'Hypermiling' tricks save gas but stir up some criticism

From: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/traffic/bal-te.hypermiling11jun11,0,4192306.story

By Liz F. Kay and Josh Mitchell | Baltimore Sun reporters June 11, 2008

 (...) Estimates of potential savings vary, but one expert says the driver of a nonhybrid vehicle could improve his fuel economy 50 percent by applying basic tips. (...) Other hypermilers stress the environmental benefits. But some auto experts question the safety of advanced hypermiling techniques such as "drafting" - closely following tractor-trailers to cut down on the flow of air against a vehicle.

Leon James, a University of Hawaii professor who has written about the psychology of driving, said hypermiling can become a form of aggressive driving if, for example, drivers practice it in the fast lane, forcing others to drive around them, or if they coast through stop signs.

"If you were behind someone who's practicing certain features of hypermiling, you get very annoyed," James said. "Hypermiling can be a selfish thing to do."

Ed Kriston of AAA said that the automobile group encourages gentle driving to save gas but discourages aggressive types of hypermiling. "Some of the things they do are very dangerous," he said. He pointed to drivers going below the speed limit on highways such as Interstate 795, where the limit is typically higher than those posted on most highways.  (...)

The biggest factor in getting better gas mileage is driving at a moderate speed - 55 mph instead of 65 or 75 mph - the publication reported. When the Toyota Camry's cruising speed was increased from 55 to 65 mph, the car's fuel economy dropped from 40 mpg to 35, it reported. Other techniques include keeping tires properly inflated and avoiding frequent bursts of acceleration, sudden braking, the use of premium fuel and driving on a cold engine.

(...) Hypermilers also use their air conditioning more efficiently, Gerdes said. He cools his car before he starts the engine by opening windows and doors. (...)

"I don't go so slow that it would be annoying," said Semmes, a founder of the Mount Washington Green Club. He also shifts into neutral when going downhill and tries to get behind big trucks, although, he said, "I'm afraid to get too close, so I'm not sure it makes a difference." Semmes is motivated by his concern for the environment, but he also hypermiles, he said, "because it's cool." Other drivers gave various reasons for starting to slow down.

(...) Other drivers said the potential savings on gas wouldn't compensate for time lost by driving slower. "That's what old people do," said Carl Henninger, 27, another Costco customer. "It would definitely make a difference, but I'm not going to change my life for 50 cents a gallon." (...)

Hypermiling tips

•Avoid accelerating quickly or braking heavily.
•Do not idle excessively.
•Keep tires properly inflated.
•Avoid speeding.
•Warm up the engine before driving.
•Remove cargo or cargo racks to reduce weight and air resistance.
Sources: Consumer Reports, hypermiling.com 

AAA Advises Hypermilers to Steer Clear of Dangerous Techniques

From:  http://www.localnews8.com/Global/story.asp?S=8547090&nav=menu554_2

Updated: June 24, 2008

(...) They are referring to the measures drivers take to conserve fuel called "hypermilling." AAA defines it as trying to exceed a vehicle's fuel efficiency rating by drastically modifying driving and maintenance habits.

"We recommend that motorists avoid jackrabbit starts and lead-foot braking that are proven fuel wasters," said AAA Idaho spokesman Dave Carlson. "Don't go overboard on hypermiling techniques that can hurt you or damage your vehicle."

 
When Hypermiling Is Considered Aggressive Driving

By Dr. Leon James  6/08

Email:  letters@DrDriving.org
 
People can be motivated to join the practice of hypermiling for many good reasons and motives.

For example:

1. they want to stop wasting expensive gas
2. they want to reduce contributing to pollution
3. they want to help the nation to become less dependent on foreign oil
4. they drive slower to be less dangerous
5. it gives them more alone time in their car
6. they altruistically desire to have others get ahead of them
7. they want to be able to enjoy the scenery more
8. they want to be good driver role models to their children
9. there is a police car behind them
10. and still other good reasons

See What is Hypermiling?

These are all good and legitimate reasons for joining the group of hypermilers.

