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Newsgroups for Drivers:
A Ride Through the News |
Introduction: How I Arrived at My Destinations
The ten selections of newsgroups postings were found from four different
searches in
The
News. I searched road rage, aggressive driving, commute drivers and
speeding. From the hits that were returned I then selected the ten below.
The information following this introduction are the actual posts from the
newsgroups (in italics) and my comments about the post follow.
Subject: Another Grisly accident on I5 (Stupid
Aggressive Drivers)
Date:1998/07/13 6:15 am, 7/13, Express Lanes.
I hope all you reckless (aggressive) driver die in tangled heaps of metal --
no I take that back. I hope you all get in accidents and become paralyzed
from the neck down (you are already paralyzed from the neck up).
My Comments:
When I read this post I immediately became a bit upset. When people post
message such as this I sometimes wonder why they even take the time to compose
it. Posting a message like this one does nothing to solve or attempt to solve
the aggressive driving problem that we have today. I think that is why we
have such a huge problem with road rage and agresssive driving. Many people
have opinions, yet they don't take the time to really think about the problem
and what they can do to solve it or just better themselves. Messages like
these are, in my opinion, a waste of time. Really what does he accomplish by
posting a cruel message such as this. All this really is, is a sorry attempt
to anger the others in the newsgroup. Besides that he more likely than none
has driven in an aggressive manner at one time in his driving career.
When reading my comments over I discovered that they were just as cruel and uncalled for as the person who composed the original message. I suppose sometimes people speak without thinking first or they may just have so much anger built up inside that it is released in a manner that is sometimes offensive. Many of us today need to take a step back and look at ourselves and ask if maybe we have a problem with anger. Everyone gets angry at times but when is it to much? When does anger take control over our lives? There was an interesting site that I found called Healing Hopes that may help those who feel that they may have an anger managment problem.
Subject: Attackers are amongst US
Date: 1998/07/07
I had some free time today having completed some recent commissions, and have thought about the recent flood of individuals claiming that they have been attacked on this newsgroup. I, having been accused of being an "attacker" am curious as to what that means exactly. Does attacking meaning "having and posting a opposing view point as the attackie?" Does it mean "making a sarcastic post" could it be posting derogatory remarks about someone?" I know some of you have been using this newsgroup for years I would love to here what your definition of being attacked is? Heck for all I know I may be attacking someone right now. Is flaming the same as attacking?
My take on all this is if you decide to post on a newsgroup that is read by people all over the world you need to consider some flame and attack insurance. Some things to remember (I am by no means an authority on newsgroups so feel free to add to this list)
1. You don't have to post a reply the moment
you read a response, take some time to think about what the poster wrote read
it a few times, think about a good reply cool down then respond.
2. Telling the poster that they are an asshole
idiot and other abusive things says volumes about you, but doesn't say
anything about the person you are ranting about.
3. DO NOT RESPOND, have you seen the recent
news reports on how to avoid being killed on the highway due to road rage,
(the reports say that making eye contact with other drivers can get one
killed) the same goes for a newsgroup, if you do not respond the person trying
to get under your skin the poster will not accomplish his/her task.
4. Remember everyone cannot decipher what you
are typing just because you where smiling when you said it, and the little
smiley faces you put at the end do not always work.
5. RETURN all borrowed tapes of hyacinth
macaws when obtaining them through a newsgroup.
6. Just because Joe Blow says he raises
parrots and lives in Florida on the beach and has lived in the treetops in the
amazon forest does not make it true. Hell, he probably lives in a trailer park
in Nebraska and owns a sparrow that he keeps in a mason jar with holes poked
in the lid.
7. Don't post 20 times what can be accomplished in one post. Asking something twenty times is rude(IMHO).
8. Don't announce that you are fed up and
leaving the group, just leave, without closing the door of course so you can
get back in.":P
Like I said I am by no means an authority but one should not be afraid to post in a newsgroup, just come in thinking and protected. I am sure Highflight or Dan have some other good hints and pointers.
Good Day
My Comments:
This individual actually thought about what he was going to type before he
typed it. He creatively uses driving to illustrate both driving on the
internet and driving on the road to convey the message that aggressive driving
is not appreciated. One of the examples he uses states, "3. DO NOT
RESPOND, have you seen the recent news reports on how to avoid being killed on
the highway due to roadrage, (the reports say that making eye contact with
other drivers can get one killed) the same goes for a newsgroup, if you do not
respond the person trying to get under your skin the poster will not
accomplish his/her task."
I agree 100% with his comment. When I was living in the mainland people always told me not to make eye contact with someone who had wronged me while driving. They had given me many stories about people they knew who had made eye contact and paid the consequence by being shot at or followed for miles.
