe it will work and maybe it won't. It's a free call,
so why don't we make this world a better and safer
place to travel in.
Back to the Top Down to the Bottom
November 21, 1996 at
19:20:53:
I was in Germany
last year and was astonished to find out that the single biggest offense one
can commit on the highway is to pass on the right. This isn't usually a
problem, however, since it is very acceptable to flash brights, etc. in order
to get the left-lane driver out of the lane so you can pass. I think there are
more than a few Americans that can take this lesson. What do you think?
September 24, 1997
at 17:16:55:
I also was in
Germany in May of last year for approximately 3 weeks. My wife and in-laws are
all German. I was informed by them that flashing of headlights or the honking
of your horn are considered aggressiveÀ
driving and is a ticketable offense. I have lived in Texas for the past
30 years and am still at awe at the number of people who will not move to the
right after passing a car.
Texas law states "Slower traffic move
right". Some (not all) of the drivers think that since they are going the
legal speed limit, anyone driving faster are breaking the law and therefore
have no right to pass. I believe this to be aggressive driving as do many other
Texans. However the Texas Department of Public Safety ( Our State Troopers ) will
do nothing to curb the problem. I firmly believe that this has led to cases of
"Road Rage". I hope to open my own web site in the near furture to
address this problem and hopefully get the attention of Texas Legislators to
change the law to state "Keep right except to pass." Then hopefully
enforce the law.
I was in Germany last year and was astonished to
find out that the single biggest offense one can commit on the highway is to
pass on the right. This isn't usually a problem, however, since it is very
acceptable to flash brights, etc. in order to get the left-lane driver out of
the lane so you can pass. I think there are more than a few Americans that can
take this lesson. What do you think?
January 18, 1998 at
17:22:13:
It is my
understanding that Arkansas has passed a law that requires drivers to use the
left lane for passing only. I would like to see a similar law here in
Wisconsin. Although highway signs here say "slower traffic keep
right," the definition of "slower" is subjective. The driver
driving at the speed limit does not identify himself as a "slower"
driver, even though others are going 5 to 10 mph faster. I believe these
"left lane lunkheads" are a major contributor to the recent "road
rage" phenomenon.
Anyone who has
driven in England recently has experienced good lane discipline among motorway
drivers there, who use the passing lane (right in England) only for passing,
regardless of how fast they are going, since there always seems to be someone
going faster.
My Comments
I have had my experiences
with driving in areas where when passing on the left lane, you are required to
merge back into the left lane. I drove on the Florida interstates and many of
the truckers travel in the right lane due to slower
traffic. What I did when I drove was pass in the left lane and kept going
in the left lane causing a sort of caravan in the left
lane. I had to idea, because driving in Hawaii has no affect
on altering your driving habits. Here in Hawaii, almost the same kind of
manner applies where the slower traffic should stay in
the right lane and the left lane should be kept for high occupied vehicles
and faster traffic. I agree with Ron when he said that it takes
discipline among drivers.
I could see how this could
affect a person who originates from an area that driving in different lanes is
a problem to others. This may seem off the subject, but what about countries
where the right of way is the left lane and the right lane was
the wrong of way. I mean it takes some time getting used to, but that
is what it's all about, "getting used to."
Where I come from, the
streets aren't wide as compared to the roads here on Oahu. There are only single
lane roads that just barely fit two cars that are used as two way traffic
lanes. The funny thing is that we have no problem passing around
slow traffic. I mean we are allowed to pass in the lane of opposing traffic.
I find that very dangerous even if there aren't any cars around, because you
can never tell what is going to happen to you.
Though after passing in the opposing lane, we know when to return to the regular
traffic lanes. There is no doubt because you don't want to get run over
by other cars. Everyone is expecting and wanting to reach
their destination safely, why make it more difficult and make traveling in
whatever lanes an issue. I point on the road is to drive with care of
yourself as well as to others.
Although some areas have
laws that enforce penalties if driving in certain lanes are required for
passing only, but why stop a car on the side of the road so
that other motorist can "rubber neck" and cause an even
greater deal of traffic? Just a little though to other motorists out
there if this sort of things happens to you.
