Aggressive Driving Picture this, you are on your way to either school or work. You’ve driven on the same road hundreds of times. You might even say that you know every crack and pebble on the road. Cruising the speed limit or maybe even a bit higher than normal speed. You looked at the time and realize you have only five minutes to get to work. Oh no, you’re panicking and looking at traffic to see how you can get to work faster. What are you going to do? You’re most likely going to speed up, but the other cars aren’t going fast enough or are barely at the speed limit. You have no other choice but to get right behind the car in front and tailgate them, hoping they go just a bit faster. Tailgating is a simple action of getting undoubtedly close …show more content…
“Interstate 17 car crash kills woman, injures 6 others.” Azcentral, The Republic | azcentral.Com, 20 Oct. 2017, www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix-traffic/2017/10/20/fatal-interstate-17-car-crash-near-bethany-home-road/786258001/Links to an external site.. Accessed 11 Nov. 2017.
Gutier, Alberto. “Obeying speed limits, respecting others make streets, highways safer.” Azcentral, 13 Apr. 2014, www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/2014/04/13/obey-speed-limits-safety/7687817/.
Kyrklund, Morgan. “DPS targets dangerous drivers; aggressive driving up 250 percent in Pima County.” Phoenix News - Arizona's Family, 25 May 2017, www.azfamily.com/story/35515237/speeding-and-aggressive-driving-tickets-way-upLinks to an external site.. Accessed 11 Nov. 2017
Leonardo, Nathan. “Road Rage & Aggressive Driving in Arizona.” Leonardo Law Offices, 24 June 2017, www.leonardolawoffices.com/road-rage-aggressive-driving-arizona/. Accessed 17 Nov. 2017.
“Operation No Need For Speed still underway in Phoenix.” KSAZ, 17 Nov. 2017, www.fox10phoenix.com/news/arizona-news/operation-no-need-for-speed-still-underway-in-phoenix.
“Research.” Research | AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety,
Aggressive driving can also result from drunk or drug driving and distracted driving. It is hence densely woven into multiple road dangers.
Dangers on roadways is an issue that describes the discrepancy between perception and reality of road rage. The media, for some odd reason, tends to make road rage a huge controversial issue. As seen on talk shows from Oprah Winfrey to CNN, they reveal to people that road rage could happen at any time and to always be looking over your shoulder. These talk shows and news programs also put fear into our minds by explaining that most roadragers often use guns to kill or injure their victims. Glassner contradicts the media's speculations by stating that out of approximately 250,000 people killed on roadways between 1990-1997, AAA attributed that one in one thousand was an act of road rage (pg.5).
Just because the sun is bright and shining in the summer does not mean that people are at their happiest moment. It is a regular hot summer’s day where you wake up to a hot apartment due to a broken A/C. The sun is not even completely out and you are already sweating, starting your day with the wrong foot. You lose time trying to see what is going on with your air conditioning system. As if your luck could not get any worse, your car’s A/C is broken as well. So, by now, you are late for work and completely sweaty, but finally on your way. While driving to work you take the route you take every morning and to your surprise one of the roads is closed due to an accident that happened earlier. A police officer that is controlling traffic approaches your car and asks you to please back your car and take another road. At this time you explode and you snap at the police officer. Why this aggression? It could be by the series of unfortunate events you just experienced, or maybe something else could be influencing your behavior. Research has shown that emotional aggressive outbursts are frequently caused by harsh or unpleasant events such as provocation, frustration, uncomfortable temperatures, loud noise, unpleasant odors, and smoke. (Anderson, Groom,
Eppley, George. "Confessing to Road Rage." Human Development 26.3 (2005): 48. Acedemic Search Complete. Muntz Lib., Tyler, TX. 25 Mar. 2009.
Driving while drunk is one of the very dangerous things in the life of a driver. Drivers who work under high Blood Alcohol Concentration also known as (BAC) usually expressed as a percentage of ethanol in the blood consisting of alcohol per volume of blood or alternatively mass of alcohol per mass of blood. These drivers are at a great increase of car risk accidents, vehicular deaths as well as highway risks. Drinking under the Influence commonly known as DUI simply refers to driving a motor vehicle while one has level of alcohol in their blood exceeding the legal limit. This is not limited to alcoholic content but covers other drugs that include but are not limited to prescription drugs. This leads the driver to lack coordination, experience double vision, brief blackouts and have a slurred speech. Driving under the influence causes brain impairment leading to a person feeling that they can manage a situation just like they have always handled it before. This is always as a result of poor reasoning and judgment which leaves one vulnerable to the deadly effects of drunk driving.
It’s normal that as we age, our driving abilities tend to change. Adjusting to life changes such as retirement, different schedules, and new activities also affect where and when they drive. Most older adults drive safely because they have a lot of experience behind the wheel. They are often hurt more seriously than younger drivers when they are involved in crashes (Older Drivers , 2012). There are many factors that affect older adults when driving such as arthritis, memory loss, and spine problems, which make drivers lose height and become shorter behind the wheel, diminishing visual range (Older Drivers , 2012). Driving skills can be affected by age-related declines in vision, hearing, cognitive functioning, ability to reason and remember, and other abilities, as well as certain health conditions and medications. It’s important to note , adults tend to take more medications as they age, and even if they’re not developing dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease, the medications can cause cognitive changes and confusion, which in turn can affect they’re driving abilities (Older Drivers , 2012).