I admire this man for taking the time to post his
opinion and giving valid reasons for them. He states the problem and offers
an intelligent reason for why he the problem may exist. If drivers would
really think about what they are doing before they do it many lives could be
saved and the number of aggressive drivers could possibly decline.
Subject: Re: Aggressive Driving
Date: 1998/07/30
Good thing the name I post with (my real name,
BTW) isn't the same name on my license (also my real name)!
Your driving determines whether you get stopped. Your attitude determines
whether you get the ticket. Adults already know this. Perhaps some day you
will too.
Can you please cite the relevant law or code from your state, where it shows that "attitude" is the legal determining factor if whether or not its an infraction?
Somehow, I doubt you'll be able to provide any *LEGAL* basis of using "attitude" to determine whether or not you are going to enforce the law, or ignore the law.
My Comments:
This post caught my attention because it seemed to relate to many of the
discussions that we have had in our class. We spoke a lot about how there are
unwritten laws about our attitude and driving. It seems that although the
written law doesn't specify that attitudes good or bad affect driving in fact
I feel that they do. This may not be the case for everyone but in my case my
attitude does affect the way I drive and the laws that I follow and at times
break. For instance, if I'm having a bad day and someone is tailgating me
while I'm driving in the left lane at 10 miles over the speed limit I won't
move over to the right lane. My feelings at that particular point in time is
that I am already traveling faster than the law wants me to and now this jerk
wants me to go faster because he wants to go faster... YEAH RIGHT. By law I
feel that I have the right to stay right where I am. On the other hand on a
good day I might just move to the right lane to let the tailgater pass. My
attitude towards the driver and the speed limit is, why anger someone
unnecessarily.
So I agree that not only does your attitude affect your law breaking but it also affects your law abiding. Granted, I don't think anyway that we are " able to provide any
*LEGAL* basis of using "attitude" to determine whether or not you are going to enforce the law, or ignore the law."
But it definitely affects the way a person drives.
We discussed in class my above response to the post.
Dr. James feels that my reasoning for not letting the driver cut in on a bad
day shows that I may be somewhat out of control. I suppose that by his
definition I may be what he would call an out of control driver but it just
seems to me that I am a typical driver. It is my opinion that many drivers
including myself feel the same way about tailgaiters. Perhaps as Dr. James
has suggested that I am an immoral driver. If you would like to know how you
stack up to Dr. James' morality definition, check out his page
Principles of Driving Psychology.
Subject: Re: Korean Driving
Date: 1998/08/01
Koreans are indeed very aggressive when it comes to driving but technically, they are one of the best drivers if not the best. I actually saw one driver driving backward in a very narrow (narrow is really narrow in Korea) uphill zigzag road without any problem. As one American journalist commented: Americans miss accident by feet whereas Korean miss by inches!
You have got to be kidding...Korea is number #1 in the world for vehicular homicide. They are the worst drivers in the world...fact!
My Comments:
It really amazes me sometimes how little people think about what they are
going to say before they say it. When this person posted their message they
left themselves wide open for attack. First, he uses opinion to try and state
something that he feels is fact. Just because he saw a television show which
portrayed a person of Korean descent driving well he assumed all Korean people
drive in that manner. Secondly, if a person can drive in reverse down a very
narrow road, does that constitute a good driver or a reckless one?
Another point this brings up in my mind is one of
learning by observation. Perhaps this person drives well under these
conditions because he was taught to and observed others doing it. This
particulate person is most likely better at this than most Koreans. It seems
like an easy solution in my mind but a hard one to pursue since almost every
person that drives must agree upon it. If we as drivers make good examples
for the children while we are behind the wheel then perhaps they will, like
the Korean man, drive by example... Just a thought.
Subject: Re: More Speeding and Reckless Driving (Was: Re: Aggressive
Driving)
Date: 1998/07/11
Everytime you change lanes especially if you're
doing it to pass slower traffic, you are taking unneccesary risks and are
thusly driving recklessly.
I cant believe you drive a galaxie - you should get a much bigger car to be
safer. Your taking unneccesary risks!
My Comments:
I agree that many times when people choose to change lanes to pass a slower
driver they are taking an unnecessary risk, but what I don't agree with is
that every time a person changes lanes to pass a slower driver they are
taking an unnecessary risk. i feel that if it is clear to change lanes to
pass a slower driver than it is not an unnecessary risk. On the other hand
drivers that weave in and out of traffic at an excessive speed to pass slower
drivers are taking unnecessary risks. The think that puzzles me is why they
feel the need to do so especially when they (in most cases here in Hawaii from
my experiences) end up one or two cars ahead when we come to a traffic light.