Now here are some cautionary things that hypermilers should be aware of and make them into part of their practice. These are recommendations I have on the basis of the driving psychology principle that aggressive driving consists of imposing a level of risk on others that they are not prepared to handle.

Part of the proper practice of hypermiling on public roads and parking lots, is to always take into account what is the effect of their practice on other drivers. We are almost never alone in public places, The way we walk and drive has an immediate and unavoidable impact on another pedestrian or motorist. This is obvious to everybody.

The problem is that we can fabricate a justification for ignoring this obvious reality.

We all need to ask ourselves some questions and especially, to practice self-witnessing in public places. We need to teach ourselves the skill of monitoring how our actions in public impact others. Take for instance the motorist we call “the left lane bandit.” Drivers will occupy the passing lane when there is plenty room and opportunity to move over into the right lane. They might think, “It’s OK. No one is behind me.” But then, they are not as vigilant as they should be for safety and courtesy. They don’t check their rear view mirror every minute. So when a car comes up behind them, the left lane bandits don’t see it, or they see it, but don’t care. They think, “Let them pass me in the right lane. There is plenty room. Besides, I am going at speed limit.”

Here you can see that drivers have the habit of spontaneously fabricating justifications for maintaining the aggressive behavior. It is aggressive to block the passing lane, whatever speed one is travelling, as long as one can move over safely, and someone is behind wanting to go through. Not to move over is aggressive. Drivers know this instinctively, but if they fabricate a justification, they can keep themselves from moving over. The reason that not to move over is aggressive, is that it forces others to take more risks for themselves and others. It also causes them to react emotionally, unless they already trained themselves to handle traffic emotions appropriately. Drivers who react emotionally to the behavior of left lane bandits, tend to execute the passing on the right in a flurry of counter-aggressive moves. They do it faster than is safe. They waste a lot more gas. They become a danger to other motorists. They continue venting for minutes afterward, losing their focus and concentration. All this is the consequence of the fabricated justification of left lane bandits. Aggressive driving that promotes more aggressive driving on the road.

Now let us look at what the hypermilers sometimes do, and what they need to avoid doing in order to practice safe and acceptable hypermiling on public roads.

There are two categories of hypermiling strategies. One category involves doing something to the car that does not affect other drivers. These include strategies relating to:

1. engine oil types and amounts
2. tire pressure
3. cargo / load
4. towing
5. running electrical accessories
6. maintenance schedule
7. fuel consumption display
8. others

The second category involves doing something to one’s driving style, which always impacts directly on other motorists. These include strategies relating to:

1. speed and speed variation techniques
2. acceleration and deceleration pattern
3. using a gradual stepped up speed technique (“Warm up P&G”)
4. avoiding hilly terrain
5. idling and warming up the engine
6. coasting
7. following close in an attempt to benefit from the “Draft-Assisted FAS” of a car ahead of you
8. others

If you Google or Yahoo hypermiling or hypermilers, you will find sites, blogs, and discussions that warn against driving style strategies that are aggressive or illegal, and those that are enthusiastic about any hypermiling technique that can improve one’s fuel economy (FE). This is the danger zone of the hypermiling practice that is spreading across the land. Current hypermilers, and all who join their ranks, can be practicing both types of driving styles without realizing it.
 
As an expert on driving psychology, I strongly recommend to all hypermiling practitioners to monitor their driving techniques to observe how they impact other drivers. The practice of hypermiling must contain two components: the motivation to improve fuel economy, and the motivation to avoid aggressive driving techniques. Both motives must be present.
 
Aggressive driving techniques by hypermilers include anything they do which impacts other motorists by increasing the risk to which they are exposed by the hypermiler.

Here are some examples from the description of hypermilers. These techniques will often affect other motorists, so that hypermilers must monitor how their driving strategy affects the risk on other motorists.