Back to the Top Down to the Bottom
June 22, 1997 at
08:05:49:
I drive a lot in my
job. Practically every day, at least once a day, I run into an aggressive
driver. At times, this makes me a bit nervous because some of these people
drive in an menacing manner and throw out obscene gestures at me. This is
usually on the freeway somewhere. But, my experience has been that BY FAR, most
of these aggressive, obnoxious drivers are women... and, I think it's getting a
lot worse. What these foolish females don't realize is that if a confrontation
took place outside of their protective vehicle, they would run the risk or
being seriously hurt or possibly killed.
Like the article
stated, people feel bigger than life in their cars. These women that think they
are invincible better think twice for their own safety. Things are getting to
violent out there. They had better turn on their brains before they act so
cocky in their vehicles. As a side note, cell phones are a real advantage when
it comes to avoiding aggressive confrontations and reporting aggressive,
dangerous drivers. And, I've use mine on several occasions. Forewarning to any
of you smart-aleck's, female or
otherwise, that think you can do whatever you want behind the wheel.
My Comments
I think that society has
conditioned the gender issue to a point where women are believed to be, hence
the word, "invincible." Through experience on the streets of
LA, many of the women drivers that I have encountered don't give a
damn about who is in the other car that cuts them off or does anything
to offend them. I think that environment as well as culture plays a large
role in how people react to the different conditions of
driving. Aggression is just one of the way that women take their frustrations
out on the road. In fact, women in more luxurious cars such as a BMW,
Mercedes, or Jaguars, may or may not treat you
more differently than a person who drives a Datsun or station wagon.
Through a simple study done by a student of the University of Hawaii at Manoa,
female motorists are more likely to let other motorist into
their lane, less likely to show any sign of anger or frustration
to another motorist (e.g. "the finger"), and more likely to stay off
busy streets such as freeways.
Back to the Top Down to the Bottom
Traffic accident statistics???
November 24, 1997 at
11:56:26:
Can anyone tell me
where I can find traffic accident statistics other that the statistics from the
federal DOT site. I'm reading an involved post on truck.net and one driver
asserts that the terrible new drivers are turning over semis.
Another driver asserts that the new drivers are more likely to be involved in
backing and turning (minor) accidents. Got me curious so I checked the federal
DOT stats. They seem to indicate fewer fatalities and accidents per mile driven
in recent years. I'd really like stats that show driving experience as it
relates to the type of accident. Are there states or insurance companies out
there that keep these?
My Comments
I haven't done any research
on statistics of traffic accidents about new drivers, but due to an unparalled
event, a new driver that I now of have been in a situation where a few months
after receiving her drivers license, she got into a
predicament where a wall was knocked down that was costly.
I think with costly accidents that lead to repairs, insurance companies would
be a good source of information on who gets into accidents, when,
where, the type, and how much. After all, if the
driver can't pay, then maybe the insurance would.
Back to the Top Down to the Bottom
Tailgating, giving
the finger, outright violence--Americans grow more likely to take out their
frustrations on other drivers
BY JASON VEST, WARREN COHEN, AND MIKE THARP
Some of the
incidents are so ludicrous you can't help but laugh--albeit nervously. There
was the case in Salt Lake City, where 75-year-old J. C. King--peeved that
41-year-old Larry Remm Jr. honked at him for blocking traffic--followed Remm
when he pulled off the road, hurled his prescription bottle at him, and then,
in a display of geriatric resolve, smashed Remm's knees with his '92 Mercury.
In tony Potomac, Md., Robin Ficker--an attorney and ex-state legislator--knocked
the glasses off a pregnant woman after she had the temerity to ask him why he
bumped her Jeep with his.
Other incidents lack
even the element of black humor. In Colorado Springs, 55-year-old Vern Smalley
persuaded a 17-year-old boy who had been tailgating him to pull over; Smalley
decided that, rather than merely scold the lad, he would shoot him. (And he
did. Fatally--after the youth had threatened him.) And last year, on Virginia's
George Washington Parkway, a dispute over a lane change was settled with a
high-speed duel that ended when both drivers lost control and crossed the
center line, killing two innocent motorists.
