Home>Traffic Safety and Driving Courses>RoadRageous Video Course -- Part 3
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| Saturday, November 27, 1999 |
Leon James and Diane Nahl, both professors at the University of Hawaii, teach drivers how to control their emotions while on the road. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Isle drivers not immune to road rage The Hawaii Traffic Safety Forum will look at losing control behind the wheel, and what to do about it By Jaymes K. Song Two weeks ago, three men in a Toyota Camry pulled alongside a 20-year-old woman on the H-1 Freeway near Pearl City and shot at her. On Oct. 22, a 57-year-old trucker was arrested for punching a man after a driving altercation in Kaimuki. On Oct. 19, a 19-year-old Waialua man was arrested for ramming a car driven by a 17-year-old boy at Leeward Community College because he was driving too slowly. These recent incidents show that road rage is alive even in the Aloha State. It is a dangerous and deadly disease that has infected the American culture in the past 10 years. A five-day conference starting Monday -- the Hawaii Traffic Safety Forum -- at the Hilton Hawaiian Village plans to address road rage and dozens of other traffic safety issues plaguing the island's roadways. Topics range from child-restraint seats to new designs to make safer roads. Dr. Leon James, a University of Hawaii psychology professor and a nationally known expert on road rage, will introduce "TEE Cards" at the conference. James proposes police officers hand out the TEE -- Traffic Enforcement Education -- cards to motorists who are stopped for aggressive driving violations such as speeding, passing dangerously or running a red light.
"When the police officer stops somebody to give them a ticket or warning, they've got the person's attention right there to give them a mini-lesson," said James, who is also known as Dr. Driving. The card includes an aggressive-driving checklist of violations the officer observed, tips to prevent aggressive driving and road rage and a self-survey that measures a motorist's road-rage tendencies. "It's learning how to deal with it in a better, more positive way than beating the traffic," James said. "By trying to gain some time, you're actually threatening other people." Police Sgt. Robert Lung said the Honolulu Police Department is looking into handing out brochures with driving tips and ways to control road rage, but not specifically the TEE card. "We see it on the road every day," Lung said. "We see cars traveling fast, darting in and out of traffic, making unsafe changes of lanes. "They don't use signals. They're speeding, tailgating." James and police acknowledged that most ticketed motorists probably will rip up any literature they receive, or not read it at all. But if it reaches just a few of them, it's worth it. The TEE Cards are a good first step, but more aggressive driving courses are needed, James said. Lung, who is on the conference's road rage panel with James, will speak on initiatives he will introduce to the state Legislature designed to curb aggressive driving. He noted that there are no specific laws in Hawaii addressing aggressive driving. "We can only give citations for individual violations," Lung said, adding there is nothing that informs police that the offender is a repeat-aggressive or dangerous driver. "It's a problem across the country."
Source: Dr. Driving
survey analysis here. Lung wants to make aggressive driving a new category that would fall under the "reckless driving" category. It would be considered a misdemeanor offense that could result in up to a $1,000 fine or up to one year in jail. An aggressive-driving ticket would be cited when a motorist commits two or more aggressive driving violations -- such as speeding, tailgating, changing lanes unsafely -- within a certain distance, Lung said. Traffic experts say driving habits and personalities have changed through the years, while the laws have not. "More people are at risk today of losing their self-control," James said. There are two main reasons for that, he said. There are more cars and congestion, which makes people feel more challenged, and people aren't taught how to deal with emotional challenges. Plus there are several obstacles drivers deal with now which they never did before. People are regularly using electronic navigation systems and cellular phones. Computers with E-mail also are being installed in many cars. Lung, a 28-year veteran with HPD, said people also are taking their frustrations from work and home out on the road. Aggressive driving is responsible for most of the nation's car accidents, James said. There were 10,000 road-rage crashes from 1990 to 1996, claiming 218 lives and injuring 12,610 others, according to a study by the Automobile Association of America. Next week's forum is sponsored by the state Department of Transportation and will include dozens of experts from Hawaii as well as the mainland. The conference was created as a result of several transportation surveys on Oahu in the past year, and will focus on education, enforcement and engineering. "We found there were areas where people need more education and communication," said Marilyn Kim, state DOT spokeswoman. The state is spending about $100,000 to host the conference. The money came from the $800,000 the state received from a federal incentive grant for lowering the legal blood-alcohol level to 0.08. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You can get more information about TEE Cards and road rage at DrDriving.org © 1999 Honolulu Star-Bulletin http://starbulletin.com |