1. Pulse and Glide (P&G) (e.g., accelerating to 40 mph, easing off to 25 mph, accelerating back to 40, etc.)
2. riding in the wake of a large trailer truck at highway speeds (in FAS). It's not safe, DON'T DO IT. We only mention it here because it is part of some hypermilers' arsenal of tricks.
3. driving with minimal brakes, but it must be done with a good dose of common sense--it's really not a good idea to take a 25 MPH curve at 50 trying to save gas
4. looking far down the road to anticipate traffic stoppages, sharp curves and signal changes and begin to decelerate or coast beforehand
5. driving very close to the outside edge of the road in order to keep the vehicle's tires out of the slight depressions (ruts) worn into the road surface by the constant pounding of daily traffic
6. when parking, locating a spot that is on a bit of a slope, and then using gravity to help get the vehicle moving from standstill
7. etc.

These techniques can be aggressive and annoying. Driving in a way that annoys other motorists is to contribute to a risk hazard. For instance, “ridge riding” involves the practice of driving very close to the outside edge of the road in order to keep the vehicle's tires out of the slight depressions (ruts) worn into the road surface by the constant pounding of daily traffic. This may seem innocuous when you’re alone on the road, but if you’re driving in traffic drivers behind you have to readjust to seeing your car slightly off center, which is not what they normally expect. It reduces predictability and introduces some confusion.

Here are two recent email messages I received from hypermiling enthusiasts:

I've been reading through your site, and I feel it is very good. My nature is to try to agree with people and to delve into the reasons why they say what they do.

One example from your writings involves letting a person in who is trying to merge with traffic. An inexperienced hypermiler might be intent on maintaining exactly 57.3 mph or some other speed in order to maximize their mpg. Yes, I would consider this a form of "aggressive" driving and would not condone it. I try to pick up merging traffic as soon as possible. If they are not moving in my windshield, I know we are on a collision course, so I will adjust my speed (usually slower for hypermiling) in order to let them in without conflict. I don't expect a wave of appreciation as it happens so early, they would not perceive that I did let them in. It will actually improve my mileage as hypermiling adjustments must be very subtle or it ruins my mpg. Far better to make a relaxed adjustment early than an abrupt one later.

Our concern as hypermilers is that we are being portrayed in the media as crazy drafters (we don't condone drafting closer than 3 or 4 seconds) or selfish people who don't care if we block traffic in order to get the best mpg. The reality is that we get the best mpg when we become a part of the traffic flow in a way that the fewest number of people have to make abrupt changes.

Yesterday, I took a 15 mile ride around town pretending a hostile reporter was in the right seat and would report everything I did to inconvenience others. I found that I never needed to go slowly to enhance my mpg at a time when it would inconvenience others. In order to be a good hypermiler in the city, it's imperative to get in those spaces between the packs that form at lights. If someone from the trailing pack is catching me, that means I'm going too slowly to get a green light at the next intersection and I speed up.

This type of driving is new to many people and mistakes will be made. Hopefully, you will become accepted among hypermilers as a source of information that can help us out. I'll do my best to understand  your point of view. Meanwhile, I'd suggest you give the slow acceleration, constant speed, anticipating lights way of driving which forces intent concentration on traffic patterns in all directions and then perhaps, you will understand our point of view.
Sincerely,
Gary Thaller (“Gershon”)

And the second message:

Dr. James,

This week, the Baltimore Sun had two hypermiling articles...the first one was clearly anti-hypermiling. After visiting www.drdriving.org  and a second read, I strongly suspect your quote in the article was taken out of context to promote the reporter's bias.

The quote was: "hypermiling can be a form of aggressive driving". This can be true, but the vast majority of hypermilers are working hard to also be courteous while driving - something we promote at www.cleanmpg.com . There were many things in that article dissing hypermiling. Numerous article over hype the rare practice of drafting semis...I suspect this is partially due to reporters copying earlier articles on the topic (which it was mentioned), it's an attention-getter, and simply a dislike for non-aggressive driving. In general, I have found a number of speeders angered by the mere fact someone is going under the speed limit. For instance - I leave before rush hour in Dallas going 50 in a 60 with three lanes. I'll be in the rightmost lane, but someone going so fast they obviously never behind me will blast their horn. In rush hour I'd adjust, BTW.