Anyone who spent the
Memorial Day weekend on the road probably won't be too surprised to learn the
results of a major study to be released this week by the American Automobile
Association: The rate of "aggressive driving" incidents--defined as
events in which an angry or impatient driver tries to kill or injure another
driver after a traffic dispute--has risen by 51 percent since 1990. In those
cases studied, 37 percent of offenders used firearms against other drivers, an
additional 28 percent usedÀ other
weapons, and 35 percent used their cars.
Fear of (and
participation in) aggressive driving has grown so much that in a poll last year
residents of Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia listed it as a bigger
concern than drunk driving. The Maryland highway department is running a
campaign called "The End of the Road for Aggressive Drivers," which,
among other things, flashes anti-road-rage messages on electronic billboards on
the interstates. Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey have initiated special
highway patrols targeting aggressive drivers. A small but busy community of
therapists and scholars has arisen to study the phenomenon and counsel drivers
on how to cope. And several members of Congress are now trying to figure out
ways to legislate away road rage.
Lest one get unduly
alarmed, it helps to put the AAA study's numbers in context: Approximately
250,000 people have been killed in traffic since 1990. While the U.S.
Department of Transportation estimates that two thirds of fatalities are at
least partially caused by aggressive driving, the AAA study found only 218 that
could be directly attributable to enraged drivers. Of the more than 20 million
motorists injured, the survey identified 12,610 injuries attributable to
aggressive driving. While the
study is the first American attempt to quantify aggressive driving, it is not
rigorously scientific. The authors drew on reports from 30
newspapers--supplemented by insurance claims and police reports from 16
cities--involving 10,037 occurrences. Moreover, the overall trendlines for car
accidents have continued downward for several decades, thanks in part to
increases in the drinking age and improvements in car technology like
high-mounted brake lights.
But researchers
believe there is a growing trend of simple aggressive behavior--road rage--in
which a driver reacts angrily to other drivers. Cutting them off, tailgating,
giving the finger, waving a fist--experts believe these forms of nonviolent
fury are increasing. "Aggressive driving is now the most common way of
driving," says Sandra Ball-Rokeach, who codirects the Media and Injury
Prevention Program at the University of Southern California. "It's not
just a few crazies--it's a subculture of driving."
In focus groups set
up by her organization, two thirds of drivers said they reacted to frustrating
situations aggressively. Almost half admitted to deliberately braking suddenly,
pulling close to the other car, or taking some other potentially dangerous
step. Another third said they retaliated with a hostile gesture. Drivers show
great creativity in devising hostile responses. Doug Erber of Los Angeles keeps
his windshield-wiper-fluid tank full. If someone tailgates, he turns on the
wipers, sending fluid over his roof onto the car behind him. "It works
better than hitting the brakes," he says, "and you can act totally
innocent."
Mad Max. While the
AAA authors note there is a profile of the lethally inclined aggressive
driver--"relatively young, poorly educated males who have criminal
records, histories of violence, and drug or alcohol problems"--road-rage
scholars (and regular drivers) believe other groups are equally represented in
the less violent forms of aggressive driving. To some, it's tempting to look at
this as a psychologically mysterious Jekyll-and-Hyde phenomenon; for others,
it's simply attributable to "jerk drivers." In reality, there's a
confluence of emotional and demographic factors that changes the average
citizen from mere motorist to Mad Max.
First, it isn't just
your imagination that traffic is getting worse. Since 1987, the number of miles
of roads has increased just 1 percent while the miles driven have shot up by 35
percent. According to a recent Federal Highway Administration study of 50
metropolitan areas, almost 70 percent of urban freeways today--as opposed to 55
percent in 1983--are clogged during rush hour. The study notes that congestion
is likely to spread to currently unspoiled locations. Forty percent of the
currently gridlock-free Milwaukee County highway system, for example, is
predicted to be jammed up more than five hours a day by the year 2000. A study
by the Texas Transportation Institute last year found that commuters in one
third of the largest cities spent well over 40 hours a year in traffic jams.