Special to the Star-Bulletin
| Posted on: Wednesday, December 1, 1999 |
Aggressive driving all the rage on Oahu Were you as startled as we were to read about how much more aggressive Honolulu drivers are becoming? Advertiser staff writer Brandon Masuoka reports that we are running more red lights and stop signs, cutting off other motorists, tailgating and switching lanes without signaling. From 1997 to 1998, citations for these and other “aggressive driving behaviors” increased 34 percent, according to HPD statistics. These offenders aren’t people we don’t know. They are us. “The average driver receives one ticket every three years, after committing and getting away with more than 2,000 traffic violations,” reports Leon James, a psychology teacher at the University of Hawaii, on his Web site (DrDriving.org). “Aggressive driving is now the most common way of driving.” Aggressive driving leads to road rage, fabled on Mainland urban freeways and now rearing its ugly head here. “Road rage,” according to James, “is the inability to let go of the desire to retaliate and punish the other driver. How it is expressed depends on personality and situation.” On its valuable Web site (www.honolulupd.org), HPD has these suggestions for staying clear of aggressive driving situations and those prone to road rage:
With the increased traffic typical of the holiday season coming up, it behooves all of us to get a grip, slow down and drive with aloha. |
| WebMD Broadcast with Moderator Jon Roig |
 Live Events The Neuro CenterThursday, September 28, 2000 -- 4:00 PM EDT Do you ever feel like giving a tailgater a 'brake job'? Do you try to get where you're going in the shortest possible time? Do you curse at or retaliate against 'pushy' drivers? Join our experts to learn about putting the breaks on overly aggressive driving. We are a nation of aggressive drivers. How long can we continue as a society when we kill each other on highways at an annual rate five times greater than wars have killed our soldiers since the beginning of the century? This year at least 40,000 people will lose their lives on our highways and more than 3 million will go the hospital with injuries and economic losses of over 200 billion dollars, according to the American Institute of Public Safety. Psychologically, motorists are at war with each other. In 1999 more than a dozen states passed aggressive driving laws and law enforcement around the country has stepped up various initiatives to curb aggressive drivers, and psychologists are now starting to view road rage as a very real disorder. Leon James, PhD, and Diane Nahl, PhD, are the founders of "driving psychology" and the nation's foremost authorities on road rage and aggressive driving. They are the authors of the RoadRageous aggressive driving video course and a related book, Road Rage and Aggressive Driving: Steering Clear of Highway Warfare. Check out their web site, at DrDriving.org. Chris Huffman is chief operating officer of the American Institute for Public Safety. The institute recently collaborated with such experts as James and Nahl to produce the nation's first comprehensive course devoted to changing the attitudes and behavior of aggressive drivers. |
| When Drivers Attack: Putting the Brakes on Road Rage |
WebMD Live Event Chat Transcript with Moderator Jon Roig Event Date: 9/28/2000 Moderator: Welcome to WebMD Live. Our guests today are Leon James, PhD, Diane Nahl, PhD, and Chris Huffman. Dr. James and Dr. Nahl are the founders of "Driving Psychology" and the nation's foremost authorities on road rage and aggressive driving. They are the authors of the RoadRageous aggressive driving video course and a related book, Road Rage and Aggressive Driving: Steering Clear of Highway Warfare. Check out their web site at: www.DrDriving.org. Chris Huffman is chief operating officer of the American Institute for Public Safety. The institute recently collaborated with such experts as Dr. James and Dr. Nahl to produce the nation's first comprehensive course devoted to changing the attitudes and behavior of aggressive drivers. If you don't mind, I'd love it if you could tell us a bit about yourselves and your backgrounds in all of this. Dr. Leon James: I am Dr. Leon James. I am a professor of social psychology at the University of Hawaii. A few years back, I became interested in driving personality makeovers, so that is when I realized that driving is a very deep habit, that it is reflective of one's personality; it is difficult for individuals to become aware of what kind of driver they are and what their driving personality is. So our work has to do with discovering what people think and feel behind the wheel. With that information, we are going to find better ways for people to learn how to modify their driving personality. Dr. Diane Nahl: I am a professor at the University of Hawaii in information science. I have been interested in this since 1980 professionally, but I have also been interested in this area for most of my life, as I was raised by aggressive drivers. I was very afraid to drive myself, and I noticed that, among the people I had to drive with as a young person, they were very unwilling to take my fears into account. I got a degree in psychology and later in communications. I wanted to focus on this problem because I saw it as a public health issue. Chris Huffman: Well, my background is, I spent