That seems like an unnecessary risk because they were weaving in and out of traffic at an excessive speed and squeezing between care to end up only two cars ahead. If that isn't unnecessary that I don't know what is. Despite this people continue to fell the need to take matters in their own hands. This of course is just one of the cases of lane changes there are probably many, many more but I feel that lane changes to pass slower drivers are sometimes necessary and not always unnecessary risks. Drivers simply need to use good judgment when doing so.
In todays society it seems that life is all about
risks and living life on the edge. On television commercials it is common to
see speeding cars, people plumiting out of airplanes, and many who play
extreme sports. Is is any wonder why people see living on the edge as a
positive thing. If you think of all the things that people do in order to
lead exciting lives and live life on the edge, changing lanes in orger to pass
a slower moving car seems like such a tiny risk.
Subject: Re: "Traffic calming" thwarts speeders (was Re: Aggressive
Driving)
Date: 1998/07/31
My city (Sacramento, CA) is currently doing
major construction downtown to control speeders. Residents are sick and tired
of people driving 50+ mph on downtown streets, endangering their children and
causing excessive noise and
Won't somebody *please* think of the children?
Yea, how about their PARENTS.. shouldn't they be responsible for their kid's well being, instead of being practically criminals?
Locally, a big rig backed over a kid in an industrial parking lot. The kid was 6 years old, riding a bike with no helmut. When the police went to the mother.. she didn't even know where her kid was!
Personally, I think she should be charged with criminal neglect, or something more serious.
My Comments:
When it comes to children I feel that parents are the primary care givers and
teachers. Especially at young ages, children look to their parents for
guidance and they mimic what their idols do. Young children and older
children for that matter learn from example and it is the responsibility of
the parents to teach and educate their children. The problem is not the
children, but the parents who are bad role models.
I must give credit where credit is due because there
are many parents who are great role models for their children and in some
cases accidents such as the one above are unavoidable. This just goes back to
my suggestion and the suggestion of many of my peers that parents need not
only provide guidance in love, life and relationships but also driving and
safety while on the streets. It is the child's basic understanding of the
rules of the road for drivers, passengers and pedestrians.
Subject: Re: Arrest Slow Drivers--One County's Answer to Aggressive
Driving
Date: 1998/06/27
In many states driving 38 on an expressway is illegal. Typical minimum legal speeds are 40-45*.
The 48 Hours "Road Rage" episode showed Virginia police charging a driver with reckless driving for driving too slowly (right after the same officer gave him a speeding ticket).
*In Hartford, CT on I-84 the maximum and minimum legal speeds are both 40.
My Comments:
This just goes to show you that life just isn't fair and that the law is the
law. Then again their is a hitch; many times the law enforcement only
enforces the traffic laws when the feel the urge. They are, in many cases not
consistent. I feel this is part of the problem when it comes to aggressive
driving. If the the law was enforced more of the time than not then perhaps
aggressive driving would be less. The difficult part is that it is virtually
impossible to ticket every single person who breaks the traffic law all of the
time. Besides this there are always those who live for "living on the edge"
and breaking the laws, crossing the barriers, those who feel that law doesn't
apply to them.
There have been studies done according to Rothe:
Beyond Traffic Safety which states that despite the large quantities or small
quantities of tickets given the accident rate did not increase nor did it
decrease. So if ticketing isn't the answer then what is. I suppose if I had
the answer to that question then I wouldn't be taking this class.
Subject: Re: Motoring. 10 legal annoying things.
Date 1998/08/03
5. When cones converge lanes for roadworks, drivers leaving their merging to the last possible inch and forcing others to allow their cutting in.
What annoys me even more than this is the people who *allow* them to cut in.
If no-one let them in, they'd soon stop their habit of speeding alongside the
entire queue in the expectation that some mug would let them in.
Wrong! Rule 183 of the Highway Code refers back to Rule 51. I certainly would
like to encourage everybody who contributed to this thread over the past weeks
to carefully study the Highway Code again.
My Comments:
I have been on both sides of this argument. There have been many times where
I have waited in a long line of cars while other cars zoom past me in the
other land and merge a number of cars ahead of me. I have also been one of
those zooming cars. My thought on this issue is that she's peeved because she
had to wait. Well my comment to this is don't wait. Go to the other lane and
do the same. There are always going to be people who drive in the other lane
just to get a few cars ahead and there is nothing that she can do to stop
this. If it's going to bother her that much then she should pull into the
other lane and do the same thing.
As for the ignorant reply about not letting the
person cut it. I think that is ridiculous. If no one will let them in then
they have no choice but to squeeze their way in. I have a friend who lived in
LA. for a number of years. Being from Hawaii I feel that drivers there are
crazy the speed excessively and many of them won't let you cut in even if your
life depended on it (granted they are not all that way). Forcing your way in
to traffic there is almost a necessity. If your not an aggressive driver in
LA. you won't get anywhere fast. Besides if the lane merges due to
construction the person has no choice but to merge.