Part of the problem
is that jobs have shifted from cities to suburbs. Communities designed as
residential suburbs with narrow roads have grown into "edge cities,"
with bustling commercial traffic. Suburb-to-suburb commutes now account for 44
percent of all metropolitan traffic versus 20 percent for suburb-to-downtown
travel. Demographer and Edge City author Joel Garreau says workers breaking for
lunch are essentially causing a third rush hour. He notes that in Tysons
Corner, Va., it takes an average of four traffic signal cycles to get through a
typical intersection at lunchtime. And because most mass transit systems are of
a spoke-and-hub design, centering on cities and branching out to suburbs,
they're not really useful in getting from point A to point B in an edge city or
from one edge city to another. Not surprisingly, fewer people are relying on
mass transit and more on cars. In 1969, 82.7 percent drove to work; in 1990,
91.4 percent did. Despite the fact that the Washington, D.C., area has an
exemplary commuter subway system, it accounts for only 2 percent of all trips
made.
Demographic changes
have helped put more drivers on the road. Until the 1970s, the percentage of
women driving was relatively low, and many families had only one car. But women
entered the work force and bought cars, something developers and highway
planners hadn't foreseen. From 1969 to 1990 the number of women licensed to drive
increased 84 percent. Between 1970 and 1987, the number of cars on the road
more than doubled. In the past decade, the number of cars grew faster (17
percent) than the number of people (10 percent). Even carpooling is down
despite HOV lanes and other preferential devices. The cumulative effect, says
University of Hawaii traffic psychology professor Leon James, is a sort of
sensory overload. "There are simply more cars--and more behaviors--to deal
with," says James.
As if the United
States couldn't produce enough home-grown lousy drivers, it seems to be
importing them as well. Experts believe that many immigrants come from
countries that have bad roads and aggressive styles. It's not just drivers from
Third World countries, though. British drivers are considered among the safest
in Europe, yet recent surveys show that nearly 90 percent of British motorists
have experienced threats or abuse from other drivers. Of Brits who drive for a
living, about 21 percent report having been run off the road. In Australia, one
study estimates that about half of all traffic accidents there may be due to
road rage. "There are different cultures of driving all over the
world--quite clearly, if we mix new cultures in the melting pot, what we get is
a culture clash on the roadway." [ Health Education and Safety Department
at Minnesota's St. Cloud State University. ]
The peak moment for
aggressive driving comes not during impenetrable gridlock but just before, when
traffic density is high but cars are still moving briskly. That's when cutting
someone off or forcing someone out of a lane can make the difference (or so it
seems) between being on time and being late, according to Palmer.
Unfortunately, roads
are getting more congested just as Americans feel even more pressed for time.
"People get on a time line for their car trips," says Palmer.
"When they perceive that someone is impeding their progress or invading
their agenda, they respond with what they consider to be `instructive'
behavior, which might be as simple as flashing their lights to something more
combative."
Suburban assault
vehicles. This, uh, "instruction" has become more common, Palmer and
others speculate, in part because of modern automotive design. With
hyperadjustable seats, soundproof interiors, CD players, and cellular phones,
cars are virtually comfortable enough to live in. Students of traffic can't
help but wonder if the popularity of pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles
has contributed to the problem. Sales have approximately doubled since 1990. These
big metal shells loom over everything else, fueling feelings of power and
drawing out a driver's more primal instincts. "A lot of the anecdotal
evidence about aggressive driving incidents tends to involve people driving
sport utility vehicles," says Julie Rochman of the Insurance Institute for
Highway Safety. "When people get these larger, heavier vehicles, they feel
more invulnerable." While Chrysler spokesman Chris Preuss discounts the
notion of suburban assault vehicles being behind the aggressive-driving
phenomenon, he does say women feel more secure in the jumbo-size vehicles.
In much of life,
people feel they don't have full control of their destiny. But a car--unlike,
say, a career or a spouse--responds reliably to one's wish. In automobiles, we
have an increased (but false) sense of invincibility. Other drivers become
dehumanized, mere appendages to a competing machine. "You have the
illusion you're alone and master, dislocated from other drivers," says
Hawaii's James.