At www.cleanmpg.com, we do promote defensive driving and to do what we can to pursue better fuel economy with annoying drivers behind us.

Sincerely,
Chuck Thomas aka Delta Flyer at www.cleanmpg.com

---

Dr. James,
Thank you for your reply. To briefly describe what hypermilers are doing.

The community of hypermilers I know and converse with at www.cleanmpg.com do whatever we can do to stay out of the way of faster drivers while attempting to go farther. Tactics include avoiding rush hour, choosing less congested roads when available, driving on the rightmost lane, on freeways taking the access road between intersections, putting the emergency flashers on as a would be tailgater is approaching (a tremendous stress reducer!), allowing others to pass whenever possible. In heavy traffic situations, I will speed up if necessary.

If a hypermiler fails to do what was just described, then he would be inconsiderate and probably the variation of an aggressive driver as quoted in the Baltimore Sun. The basic issue with that article's general tone to all but the careful reads made it seem like you said "hypermilers are inconsiderate drivers" when you actually said "hypermilers could be inconsiderate/selfish drivers". Again, I apologize for being a bit too quick. Yes, a hypermiler could poke in the fast lane or HOV lane, go 20mph slower than the traffic immediately around them, roll through stop signs, hold up traffic. All of those actions are inconsiderate and are discouraged at www.cleanmpg.com.

Beyond the article, I have found both on the road and whenever netizens can comment to any hypermiling article that aggressive drivers simply hate hypermilers - strong statement, but google one up and it will be obvious. Several personal theories. One is speeders probably feel more secure in packs - if the 90% of drivers speeding start to observe the postings, the remaining speeders are going to be much easier to pullover. Guilt is another pet theory. I liken this to the "sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll" dudes giving the preacher's kid a hard time because the mere presence of a clean cut person makes them uncomfortable....got stories of hybrid drivers getting hostile looks at the gas station from others filling up gas guzzlers, occasionally taking it to the freeway as road rage.

Finally, some read politics into hypermiling and hybrids to an absurd degree...if you took that "your ride reflects your politics/religion/orientation" - I'd definitely be driving a one ton pickup truck, but I chose my Honda Insight for pragmatism and economics instead.
Sincerely,
Chuck Thomas

Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 19:52:05 -0700 (PDT)
From: Gershon ben Franja <gershon_ben_franja@yahoo.com>
Subject: bumper stickers

Leon,
I am reading your site a lot, which is a good thing. In the past couple of weeks, I've noticed a big change in traffic patterns. Hypermilers are common in the right lane. Probably most of them don't know the term, but people are slowing well before red lights. This is making traffic much smoother in the city as it avoids what I call the "bump and go" at a red light. Instead of everyone coming to a stop at the light, people are coasting, so when it changes they are able to go through. It seems to be much more efficient. Nobody seems to tailgate those slowing early. In fact, people seem to recognize that keeping about 2 -4 second spacing will make it better for them. So, I think hypermiling is a good thing for the city.

I've also noticed a LOT of people turning off their engines at lights. There is no problem with anyone getting started in time. So that's a good thing. The interstate is a different story. Most of the problems seem to be caused by trucks that can't accelerate to pass and don't want to waste gas by slowing. This is creating more bottlenecks around trucks. It's not so much the truck, as it is the person behind the truck who waits until they are right upon it before wanting to pass. Now people in the left lane are hesitant to pass because the stuck person might pull out.

There is also more traffic on the interstate as people spend more time there with the average speed being slower. In time, I think this issue will work itself out as people get used to it. Country roads are empty. Last night I rode my bike 35 miles on a mountain road and didn't see a single vehicle coming the opposite direction. Sometimes we will have different opinions on things. I saw this quote from you:

"Leon James, a noted expert on driving psychology and road rage, says people who act on their road rage tend to express their emotional territoriality more than others, something that could easily translate to the purchase of "overt" vehicle adornments. "Anything you put on your car is aggressive because it forces other people to look at it," says James, a professor at the University of Hawaii. "Drivers aren't out on the road to read your message."