the first 22 years making cars (AMC-Jeep for 11 years, Rolls Royce and Bentley Motor cars for 11 years). I lived in England, building cars for people to drive, the safest car being the Rolls Royce. Then, I went to work for the Cunard Cruise line. In the maritime industry, safety is the top point -- making it safe for passengers. For the past two years, I have been with the American Institute of Public Safety, saving lives and saving taxpayer dollars, focusing on the success of road rage courses. The American Institute for Public Safety has a web site at: www.AIPSNews.com. Moderator: What are the most common misconceptions that you encounter about your work? Dr. Diane Nahl: People think we're driving instructors, but actually we're driving psychologists, so we're much more concerned with how people think and problem solve and respond emotionally while they're driving. The other most common misconception is that nobody thinks that they are an aggressive driver, when really we all are, to some degree. A very common misconception is that driving aggressively is comfortable, that it's better to vent your anger than to hold it in, which isn't true, because if you vent your anger, it becomes intensified, so the effects of it become even more negative. Another misconception would be that you can teach someone a lesson and control the way they drive. This is what we call the 'vigilante spirit.' This is wrong because you can't control the behavior of other drivers, only your own behavior. Chris Huffman: Another common misconception that we have to deal with as an educational company is that aggressive driving and treatment education is not the same as a defensive driving course, meaning, aggressive drivers require behavior modification education, which is very different from teaching defensive driving skills. When we talk to the prosecuting attorneys, we emphasize this: In order to change behavior, you need a behavior modification approach. It's about changing your attitude. One other misconception is that DUI's (driving under the influence) are the No. 1 problem on the road today, but they're not. There has been a lot of progress made in that regard. According to Secretary of Transportation Rodney Slater, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), aggressive driving is responsible for two-thirds of driving fatalities. DUI's are responsible for one-fourth of the deaths on the roads today. Aggressive driving kills four times more people than driving under the influence, so something needs to be done about it. burtt_msn: When I was a driving student, there was not education or training on driving courtesy or "rules of the road." Is that changing for young drivers? Chris Huffman: Virginia is the first state to pass a law requiring that driver's education classes contain education on aggressive driving behavior. I believe that this trend will expand across the country as the recognition of the size of the problem grows. Dr. Diane Nahl: Chris is right, and there are many states now adding these components on aggressive driving to their aggressive driving laws. The California State Assembly recently passed a bill requiring an aggressive driving component in all driving education courses. This trend will continue, because the solution to this problem is education. Dr. Leon James: George Washington is known to have copied, collected, and written up a bunch of rules that he called "rules of civility in life." This has now been reprinted on the web, so I just want to point to one statement he made, which is: "Civility is the glue which holds the nation together." So what has been happening on our highways is warfare, that is, highway warfare, which, by the way, is the subtitle of our book: Steering Clear of Highway Warfare. So unless we get civility or driving courtesy back into the expected behavior of drivers, we will weaken the bonds of our nation. Dr. Diane Nahl: I'd like to add that we have to practice civility to be good at it. We have to flex our "civility muscles" to get good at it. It has to become a new norm. Chris Huffman: I would like to add that for any parents or students who want to take the road rage courses, we have a distant learning home version that can be ordered by contacting us through one of our web sites at either www.DrDriving.org, or the American Institute for Public Safety at www.AIPSNews.com. There are a lot of states that have graduated drivers licensing for teenagers. In some of those states, there is ongoing driver's education training outside of the schools, meaning the parents are responsible. Moderator: How did things get so bad on our roads? Dr. Diane Nahl: Our most general answer is that aggressive driving is a learned habit, and that we learn aggressive driving from our parents and others who drove us as children. Children are not passive agents in the car. They actively learn and internalize the behavior and attitude of the driver. They don't realize they're learning these things. When they get their license at age 15 or 16, then they act as aggressive drivers without realizing where it came from; in other words, it's normal to be an aggressive driver. Dr. Leon James: Another aspect of this question is to ask, "Why is it so difficult not to be aggressive?" This goes deep into the meaning and symbol that our culture has for cars and driving. For example, we acquire competitive ways of keeping track of what's going on around us on the highway. For instance, how many cars pass us by? Oh, that feels bad. How