Los Angeles
psychologist Arnold Nerenberg describes how one of his recent patients got into
an angry road confrontation with another motorist. "They pulled off the
road and started running toward each other to fight, but then they recognized
each other as neighbors," he says. "When it's just somebody else in a
car, it's more two-dimensional; the other person's identity boils down to,
`You're someone who did something bad to me.' "
How can aggressive
driving be minimized? Some believe that better driver's education might help.
Driver's ed was a high school staple by the 1950s, thanks to federal highway
dollars given to states. But a 1978 government study in De Kalb County, Ga.,
found no reduction in crashes or traffic violations by students who took a
driver's ed course compared with those who didn't. Rather than use these
results to design better driver's ed programs, the feds essentially gave up on
them and diverted money to seat belt and anti-drunk-driving programs. Today,
only 40 percent of new drivers complete a formal training course, which may be
one reason 20 percent to 35 percent of applicants fail their initial driving
test.
The inner driver.
But governments are looking anew at the value of driver's education. In April,
Michigan passed sweeping rules that grant levels of privilege depending on
one's age and driving record. States with similar systems, like California,
Maryland, and Oregon, have seen teen accident rates drop.
Those who lose their
licenses often have to return to traffic school. But some states have generous
standards for these schools. To wit: California's theme schools. There, errant
drivers can attend the "Humor's My Name, Traffic's My Game," school,
in which a mock jury led by a stand-up comic decides who the worst drivers are;
the "Traffic School for Chocoholics," which plies errant drivers with
chocolate and ice cream; and the gay and lesbian "Pink Triangle Traffic
School."
But the real key to
reducing road rage probably lies deep within each of us. Professor James of the
University of Hawaii suggests that instead of emphasizing defensive
driving--which implies that the other driver is the enemy--we should focus on
"supportive driving" or "driving with the aloha spirit." Of
course that's hard to do if a) someone has just cut you off at 60 mph or b) you
live in Los Angeles instead of Hawaii. Nerenberg, the Los Angeles psychologist,
has published an 18-page booklet called "Overcoming Road Rage: The 10-Step
Compassion Program." He recommends examining what sets off road rage and
to "visualize overcoming it." Other tips: Imagine you might be seeing
that person at a party soon. And remember that other drivers "are people
with feelings. Let us not humiliate them with our aggression." In the
chapter titled, "Peace," he suggests, "Take a deep breath and
just let it go." And if that doesn't work, the windshield-wiper trick is
pretty clever.
My Comments
This article was a really
lengthy one. I was really surprised to read about the thoughts that other
readers of the opinion of our own Dr. Driving. It's a
funny thing because when I wrote my generations curriculum I
too have mention a liking for The 10-Step Compassion Program. We all
talked about similar issues of how to go about dealing with
"road rage." What I had in common was the visualizing of the
problem and then finding a solution. It's
almost like math, it you don't know what the problem is, you can't solve
it. It's similar to "road rage," if
you don't know what you are upset, frustrated, or angry at, you can't and won't be
able to find a cure for it. The three authors mentioned at the top of this
article has a point when they talked about not to humiliate
ourselves with out aggression. I find that to be more of an embarrasment then
anything else.
I have had a lot of
experiences with rage and never at any time or any moment that I have lashed
out to any other motorist. Like "Peace" suggests,
"take a deep breath and just let it go." A point that was made in
the article was ways in bringing down the rates of aggressive driving.
The drivers education program in schools was a way the government
used funds to teach the young on driving and safety. When the government
didn't notice any dramatic changes in accidents and aggressive driving, I guess
the government decided to pull out and tried to save the lives of
those who will be possibly inflicted by aggressive driving, and that is by
seatbelts and anti-drunk driving programs.
I also enjoyed where they
also talked about how the trend in utility vehicles went sky rocketing.
This trend is seen most popular by families and more so
women. These vehicles are almost impervious to anything. Just
by this fact where utility vehicles are supposed to be unstopable, the driver
behind the wheel will be taken over and his or her
personality will be different. The point that I'm trying to make here is
that you Àwon't see
someone who is driving a Pinto act aggressively to another driver who is in a
Hummer or what others call a Hum-V. Well, maybe
some have seen this, but it's rare. It's all about the idea that a person
is what their car is.