Nobody can force me to do anything. If I am not in a place where I can read a bumper sticker, I don't read it. I think billboards are the same way. Anyway, not a big deal, but the funniest one I saw was "The closer you get, the slower I go." I think we'd agree this one is aggressive. On tailgating. In my car, I've found a very effective way of dealing with tailgaters. I find that if I slow ever so slightly to where they would hardly notice and then accelerate about 5 mph they pretty much stay back. I seldom get tailgated as I find people tend to mimic the spacing the car ahead of them has. If I don't tailgate, I don't get tailgated.
Gershon

Quoting Comments on Hypermiling from readers on various sites (6-11-08):

(…) It’s not acceptable to go five under because most people are on the road to get somewhere, not to extend their fuel range. The hypermilers become moving roadblocks. They have noble intentions, but they’re practically off-base. I would suggest that instead of playing the high-mileage game with their cars, they might just try riding the train or the bus. (…)
Posted by Brandon
 
You are most definitely right that going slow is not socially acceptable. Cars moving quickly don’t force anyone to speed up, however cars going slowly force everyone behind them to go slow. If you insist on going slow then use surface streets, and if you go too slow for surface streets use residential streets.
Posted by Mike B
 
Getting up to the speed of traffic in a timely manner is basic human decency. If you pull out of a driveway or turn from an intersecting street and proceed to coast along 15 mph under the limit, forcing cars behind you to jump on their brakes, you’re causing traffic snarls — not to mention potential accidents. If even 10% of the cars on the road insist on coasting around well under the speed of traffic, we’re all going to spend so much time idling in traffic jams that all energy-saving measures are moot.
When I get trapped behind one of these people, I often can’t even change lanes safely, because cars will be approaching from behind so quickly that I can’t see them until they’re already dangerously close. I want to be okay with people driving under the speed limit, but I can’t figure out how to accommodate them without endangering myself.
Posted by EAS
 
Hypermiling might be fine, but when you become a moving roadblock and are doing less than the speed limit, plus coasting you incite roadrage in the people behind you. Take that guy in the large SUV that now is pissed and wants to pass you. You may be getting 60 mpg’s out of your Prius by coasting and driving 5 mph under, but when he gets a chance to pass you he’s gonna floor that beast and eeek out maybe 8 mpg’s. So what you’re conserving in gas he’s consuming. The end result: All that hypermiling you just did was for nothing.
At least obey the speed limits and don’t go pissing off those large SUV’s. And if you’re gonna do it on the interstate get ALL the way over to the right hand lane!!!
Posted by Capt. Concernicus
 
I really do wish, though, that those who are driving below the speed limit would move to the right rather than sitting out in a left or middle lane. They really just don’t seem to get that they are causing danger by messing up the traffic flow as others try to get around them. They *also* seem oblivious to the fact that cars bunching up behind them isn’t particularly safe, either.
Posted by jen l
 
To posters 2 and 3, they are proof that it is not socially acceptable. The problem (for them) is that it is perfectly legal. It’s true that most people “are on the road to get somewhere,” but that does not somehow mean that they have the right to force other people to get there at the same speed. There is nothing wrong with driving 5 under the speed limit when the only minimum speed limits I have ever seen on a highway are 20 below.
This is the same type of argument given by people who try to run cyclists off the road in town. a Bicycle has every right to drive in the road at 15 mph, even if someone behind them is trying to “get somewhere”.
Posted by Kwali
 
Before deciding what to make of “hypermiling”, I actually spent time on the web site, and discovered that they do NOT condone drafting other vehicles and/or coasting with the engine off. It appears from their blogs that a just a few try it, but most stick with safer techniques. What I see is mostly sensible things like keeping the car tuned up, not exceeding the speed limit, and avoiding jackrabbit starts/stops. Therefore, I conclude that these folks are making our roads safer, and not more hazardous.
Posted by Kenneth