many cars did we pass? Oh, that feels good. So we acquire automatic habits of keeping track of competitive incidents, and we gunnysack so that we become angrier than the incident itself could explain. It's a boiling over of accumulated aggressive exchanges with other drivers. So we are cocked to be triggered by some unimportant incident. Chris Huffman: In the last 15 years, there are 35 % more miles driven with an increase of road capacity of 1%, and as Dr. Nahl said, there are a slew of reasons, including the sense of anonymity one has when they are behind the wheel of the car. Dr. James refers to the driving community, but when you feel anonymous and protected by 4,000 pounds of metal, most of us don't consider the roadway a community; we consider it our sole territory, that "Only I have the right to the space ahead of me." Moderator: mflint asks: "I have heard a lot of anecdotal information about studies done on aggressive driving behavior. I have also reviewed your web page with its 1,000+ citations, yet I still haven't seen or read a lot of quality research-based studies done on the topic. Do you know of any?" Dr. Leon James: That's partially true in the sense that organized research hasn't really tackled the problem. It's very difficult to do research on the thoughts and emotions of the live driver in traffic. There are driving simulators, and quite a bit of research has been done using simulators. In fact, they are also now beginning to use these simulators in high schools for their driver's education classes. There is a greater recognition on the part of society in general that driver education needs to address, specifically, the issue of the driving responsibility. The RoadRageous video course is unique in this respect, because it focuses directly on what the driver's responsibility is and connects it to the driver's conscience, giving the driver the capacity to develop and strengthen the positive community aspects of driving. Dr. Diane Nahl: The study of driving behavior, like any social behavior, is very complex and must address multiple factors. One set of studies by George Wilde addresses the issues of driver's risk management, and these are important because he discovered that while engineering can make safety improvements in the vehicle and on the highway and with law enforcement activities, to the degree that the road and car are made safer, to that degree people just increase their level of risk to their comfort level. So this means that people need to actually unlearn those comfort levels of risk, because safety improvements will not increase their risk aversion. Chris Huffman: As safety equipment is added to automobiles such as antilock brakes, you may actually have people thinking they can take greater risks. We actually have a paradox. The safer the cars, the more risks people take. burtt_msn: Personally, I have observed the two most common driving faults to be: failure to stay to the right in multilane roads, and just plain inattentiveness. Both of these may be linked to the use of cellular phones. What are your views on cellular phone use and legislation? Dr. Leon James: First of all, some research that has become well-quoted in the last couple years has shown that drivers who use cellular phones behind the wheel aren't training themselves for it. They become four times more dangerous to themselves and others. In other words, they get into more crashes when they are using the phone. My reaction to this research, and it is quite preliminary right now, is that it applies to drivers multitasking when they don't appropriately train themselves. So what I recommend is not legislation against the use of cellular phones, as some countries have done, (including many states and counties). I would say that instead, what we need to take more seriously is the idea that you cannot start using communication devices in cars while moving until you train yourself appropriately. Dr. Diane Nahl: The whole notion of inattention and distraction are very serious, and the questioner is right, those are the two most frequent complaints that we receive. However, cellular phones are not the only or most significant form of distraction. There are many distractions: passengers talking incessantly; children throwing a fit; or even controversial talk radio topics. The other day here, a woman bent down to pick up her wallet that had slid onto the floor of the car. Before she came up, she had hit another car and killed someone. There are many such incidents, besides cellular phone use. So we can't legislate against all of these devices. They do add value to the car and to the driving experience. People want to use them and often need to use them for work, so training and education are the only solutions. Chris Huffman: I agree that legislation is not the answer; it lies in education. In regards to aggressive driving and cellular phones, there are two components that I want to address. One is my personal experience using a cellular phone. When I am having a normal conversation in the car using the cellular phone, I believe I am still a relatively safe driver. When I begin to get emotional in that conversation, I believe I become a dangerous driver. When I am behind someone who is using a cellular phone and is driving erratically, I become mad and aggressive. One of the key messages in the aggressive driver's course is to acknowledge, witness, and modify our own behavior. What saves me from riding up the escalator of emotions is that I have learned