"Road rage" comes
in so many flavors. From hitting other motorists in the knees or throwing
punches at pregnant women. "Road rage" doesn't
have a clear definition of action. The result of "road rage" is unpredictable
that the impossible is the possible. Of the many ways that the world has
tried to decrease the level of rage on the streets,
many has failed. To most motorist or infact to most humans, it's easier
to take the easy way out of learning something and to simply
respond irrationally. We can only change if we are
competent enough, well, unless someone or something forces us. Weird.
I kinda get the feel of how
people are when driving their cars. I have a Honda racing motorcycle and
I take it on the freeways. Since my bike can accelerate
faster than a majority of the cars on the freeway at the same
time as me I can simply outrun anyone who tries to get funky with me. But
if they decide that they want to hurt me by colliding with
me, then that's another story. But what I'm trying to say is that the character
of the vehicle overrides a person and turns that person into this ugly thing
called "rage."
Back to the Top Down to the Bottom
Speeding and Today's Police Cars
The California
Vehicle Code states
(a) No evidence as to the speed of a vehicle upon a highway shall be admitted
in any court upon the trial of any person in any
prosecution under this code upon a charge involving the speed of a vehicle when
the evidence is based upon or obtained from or by the maintenance or use of a
speedtrap.
(b) In any prosecution under this code of a charge
involving the speed of a vehicle, where enforcement involves the use of radar
or other electronic devices which measure the speed of moving objects, the
prosecution shall establish, as part of its prima facie case, that the evidence
or testimony presented is not based upon a speedtrap as defined in paragraph
(2) of subdivision (a) of Section 40802.
My question for
today revolves around the notion of the 'electronic device'.
In the past
mechanical devices were used for speed measurement -- calibrated mechanical
speedometers were used in police cars. Today there are no mechanical
speedometers. All speedometers are electronic devices driven by a pulse
generator mounted someplace in the drivetrain.
A textual approach
to the CVC leaves one with the impression that the CHP cannot use either radar
or the stock speedometer mounted in a police car for the purpose of judging
speed. Only mechanical devices and visual skill.
Nowhere does it
state that a defendent cannot use his speedometer reading as a measure of his
speed.
Has this particular
area been litigated since the adoption of all-electronic speedometers by the
CHP and most other departments in the state? What citations do you have, if
any?
Comments
This brings up a good point
of a situation that I was in and may reflect to any other driver out
there. If a driver is entering a speed zone of
55 mph. The driver looks and wants to regulate his speed according to
the speed limit. His speedometer indicates he is going close to 60 mph
and when he notices this, he presses the brake and slows down
only because he's one of those drivers that respect the speed limit. All
of a sudden he hears a siren and looking in his rear view mirror, there's a car
right behind him and a police office is waving to him to
pull over to the side of the road. When the driver pulls over to the side
of the road, he is asked by the officer if he knew how fast he
was going, the driver tells his entire story of how he
slowed down when he noticed that he was almost going 60 mph. The officer
just laughs at him as though the driver was lying to the
officer. The officer pulls up the laser gun and it reads 70 mph.
The question here is how
accurate are the speedometers in your car. This discretion kind of gauges
got me into trouble with the law. I was traveling at 60 mph
on my motorcycle and was pulled over, because I
was told that I was
going 75 in a 55 mph zone. I find that hard to believe. A person
would know, and just have to common sense to slow down if
your gauge is indicating that you are too much over the speed limit
unless you are a compulsive speeder or just like to speed for the hell of it.
Who is right then if your
gauge is now as accurate as it supposed to be? You decide when or may it happen
to you.
Back to the Top Down to the Bottom
Which City Has the Worst Drivers?