---

Site Map  ||  Search this Site

  

	Enter your search terms
	Web DrDriving.org

Hypermiling Article

The New Practice of Hypermiling –
The Philosophy Behind the Hypermiling Driving Style

and

The War Between Hypermilers and Non-Hypermilers  

By Dr. Leon James

DrDriving.org  July 2008

If you observe motorists at traffic lights you notice that a hypermiling driving style is being practiced by more and more drivers. They coast towards the intersection, slowing down earlier, gradually decreasing speed, instead of the usual way, which is to approach the intersection at the rate of travel, then more or less abruptly, putting on the brakes. This usual technique uses up more gas. Any time you apply the brakes, you are “wasting” gas – this is the central motivating idea of the hypermiler’s philosophy of driving. It’s an attitude that leads more drivers to shut off their engine while “sitting” at a red light.

One practitioner recently wrote to me in an email: “Hypermiling changes a person psychologically into being more relaxed while driving.”

To hypermilers, doing hypermiling has become a special driving identity.

“Yesterday, I was watching traffic approaching a red light. Out of maybe 50 cars that I watched, only 2 didn't slow down early. I was also sitting at a red light and noticed several people had their engines shut off. I saw an elderly grandmother type do a perfect coast to a light last week. She seemed to be an expert.”

As this comment illustrates, hypermilers admire each other’s “expertise” in the skills of fuel-efficiency-conscious driving. A well documented hypermiling practitioner’s Web site has replied to recent news stories reporting criticisms by safety officials of hypermiling strategies.

You can see the article here: http://www.cleanmpg.com/cmps_index.php?page=AAA

Quoting: “CleanMPG stresses that beginning Hypermilers should add only one new method at a time, if necessary testing at low speeds in an empty parking lot or on a deserted back road, and should never try anything they feel will be unsafe. In Hypermiling , the driver exercises the same discretion required in all driving. Going 65mph may be deemed “safe” on a highway with a 65mph limit, but not in a mall parking lot, or for that matter on the same highway in rain or snow. Hypermilers drive more safely than today's average US driver because (a) they do not drive at speeds above the posted speed limits, (b) they focus intently on the road and traffic conditions around them, and (c) they keep to the right hand lane.”

Now this is what I would call good hypermiling practices.

Others include:

(1) smooth and gentle acceleration and braking

(2) maintaining a steady speed

(3) using cruise control

(4) looking ahead to anticipate changing traffic conditions.

The article also mentions techniques that I would call bad hypermiling practices, such as,

(1) not keeping to the right

(2) rolling through stop signs and red lights

(3) drafting or tailgating

The CleanMPG Website article defends good hypermiling practices: “Over the past few years, reporters from respected institutions such as CBS, ABC, Dan Rather Reports, and other regional as well as local news outlets have gone on "ride-a-longs" or Hypermiling Clinics with various CleanMPG members to experience Hypermiling firsthand. None of them stated either in person or in their reports that they found the methods hazardous but all witnessed respective fuel economy increases of as much as 100%!”

Gary Thaller (“Gershon”) wrote to me in an email:

“Perhaps if you are going to be giving interviews on hypermilers, you should try to become one. Then you will see the psychological changes it brings about for you. They may be different than for others. You may see it as a way of toning down aggressive riding by substituting a different form of competiveness. For example: One might smirk when they catch a racer at the next lght. Another might not care or even notice. The external actions are the same, but the intrinsic motivation is different.

If one stereotypes the type of people who become hypermilers, it gives a perception of a limitation to those who can start doing it. For example: To run in the Olympics, one needs a certain level  of ability. But as is seen in the NYC Marathon every year, even a very handicapped person can be a runner. One may not have the desire to implement all the techniques in the way an Olympic runner does, but they can still hypermile at the level they are capable of doing.

There is a buffet of techniques. I'd suggest a person pick one, say coasting to lights instead of keeping speed up and braking late. Try it until it seems natural and then try another one.”