from the course to see myself getting emotional, and then I am able to modify my behavior and emotions. Without the education and training, people cannot modify their behavior and recognize what they are doing to others and themselves. Moderator: Well, it's certainly been a pleasure having all of you here today. Do you have any closing thoughts? Dr. Diane Nahl: I'd like to say one basic thing about aggressive driving, and that is that aggressive drivers are aggressive because they are imposing their own preferred level of risk on others. It doesn't matter how good they are at driving, others may not be as skilled and may not be able to handle maneuvers the aggressive drivers impose on them. Chris Huffman: Just a couple of messages: acknowledge, witness, and modify. You have to tell yourself it's just not worth it. It's not worth putting your own well-being at risk by reacting to someone else's erratic behavior. The choice is yours! Moderator: Our guests today have been Leon James, PhD, Diane Nahl, PhD, and Chris Huffman. Dr. James and Dr. Nahl are the founders of "Driving Psychology" and the nation's foremost authorities on road rage and aggressive driving. They are the authors of the RoadRageous aggressive driving video course and a related book, Road Rage and Aggressive Driving: Steering Clear of Highway Warfare. Check out their web site at: www.DrDriving.org. Chris Huffman is chief operating officer of the American Institute for Public Safety. The institute recently collaborated with such experts as Dr. James and Dr. Nahl to produce the nation's first comprehensive course devoted to changing the attitudes and behavior of aggressive drivers. You can find the web site for the American Institute for Public Safety at www.AIPSNews.com. |
| Washington Driver's Ed Bill (H-0741.1) HOUSE BILL 1450 |
Here are Portions of and Act Relating to traffic safety education "Traffic safety education course" shall mean an accredited course of instruction in traffic safety education which shall consist of two phases, classroom instruction, and laboratory experience. "Laboratory experience" shall include on-street, driving range, or simulator experience or some combination thereof. Each phase shall meet basic course requirements which shall be established by the superintendent of public instruction and each part of said course shall be taught by a qualified teacher of traffic safety education. "Qualified teacher of traffic safety education" shall mean an instructor certificated under the provisions of chapter 28A.410 RCW and certificated by the superintendent of public instruction to teach either the classroom phase or the laboratory phase of the traffic safety education course, or both, under regulations promulgated by the superintendent. "Realistic level of effort" means the classroom and laboratory student learning experiences considered acceptable to the superintendent of public instruction that must be satisfactorily accomplished by the student in order to successfully complete the traffic safety education course. The superintendent of public instruction shall develop a list of parent-led traffic safety and driver's education courses that are nationally recognized or approved for use in other states. The list shall be made available to parents providing home-based instruction in accordance with chapter 28A.200 RCW. Parents providing home-based instruction who are interested in using any of the courses on the list shall certify to the superintendent that: (a) The parent providing the instruction has a current driver's license issued by the state of Washington; (b) The parent providing the instruction has not been convicted of criminally negligent vehicular homicide or driving while intoxicated within the last ten years; and (c) The parent providing the instruction has not been disabled because of mental illness. Each parent-led course identified by the office of the superintendent of public instruction must include, at a minimum, the following: (a) The equivalent of thirty hours of classroom instruction; (b) The equivalent of fifty hours of street driving, including highway driving; (c) Instruction concerning alcohol and drug use and its effects ondriving; and (d) Materials for the parent to use to evaluate the driving skills achieved by the student after completing the course. The department of licensing shall not consider an application of any minor under the age of eighteen years for a driver's license or the issuance of a motorcycle endorsement for a particular category unless: (1) The application is also signed by a parent or guardian having the custody of such minor, or in the event a minor under the age of eighteen has no father, mother, or guardian, then a driver's license shall not be issued to the minor unless his or her application is also signed by the minor's employer; and (2) The applicant has satisfactorily completed a traffic safety education course as defined in RCW 28A.220.020, conducted by a recognized secondary school, that meets the standards established by the office of the state superintendent of public instruction. |
| Murphy: road rage program working |