Subject: Re: Rude Drivers
Date: 1998/08/01
Does anyone know how to get back at rude
drivers? I was going five miles over the speed limit and this lady still kept
tailgating me. She then over took me, gave me the finger for no reason and
sped away. I managed to get her licsense plate.
Some people may have legitimate (in their own minds) reasons for speeding.
Maybe she was pregnant and on her way to the hospital or maybe she was just on
her way to get pregnant.
There are plenty of assholes who deserve revenge. Don't sweat the small stuff.
I have an attitude and I'm not afraid to use it.
My Comments:
Revenge is not always a good thing. It may make you feel better but it could
also come back to haunt you. Many times revenge backfires and when that
happens all involved are basically screwed. As professor James would say the
feeling of anger just shows that you have a lack of self control. Although we
have debated that issue in class i feel that holding on the the anger as the
above person seems to have done does show a that he had lost control. What
that woman did was wrong, I agree but by letting it bug him he has let her
win.
Subject: Re: Rude Asian...You
Know The Type !
Date: 1998/06/29
Leon... mr banana twinky wonderbread eating mutherfucker. If people coming
from their respective home countries are loud, and crass, and just don't give
a fuck about what white America or white bread chicken shit mutherfuckers like
you think, I'm proud to have them as my peeps.
Very amusing... ah, the wonders of such pretentious youth. I am confident Shakespeare must be in utter astonishment at the lack of proper social discourse in this great virtual dialectic we called the newsgroups. Well, at least we can see why Chinese culture with its orthographic renditions is far superior to Indo-European alphabetic systems. Therefore, pardon my "French" for it is "Motherfucker", and not "Mutherfucker".
Twinky & Banana you state... now that is in direct contrast to the JM guy from Microsoft which stated that I am a mere 2nd-class cohort of the former Japanese Empire and that I am a low-esteemed Taiwanese. Now...the interesting aspect of this conversation is how 2 similar posters...of which are vehemently opposed to my position... would emotionally arrive at 2 distinct and separate conculsions... one being I am a Jpn-lover... while the other would state that I am a White-lover. Such diverse opinions are so amusing indeed.
Pardon me if I record your e-mail addresses down for this socilogical study in which the research is how the virtual distance of the Internet empowers minute individuals with a sense of accomplishment and achievement, while in real life... you guys can't even get a date on Friday night-type of syndrome. Kind of like those Roadrage highway shootings in California a few years back. Correct me if I am in error, por favor.
They're acting like themselves, better than trying to fit into some paradigm that is cast upon us by this bullshit patriarchal society of hegemony. Would you rather them to be quiet, discreet, submissive and passive owners of quickie shops? Would that make you feel any better? fucking guppy.
Hegemony ! Wow... I am impressed ! Shakespeare may be proud you yet ! You took a lingo that was the hallmark of the Communist Chinese english booklet. Now for gold prize... exact what did the PRC mean when they used the word "Hegemony" ? Come, come now... don't be shy.
My Comments:
Someone had posted this in the aggressive driving newsgroup although I have no
idea how it relates to driving. I decided to use the entry because I thought
it was a good way to show aggressive driving on the internet.
C. Sumiye 409a describes in his report how
aggressive driving on the internet is labeled. They have their own terms and
their own likes and dislikes. Just how drivers on the road have pet peeves so
do drivers on the internet and in newsgroups. The post above seems to me to
be a clear cut example of aggressive driving on the internet. There is a big
difference between internet driving and driving on the roads. People on the
internet are much more willing to voice an opinion in what ever kind of
language they see fit.
Ms. R describes why people feel more aggressive on
the internet than they do on the road.
Conclusion: What I Learned at these Destinations
After reading many of the comments that various people
posted I have mixed feelings about newsgroups and road rage or aggressive
driving. First of all, many of the comments that people post are merely a way
to get on the nerves of others. They don't have any real message except to
swear and cause problems. Of course there are those who seriously respond to
others comments and give some very good information and advice. It was
interesting to see how so many people have similar views on certain topics as
well as differing ones.
How My Report Compares
After taking a look at the newsgroups reports of my peers
I have come to the conclusion that we have all worked very hard and took time
in searching for the postings that interested us. The comments are also very
thought provoking and alot of effort has been put into them. As for the
design of the newsgroups page many of my classmates did a wonderful job of
creating a page that was decorative yet not so busy that it takes away from
the content of the report. Overall everyone has done an excellent job. If
while other generations are creating their newsgroups report and need any help
they should take a look at some of my classmates reports, they are terrific!