Soliman G. Valdez
Psychology 459
Report #3/4
November 16, 1995
Traffic Psychology on the Internet
Approximately a month and a half has passed since writing my first Traffic Psychology report. Reading it again brought about some feelings. My second report was even more interesting since it listed all of the habits I had wished to improve on or diminish. An closer look at the two reports revealed that most of the topics of interest in Report #1, were also the habits in Report #2 that I wanted to remove. Maybe I was so intrigued by these habits I wrote about in the first report since they were the habits I did the most. The same things I had criticized so adamantly in the first report were the same behaviors I had been doing on a consistent basis.
Doing a Good Search:
As for our third report, we were to search the Internet and see what was being said about the subjects we had written about in the first report. With this in mind, I went to the CLIC Lab doing all kinds of searches on convoys, speeding, aggression, etc....None of these searches were very productive. I got back links to things that had nothing to do with what I wanted to write about. It came back with subjects like, camping out and what were the best foods to bring, for the subject of tailgating. Or which cicada was the most aggressive in the world. Now, why would I want to know how aggressive a grasshopper is? Even more frustrating is when I did a search on convoys; I got plenty of information on battleships and jet planes. This was leading me nowhere. Finally, I decided to do an n exclusive search on Dejanews. Dejanews is a search engine that tracks all of the usenet groups, which are by the way my special interest group. The decision to do it this way was very rational as well as fruitful.
Honesty is What Counts:
The first reason I had chosen to do a Dejanews, is because I had used it once before and it was very helpful in my research. Another reason is that, when I put a word search on, the links to it described in as coming from a source I did not want or a source I needed. For example: rec. auto. com. The third and most important reason I decided to do an exclusive Dejanews search is because of the source the information was coming from. Article linked to a home page are written in a very organized, planned out manner. If you take our reports for example. Students have been spending weeks on what to write and making changes here and there. Maybe, some people are even guilty of writing something that might not be entirely true, but looked good enough to be published. I cannot be criticized for this and my reports prove that. Anyway, Dejanews is a collection of letters from people having an indirect conversation about a particular subject. The tone is of dialog type and it's style usually very direct and very frank. In fact, it is so much so that people even swear in these dialogs (not that I condone swearing). What I am trying to get at is that information I get here is very honest and it is coming from the average Joe. It is what they are saying in real life when they go home. I never talk at home the same way I write. And if you do, you are a very sick individual. Those are the reasons for me doing an exclusive search on Dejanews.
Enjoy Tailgating:
As in my first report, my first search was on the topic of tailgating. Tailgating is so intriguing because, of the discussions we've had in class, not one person admitted they did not tailgate. Most of the class actually seemed to enjoy this behavior. I remember way back when. I was called a baby (by someone in class who always wears a funky colorful hat or cap), for wanting to tailgate. But when other people admitted this behavior, they simply got a "you need to improve your driving". What's the deal here. I even got condemn for swearing too much (thank you Mr. Yucoco) when I don't even swear [pause] for more that two sentences at a time. I swear. Just ask my friends.
The Worst Tailgaters:
Back to the subject at hand. Tailgating can be very fun at times but we must realize that it is wrong. And if you are being tailgated, then one writer states that 'bout just letting the tailgate pass?' This is very true. You don't know the other person; How drunk he is, how mad he is, if he had a long day and is taking it out on his driving. Tailgating is especially frustrating when (a) in the right lane, (b) when there are open lanes on the left to pass in, (c) when there is no way for them or the car in front of them to go any faster, or (d) on two lane roads. This, by the way came from an article called "Stupid Drivers". And you can see why.
Europe VS America:
Now something that might make you a little bit upset. A writer on the usenet groups adds that; "I agree with most of your observations on American drivers; as a whole, are not as good or attentive as European drivers." Who does this guy think he is and what does he use to justify these claims. He is obviously European and the reason he thinks they are better drivers is probably because they all drive like sissies up there. As seen in the writers statement that they utilize the right hand lane much more often than the left speed lane. In America, men are men and are not afraid to show it in every way they can. The most interesting thing from this article is that Sweden seems to have the biggest problem of tailgating. They even have signs of cars lined up like elephants trunk and tail to try to stop this problem. Is this true Prof. James?
Advice to Deter Being Tailgated:
The most beneficial to come out of my search are is advice:
"There are many ways to stop tailgaters. Here are a few:
1. Installing flood lights from a 747 on the rear of your car: anyone that dares tailgates you will get several thousand watts in the eyes. Result is temporary blindness, possibly also causing the driver to lose control, resulting in an accident to their vehicle.