August 10, 2000 JIM KINNEY, The Saratogian BALLSTON SPA -- The University at Albany has been successful in helping calm Saratoga County's road rage. Saratoga County District Attorney James A. Murphy III released results from the year-old cooperative venture Wednesday. Murphy, concerned about ways to combat aggressive driving, was sending people convicted of traffic violations and nonviolent misdemeanors to the university. The drivers were subjects for a study at the university's Center for Stress and Anxiety Disorders. The university picked up the tab for the research. Saratoga County is the only county to participate in the ongoing program. The 27 offenders in the study were able to satisfy their criminal conviction by participating in the weekly classes. One man told researchers that he ''would have killed someone on the road'' if he hadn't modified his behavior, according to the release. The participants were asked to record themselves as they drove. But the end, 86 percent of the participants reported a 50 percent improvement in their behavior. Almost two-thirds of the participants reported a 75 percent improvement. Murphy said he will keep on sending people into the program. |
| Aggressive Driving Legislation Summary (1998) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| New Recording Device as a Feedback Monitor |
New device monitors your teen’s driving Sabrina Smith FORT WORTH, Sept. 11 - Traffic accidents are the leading cause of death among teenagers. That’s enough to really frighten any parent with a child near driving age. NBC 5 Consumer Reporter Sabrina Smith explains a possible solution for companies who want to see how employees are driving the company vehicle. It's also a solution for you if you're wondering how your spouse drives the car on that short trip to the store, and a solution for parents who are anxious to find out what goes on when their teenager takes a spin in the family sedan. Mike Rowan dreads the words, "Dad, I need your keys." He worries whenever teenage daughter Ashley gets behind the wheel. But is she as bad as he suspects? He bought Smart Driver to find out. It's a car monitoring system that records a driver's every move without their knowledge. Ashley said, "When you're driving, you don't think your parents are going to be watching." Michael Deer is a distributor for the device that plugs into the dash, and later into your computer to show you how fast the driver was going, how far, and any traffic violations. He said, "Most of them you can conceal pretty well by stuffing it right under the dash." Deer said, "With teenagers, it's how many miles they're driving and how fast they're out zooming around, and all that data gets uploaded into the Smart Driver software, and it prints you out a report." Ashley's report showed a total of 912 violations. She drove faster than 65- miles-per-hour more than 100 times and reached maximum speeds of 86 mph. Ashley said, "I pushed on the gas a little too much." Her dad said, "It's a teaching tool for kids because they're always going to deny they went that fast or they revved the engine that much. When you write it down on paper, I mean it's hard to deny what's printed up here." Ashley said, "It really made me realize how fast I was going." Smart Driver costs about $300 and can archive up to one month's worth of activity. But
the device only works on cars made after 1996. |
| CALIFORNIA NEW ROAD RAGE LAW |
SENATE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE Bill No: AB 2733 Senator BETTY KARNETTE, ChairAuthor: Wesson VERSION: 5/30/00 Analysis by: Randall Henry Fiscal: yes SUBJECT: Driving education and offenses: road rage. DESCRIPTION: This bill would authorize the suspension of the driving privilege for a person convicted of assault on another motorist, and require the curriculum of traffic violator schools, and driver education and driver training programs to include discussion on aggressive driving behavior. ANALYSIS: Existing law makes it a misdemeanor or felony for a person to commit an assault upon the person of another with a deadly weapon or instrument, other than a firearm or by any means of abuse likely to produce great bodily injury. This bill would authorize a court to order the suspension of the driving privilege of a motorist that commits a specified assault on another motorist. Existing law includes automobile driver education among the areas of study in grades 7-12. Existing law also specifies the topics to be covered in an automobile driver education course. Existing law authorizes the Director of Motor Vehicles to prescribe rules and regulations regarding the conduct of courses offered at driving schools and traffic violator schools. This bill would require the curriculum of driving schools, traffic violator schools, and driver education programs to include a component related to aggressive driving behavior known as "road rage." State of California AB 2733 (Wesson) Page 2 COMMENTS: 1. Since 1987, the number of hours endured by California motorists in congested traffic conditions has increased by 70 percent. And the Commission on Transportation Investment recently predicted that the frequency of near-gridlock conditions on the state's freeways will more than double by the next decade. As the level of traffic congestion has increased in the state, the incidence of discourteous, overly aggressive, and even violent behavior exhibited by some motorists has become more commonplace. The most severe examples of this type of behavior have become widely known as "road rage."
2. According to the study, Controlling Road Rage: A Literature Review and Pilot Study, road rage is defined as "an incident in which an angry or impatient motorist or passenger intentionally injures or kills another motorist, passenger, or pedestrian, or attempts or threatens to injure or kill another motorist, passenger, or pedestrian."