Reposted from
LA.transportation:
Feb. 23, 1998--
Who are the nation's
most outrageous road warriors? New York and Boston drivers earn top dishonors
in Reader's Digest magazine. Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and Atlanta
motorists also get nailed as Reader's Digest names America's Worst Drivers, in
its March 1998 issue. Bad drivers -- you see them every day. Reading, phoning,
even flossing or shaving instead of steering. Performing the classic Shoulder
Run, The Sidesqueeze or Hail Mary Merge. Giving the finger to school-crossing
guards. Or doing 162 m.p.h. on I-295, like one motorcyclist Washington-area
police clocked last June.
But whose drivers are really the worst? Reader's
Digest ranked the 12 largest metro areas by asking 200 interstate bus drivers
and long-haul truckers, plus another 1,200 respondents on the Reader's Digest
World [ www.readersdigest.com ]. The magazine also factored in fatality,
insurance and rental-car rates. And then investigative reporter William
Ecenbarger took his life in his hands, riding America's meanest streets. Here
are the top five vehicular horror stories:
À
1. NEW YORK. Welcome to the city that invented
gridlock. Famed for kamikaze cabbies and hair-trigger horns, New York was also
the site of the nation's first fatal traffic accident. Manhattan intersections
are combat zones, where a pedestrian gets hit once every 40À minutes. Statistically speaking, you're more
likely to be run down than gunned down by a stranger in New York City.
Watching New York
drivers, it's hard to believe they have actually been licensed - and in many
cases, they haven't. Police estimate 15 percent don't have a license. And
nearly 7,000 have had theirs suspended 20 times or more. One Brooklyn man,
arrested in 1994, had his license suspended more than 240 times.
How bad are New York drivers? "One
guy," recalls license examiner Iris Pascale, "asked me before the
test started which was the brake and which was the accelerator."
À
2. BOSTON. How bad are Boston drivers? There's even an entire book about them,
The Boston Driver's Handbook. In 1996 the new transportation commissioner had
to quit when it was revealed he had three accidents, five speeding tickets and
two parking tickets -- including one for blocking a handicapped ramp the day he
was in town for his job interview. Reporter Ecenbarger even braves Boston's
feared rotaries:
À
A woman in a green Chevy wedges in front of me
just as an entering white Bronco, ignoring the right-of-way-rule, seems intent
on ramming me before it veers off at the last second. When I slow as a
precaution, a black Mercedes honks angrily and pulls around me. Behind the
wheel is a woman with gray hair. She gives me the finger. Escaping from this
vicious circle, I come upon an old Ford that is weaving slightly. I pull
abreast and behold the driver shaving -- using a blade and soapy water from a
bowl on his dashboard.
À
3. WASHINGTON, D.C. In an American Automobile Association survey, area
motorists rated aggressive drivers a greater threat to their safety than
drunken drivers. "Evening rush hour is always worst," says Maryland
Trooper Robert Moroney as drivers inch along the Beltway, a parade of blaring
horns and shaking fists. "Everybody is pretty ticked off at this
point." Even the bumper stickers are nasty: "MY KIDS BEAT UP YOUR
HONOR STUDENT"..."IF I LOOKED LIKE YOU, I'D KILL MYSELF."
À
À
4. LOS ANGELES. A survey by the local police
found that residents rate speeding cars as big a problem as drugs and crime.
When additional stop signs are installed on a route, Angelenos just speed up
between them to make up for lost time. Some engineers are abandoning pedestrian
crosswalks, fearing they lull walkers into a false sense of security. In L.A.
the automobile has become America's new "officemobile," equipped not
just with phone, but with fax, files and laptop computer ? anything to keep
drivers' eyes off the road and hands off the wheel.
À
5. ATLANTA. Local motorists are so bad, some of
the out-of- town bus drivers hired to ferry 1996 Olympic crowds quit in fear.
Atlantans have even been known to duck into funeral processions and turn on
their lights so they can drive through red lights. The city has a backlog of
more than 200,000 tickets -- and on one stretch of I-285, where the legal limit
is 55 mph, the average speed was once clocked at 87.7 mph during a one hour
period.