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) defines aggressive driving as "the operation of a motor vehicle in a manner that endangers or is likely to endanger persons or property"—a traffic and not a criminal offense like road rage. Examples include speeding or driving too fast for conditions, improper lane changing, tailgating and improper passing. Approximately 6,800,000 crashes occur in the United States each year; a substantial number are estimated to be caused by aggressive driving. 1997 statistics compiled by NHTSA and the American Automobile Association show that almost 13,000 people have been injured or killed since 1990 in crashes caused by aggressive driving. According to a NHTSA survey, more than 60 percent of drivers consider unsafe driving by others, including speeding, a major personal threat to themselves and their families. About 30 percent of respondents said they felt their safety was threatened in the last month, while 67 percent felt this threat during the last year. Weaving, tailgating, distracted drivers, and unsafe lane changes were some of the unsafe behaviors identified. Aggressive drivers are more likely to drink and drive or drive unbelted. Aggressive driving can easily escalate into an incident of road rage. Motorists in all 50 states have killed or injured other motorists for seemingly trivial reasons. Motorists should keep their cool in traffic, be patient and courteous to other drivers, and correct unsafe driving habits that are likely to endanger, antagonize or provoke other motorists. More than half of those surveyed by NHTSA admitted to driving aggressively on occasion. Only 14 percent felt it was "extremely dangerous" to drive 10 miles per hour over the speed limit. 62 percent of those who frequently drive in an unsafe and illegal manner said police for traffic reasons had not stopped them in the past year. The majority of those in the NHTSA survey (52 percent) said it was "very important" to do something about speeding. Ninety-eight percent of respondents thought it "important" that something be done to reduce speeding and unsafe driving. Those surveyed ranked the following countermeasures, in order, as most likely to reduce aggressive and unsafe driving behaviors: (1) more police assigned to traffic control, (2) more frequent ticketing of traffic violations, (3) higher fines, and (4) i...
Defensive driving can save lives. It can turn a nonchalant call home into a terrifying call home. It is making the choice between stopping at a stop sign or stopping someone’s life. Defensive driving should be a part of everyone’s daily driving routine. If you practice defensive driving you can save yourself time, money, and a lot of headaches. It also benefits you in more ways than one.
The major cause of aggressive driving is the discourteous or inattentive driver. Driving behaviors include changing lanes to closely, tailgating and "the number one cause is the left lane hog." (Larson 1) These seemingly small errors infuriate the potentially aggressive driver and cause a transformation indescribable to man kind. Reduced law enforcement, highway traffic, the growing congestion is cities, and personal issues play a large role in the disposition of the aggressive driver. Then the angry driver may demonstrate his or her displeasure by speeding around the other vehicle, cutting the other car off, and or with a number of verbal and non-verbal messages. Though the driver may feel justified in his or her action, but the display in most times is very dangerous and often will result in damage to one or both cars involved.
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Most teenagers are excited to get their license so they are able to be with their friends. They believe it is fun to have a car full of friends and drive anywhere and everywhere. However, most teenagers are not aware that three or more teen passengers quadruples a crash risk (National). When others are in the car with a driver it causes a myriad of distractions. Teenagers are subjected to peer-pressure and therefore do not make mature decisions. For example, teenagers wear seat belts less often than older drivers because of peer-pressure (Millward). The seat belt is a restriction so if an accident were to occur the outcome of it will not be as extreme with it on. Wearing a seat belt is also a law and teenagers pressure each other to break that law. The fatality rate for teenagers is 3.6 times higher than driving alone (California). Teenagers are pressured to break laws and do illegal actions while others are in t...
Imagine driving on I-75 as cars race by you at a blink of an eye. You are driving 60 miles per hour, the speed limit; they must be doing 100 miles per hour or more. This is not an illusion; this is the reality of driving on a highway. Believe it, it happens everyday. Cars race down the road at uncontrollable speeds that cause tickets, accidents, and sadly death. Speed limits are a must for traffic control, for safety in neighborhoods and for avoidance of collisions.
“The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status, or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we all believe that we are above-average drivers” -Dave Barry, comedian. The number of accidents over the last ten years have drastically increased, drivers are paying less attention to the road itself. Many individuals behind the wheel of a car believe that their driving does not affect the road conditions, however it always will. The driving habits of today are catastrophic due to the reasoning that the driving will affect other lives through reckless or distracted driving, and disobeying traffic laws.
III. Connection: Everday we have to deal with these people on our roads. We run a great risk just driving around the corner to go to the store or a quiet trip to church. According to U.S. News and World Report, the U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that two-thirds of fatalities are at least partially caused by aggressive driving. Fortunately, there is something we can do about it.