3. A recent national survey of law enforcement agencies and transportation-related organizations found that "39 percent of survey respondents indicated that road rage is definitely a problem in their area and another 15 percent believe that it is a problem. Nearly one-third (32%) did not know if road rage is a problem, or were neutral as to its status, and 14 percent do not believe that it is a problem in their area." Regarding methods to address this problem, the survey reported that "the 29 percent of respondents who indicated that their organization had undertaken initiatives to combat road rage, the highest percentage, or 23 percent, indicated that their organization had increased their use of regular police vehicles and 15 percent indicated the use of unmarked police vehicles. Public service announcements were reported by 22 percent of respondents, followed by driver training at 11 percent. Other methods were reported by 15 percent of respondents."
4. In response to the upsurge in the incidence of violent and aggressive driving, a number of states have introduced legislation regarding this problem. Most bills require increased penalties for violent driving acts or expand driver education programs to include instruction and discussion of this issue. "Bills that focused on educational efforts included mandatory re-education for convicted offenders or the inclusion of aggressive driving in driver education courses. Many states have included penalties and mandatory education within the same bill."
5. The author contends that "threats of violence are becoming more common on California's crowded streets and highways," and he proposes to address this problem by increasing the penalties for a motorist that engages in road rage behavior and by imposing specified curriculum requirements for traffic violator schools, and driver education and driver training programs as possible preventive measures. Specifically, the bill would do the following: Authorize the courts to suspend the driving privilege for four months (first offense) for a person convicted of an assault upon an operator or passenger in a motor vehicle, an operator of a bicycle, or a pedestrian "with a deadly weapon or instrument other than a firearm or by any means of force likely to produce great bodily injury. . ." The license suspension would commence upon the release of the person from confinement or imprisonment. Require the curriculum used for traffic violator schools, and driver education and driver training courses include a component "examining driver attitude and motivation that focuses on the reduction of future driving violations, with particular emphasis on aggressive driving behavior and behavior commonly known as 'road rage.'"
6. The author indicates that he intends to request the adoption of the following author's amendments at the committee hearing: Increase the suspension period of the driving privilege from four to six months for the first offense of an assault upon on operator or passenger in a motor vehicle, an operator of a bicycle, or a pedestrian. Provide that the court may, "in lieu of or in addition to the suspension of the driving privilege, order a person convicted under this section to complete a court-approved AB 2733 (Wesson) Page 4 anger management or 'road rage' course, prior to reinstatement of the person's driving privilege and subsequent to the date of the current violation." Assembly Votes: Floor: 75-0 OPPOSED: None received. 7/24/00 |
| HAWAII NEW GRADUATED LICENSING LAW |
REPORT TITLE: Graduated Driver Licensing DESCRIPTION: Establishes a graduated driver licensing program for teen-aged drivers. 1921 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES H.B. NO. TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000 STATE OF HAWAII
A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO GRADUATED DRIVER LICENSING. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII: 1 SECTION 1. Purpose. The legislature finds that the leading Page 2 1921 H.B. NO. 1 to be appropriately designated and to read as follows: Page 3 1921 H.B. NO. 1 "§286-104 What persons shall not be licensed. The examiner Page 4 1921 H.B. NO. 1 provided that a person who is fifteen years and six Page 5 1921 H.B. NO. 1 driver training course certified by the director of Page 6 1921 H.B. NO. 1 regulations of the State and the county where the Page 7 1921 H.B. NO. 1 is being so operated. Page 8 1921 H.B. NO. 1 (1) Between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.; Page 9 1921 H.B. NO. 1 applicable law, after attaining the age of twenty-one."