À
Reader's Digest ranked San Francisco-Oakland
motorists the best, or at least the least bad. But bad drivers are everywhere
-- so before you hit the road, be sure to buckle up and check "America's
Worst Drivers," in the March 1998 issue of Reader's Digest magazine. The
Reader's Digest Association, Inc. is a global publisher and direct marketer of
products that inform, enrich, entertain and inspire people of all ages and all
cultures around the world. Global revenues were $2.8 billion for the fiscal
year ended June 30, 1997. Global Headquarters is in Pleasantville, N.Y.
À
Comments
After reading this report,
I was quite amazed at the people who actually do those kinds of things where a
person would throw their hands in the air and show the finger or driving really
close and actually nudging another driver. What was also
quite amazing was a person who actualy installed a computer, a fax, a
phone and all that neat office stuff in their vehicles. Putting up
obstacles mean that people have to either leave earlier for work or
drive faster. Like the article mentioned, a driver has to make up for
loss time and there you automatically have a problem with
the law. Drivers speed which posses 90% of all traffic
violations.
What I suggest that may be
a result or a reaction to the behaviors of drivers is caused by the lack of inconsideration
to neighboring motorists. What happens here is that a driver may be so
conditioned by the actions of other motorist's
bad driving which in turn causes the behavior of the primary motorist to build
a sense of automatic reponse back to the offending driver. This may sound
complicated, but in short, if I was to drive to work
everyday on a jam packed freeway and other motorists are swerving left and
right into my lanes almost colliding into me and showing no sign of gratitude,
I too would be upset. With this happening to me everyday,
I would think that it's an everyday normal response.
The cities mentioned above;
New York, Boston, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, and Atlanta are large cities
with large problems. Aggressive driving is expected in these North
American cities for the fact that they are the one's that are most
developed and highly populated and geographically, that's where people want
to be. I find that really intriguing, because where people want to be
isn't really what it seems since when stuck in traffic or caught in a
situation where they experience rage, they say to themselves that they wish
they weren't here. Go figure.
There is a possibility
where even in large cities could experience excellent satisfied drivers.
Most of it depends on the person who decides to engage in a
"hot headed" situation or not. If everyone was relaxed
and didn't take things so personal, our roads would be a better place to be in.
Back to the Top Down to the Bottom
Suggestions for Future Generations
There are so many topic
to choose from let alone of the topic on driving. Try to stay away from RE:
newsgroup articles, but don't' undermine them. The responses from the original
issues is well enough
important to base your comment on.
I tried to view and process my own point of view from the original newsgroup topic
then read the
RE:'s after. The reason behind this is that as an observer or commentator, you
don't want to be
influenced by responses from others before you get to post your own opinions
first.
I fell it's like an editor reading a book for the first time and making
improvements. After that, the
editor makes it a best seller in nation wide bookstores. When in the process of
collecting the many
issues in newsgroups be wise in what you decide to write about and respond to.
There's a whole
world of information out there.
Back to the Top Down to the Bottom
My Voyage through
virtual space has become more and more interesting. I've noticed with the
amount of work that is required in the course, I have become more of a prisoner
to the computer.
Though there are some days where I look forward to sitting down in front of the
computer and
browse the world wide web. Some times I feel as though this report became my
life, well, it really felt
that way for the past two weeks. All I could think about was this report. For
once, a report didn't feel
like a report. It felt more of a destiny, but I got to choose it.
So does that make me an addict, a compulsive computer user, or is it because I
have a weakness that
maybe I just trap myself from society and create my own world that I can
happily live in? One that I
can control and where I can do what I want. It doesn't seem that way, but it
sure feels like it.
With the growing industry of science and technology, we should all wonder why
we are lured into
these options. I find it to be more accommodating to process information in
such a manner. Makes
life easier compared to ten years ago.
This Newsgroup assignment was really quite informational in many ways. One way
was that it's a
quick way to retrieve information on what goes on around the world and behind
the scenes. The
traditional buying of a newspaper from a newspaper boy is still an accepted way
of keeping in touch
with the media. Searching through newsgroups are far beyond new stands. It's a
way of informing the
public of hidden issues that the media don't cover. With this form of
information processing, I think
that transition would be a likely term to use today.
Now that I look at it, this report has proved to be of a transition.
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