2. Flashing a fake police badge out the window and motioning the driver to pull over. A detachable siren will also strike fear into the heart of the other driver.
3. Flashing a fake (plastic) gun out the windows, preferably with blanks that sound like the real thing.
4. Moving to another lane, then tailgate the car that was tailgating you. Take the license plate down and report the vehicle to the DMV, citing reckless driving, speeding, or if you're imaginative, hit and run."
Does it not sound tempting to do these deeds? Well it seems it is just what tailgaters deserve anyway.
Speed Limits or No Speed Limits:
The next topic will be on speeding. Speeding is not a very hard subject to write about simply because almost everyone speeds. There were so many articles on speeding that it would be impossible to cite them all. What in interesting is that people seem to vary greatly on their stance on the speed limit. People that agree with the set speed limit argue that is saves lives. People for the speed limit believe that speed limits are only a money making device for the police department. Read my Week 11 group report. I am all for the speed limit because it really does save lives and people who complain about paying for speed limit bills should just stop speeding. But this is very unrealistic for me to suggest, since people will always speed.
Obsession With Speeding:
People will always speed. Check this out; : "Not that I particularly advocate speeding, but...I want to hear some personal landspeed records... I had a friend do 135
: in his Turbo Supra... This was at 11 am on the way to SAT's, too." This guy seems to have an obsession with speed. I got this of an article entitled, "Beating Speeding Tickets".
To me, this is very scary. Just imagine you are driving home from school. It has been a long day and all you are thinking about is seeing your beautiful kids and wife when you get home. Suddenly a Supra going 135 mph goes zooming by. As he approaches you, he looses control of his front wheels striking you from the rear. You will most likely loose your life. As the reckless driver, would you be able to handle this responsibility simple because you wanted to see how fast your Supra could go?
Getting Out of Speeding Tickets:
Also a big topic of discussion among these speeding groups is a way to get out of getting a ticket. If you are going downhill, you can say, "It's not unusual to exceed the speed limit for a few seconds when going downhill." All kinds of excuses from "I have to use the rest room" to "I didn't realize I was going so fast". There is an excuse for every situation. The most effective as stated again in class is to simply be honest and nice to the officer issuing the ticket. You know what you have done is wrong. just accept it.
Manual Transmissions Cause Aggressive Driving:
Aggressive driving again is linked very closely to both tailgating and speeding since aggressive driving causes both. The question is, what creates an aggressive driver. A writer gives one explanation. He believes that manual transmission drivers are more aggressive than automatic transmissions. His reason are that shifting the gears give their driver a sporty feel and the tendency to speed, cut lanes, and tailgate. They are the false belief of being a better driver and that they are given the right to commit these unwanted behaviors. Insurance companies seem to agree with this assumption, since a manual transmission also means a higher insurance policy premium.
Personality on the Road:
Most people I know, really believe that they are good drivers. It seems that every time an accident has happened to them, it always happened to be the other persons fault. If all of the people I know has never at fault in an accident, then that makes everyone I don't know a jerk on the road. This can't possibly be. Everyone seems to have a perception that they are perfect driver sand nothing they do on the road is wrong. A writer on the Internet writes, "I drive responsibly 99% of the time, but (perhaps it's a personality flaw) it's extremely frustrating" when other divers don't drive as well as he does. Again, he obviously does not consider the fact that maybe he might no be doing exactly the proper things on the road.
Controlling Personality:
Another writer on the usenet groups described "Folks who are obsessed with nailing speeders (which is not the same as reck-less driving, BTW) tend to have an incredibly controlling personality". He says these people judge everyone else on the road and criticize everything that is not agreeing to their driving standards. He suggest spraying speeders with mace. Now how extreme can you get. Although, I have had thoughts of violence on other drivers more than once before.
The two examples above were chosen because they prove how drivers attitudes and personalities should not be. Do not only think of yourself, but also of the drivers around you. As I reported in Report #2, the first step to becoming a better driver is to first realize that you are not a perfect driver. That there are other drivers out there that are on the same level as you are. Think what they must be thinking about the way you drive and that they have as much right to be on the road as you do.
The most important thing to come out of my searches on the Internet is that people behave just as I do on the road. Using the usenet groups as a source of information was very helpful in that it got me first hand accounts of peoples feelings on the road. It also gave me information on how to deal with other drivers by knowing somewhat what they are thinking. With this information, I might be more able to avoid dangerous situations.