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| December 29, 2000 In Hawaii... |
 Mandatory driver's ed a roadblock for many
Isle teens By Alice Keesing Advertiser Staff Writer Thousands of Hawai‘i teenagers who can’t get into driver’s education classes at school may find a long waiting list for private lessons that could cost as much as $600. (...) A driver’s education course becomes mandatory beginning Monday for all prospective applicants under 18 before they can take their driver’s license exam. The new law is intended to make Hawai‘i’s roads safer and requires Island youths to take 30 hours of classroom instruction and six hours of behind-the-wheel lessons. (...) Department of Transportation spokeswoman Marilyn Kali agreed that the new law is creating some uncertainty. (...) Public high schools will provide the cheapest way for students to get the mandatory driver’s education course. Most high schools provide an after-hours class, which costs just $10. But those classes already are overbooked. Sasaki has held lotteries for the last three years to determine who gets into Roosevelt’s classes. This month, 300 students vied for the 30 seats available. And there are some areas — including Lana‘i, Hana on Maui and Pahoa on the Big Island — where the Department of Education does not have instructors, leaving students looking for other alternatives that may be hard to find and which could cost as much as $600 — the maximum fee allowed by law. (...) Oide said a group of private driving schools are planning a nonprofit association that will award scholarships to those in financial need. And the YMCA, which is starting classes in January that will cost the maximum amount, also is planning scholarships and financial aid. Yet, even when families find the money, they may still have trouble finding a class. The DOT estimates between 10,000 and 15,000 teens become eligible for their license each year. The Department of Education can teach 3,000 a year, and the YMCA plans to reach up to 8,000 once its program is fully implemented. It will start classes on O‘ahu in January and hopes to expand to the Big Island, Maui and Kaua‘i by April. To make up the remainder, the DOT has been working to increase the number of private instructors in the state — about 80 have either completed or are in the process of certification training. However, Kali agrees that some teens may initially face a wait. (...) Kali said instructors have gone through a 104-hour course and have practiced their in-class and behind-the-wheel teaching. (...) Brown and other instructors also are concerned about the YMCA’s plan to use simulators to teach the behind-the-wheel portion of the class. "I don’t believe five hours on a simulator is any way equivalent to four hours behind-the-wheel," said Oide, who served on the DOT’s Driver’s Education Task Force to help implement the new law. Oide said one problem is that simulators have a limited field of vision and therefore cannot teach students to reverse or check for blind spots. Students who take the simulator course will be required to take an additional two hours of behind-the-wheel training, but Oide believes that’s still not enough. YMCA Vice President Glenn Tsugawa said the simulators are state-of-the-art and give students the opportunity to learn the basics of driving and make mistakes without real-life consequences. (...) The driver education course will cover the road rules and techniques of driving, it will show teens how to change a tire and set up flares in an emergency situation, it will include information about buying a car and insuring it and it will deal with attitudes of driving and sharing the road. "We’re hoping to make better drivers out of our teenagers so we can decrease the number of injuries and fatalities that are occurring during the first year they have their license," Kali said. "Sixteen-year-olds have more crashes than any other age group." In California, a similar law resulted in a 50 percent reduction in crashes for teens, Kali said, and it’s hoped Hawai‘i will have the same success.
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| October 25, 2000 |
Driving instructors want teens behind a real wheel Plans to use the Internet instead of on-hands lessons draw fire By Treena Shapiro Star-Bulletin Some Hawaii driving instructors today criticized the state's proposed use of the Internet and simulators as alternatives to classrooms and behind-the-wheel driver's education for Hawaii's teen-agers. The state Department of Transportation held a public hearing this morning at Honolulu Airport to discuss changes to the driver's licensing law, which includes mandatory driver's education for all teen-agers under age 18. The law raises the age for receiving a learner's permit from 15 to 15 and the minimum age to obtain a driver's license to 16. No testimony was offered in regard to raising the minimum age. However, Glenn Oide, owner of Accurate Driving and a member of the task force that discussed amendments to the driver licensing law, expressed concern over replacing classroom instruction with a driving simulator, which he feels would reduce the students' sense of social consciousness. He was one of three instructors who testified against the simulator today. A fourth instructor said he believed it could be a useful aid. With a simulator, students "don't get to meet and talk with other students that they will be responsible to in their driving," Oide argued. Mixing technology with classroom and behind-the-wheel training could be very effective, Oide said. But he said he feels more emphasis needs to be placed on group training and actual driving. At most, only 12 hours of driver's training should be on a simulator, he said. Oide also questioned whether the requirement that parents certify their children have undergone 50 hours of supervised driver's training is an adequate substitute, since they are not trained instructors. "Parents don't have the time to become supplemental instructors at the level we require," he said. (...) The driving simulator will promote behavior-based driving rather than mechanical skills, and students will be forced to repeat the same minor tasks until they master them, she said. Students also would experience high-risk situations that can't be enacted in real driving, such as their first accident or fatality. While others testified that Hawaii's teen-agers will be used as "guinea pigs" for the yet-untested simulator, Diener said the technology is being tested as it's developed and "kids in Hawaii are always going to be responsible and socially conscious in driving." (...) |