As you can see, hypermiling has become a new social community of practice on the roads and streets of America. They have their own new standards of “good driving.” Drivers who “waste” gas are not considered good drivers. New fuel efficiency standards have become an important measure of driving excellence. It’s not enough any more to merely meet fuel efficiency standards recommended by the vehicle manufacturer. Those are set too low, way too low, according to hypermiling standards.

Now From the Perspective of the Drivers Behind the Hypermilers

Not hypermiling is also a social practice in the driving community on the roads.

Before the great gas price hikes, when gas was esteemed “affordable,” hypermiling was not known as a community of practice. And yet, as an illustration, I know that my wife was taught to drive by her father in the 1960s and he taught her that the gas pedal should not be used more than is necessary, like a “led foot,” and that coasting was a good and smart thing to do whenever possible.

In Love With the Gas Pedal

Meanwhile the generation of drivers around did not get or heed this message. With gas cheap and car maintenance affordable, a new driving practice evolved, which can be called the emotional use of the gas pedal. It became an unconscious thing to do for all “normal average” drivers. I have observed that drivers today commonly use the gas pedal to reduce traffic frustrations.

Many motorists love to hear the roar of their own engines, and love to experience the thrill of acceleration, straight ahead, or around the bend. It feels like a great relief. This relief is an emotional relief. The good feeling is attached to the foot. We begin to love that pedal. We play footsie with it. We press it, and the mechanical monster whirls, roars, and bounces in a faithful dependable response. We are in love with it. It is possessing power in a world in which we have but little, and in which we get tossed around. But the gas pedal gives us power, for a nice change. The gas pedal puts us in charge of things, of how the vehicle is to move and locomote, and even fly (for brief miliseconds anyway).

I observed that when drivers encounter a “left lane bandit” who just refuses to move over, even when being tailgated, they drive around the car in the right lane, as they have no other choice, but they do so by flooring the gas pedal, or using it more than is required for passing. This fuel inefficient maneuver is an emotional defense mechanism, to relieve the negative and explosive traffic emotions occasioned in us by the inconsiderateness of the passive-aggressive driving style of the left lane bandit. We feel inner road rage, and this dangerous traffic emotion is released in a less harmful manner than gesturing, yelling, or cutting off. The emotional use of the gas pedal may save the rageful driver from something much worse and unsafe.

Another common instance of the emotional use of the gas pedal is to accelerate and decelerate abruptly whenever some blockage to forward motion is experienced – slower moving vehicle, slow moving pedestrians, traffic lights, stop signs, on ramps, construction zones, coned merge areas, back-ups, -- and now hypermilers.

More on the emotional use of the gas pedal in a Section earlier above...

Hypermilers and non-hypermilers have evolved into two road user communities that are in conflict with each other behaviorally, emotionally, politically, socially, and morally.

Their driving values clash. Their driving attitudes do not fit together smoothly. Their traffic thoughts are contrastive. Their driving goals are dissimilar. Their vehicular behaviors are mutually antagonistic.

How is the non-hypermiling driver behind the hypermiler driver, going to experience the vehicle mediated contact?

I have been studying traffic emotions and traffic thoughts for three decades. I can predict that the war between hypermilers and non-hypermilers is going to heat up in the entire range of the driving community – motorists, safety officials, government agencies, advocacy groups, online discussion groups, blogs, and Web sites. We don’t want to follow in the footsteps of the terrible war between motorists and bicylcists.

Right now there is still the possibility of a resolution, of peace, between these two groups gearing up for highway warfare. Hypermilers and non-hypermilers need to develop a feeling of mutual respect. Non-hypermilers can admire the tenacity and expertise with which hypermilers perform their fuel efficiency strategies. This requires strong motivation for persisting and being good at it. Americans can admire that. Non-hypermilers can learn some of the techniques used by hypermilers. It’s a good thing if we drive with less acceleration and more situational awareness. Crashes at lower speeds are far easier to recover from. Distracted driving is lethal to thousands every year. Hypermilers prompt us to stay more focused on the driving task itself. It remains the main thing to do when driving, instead of dividing attention by multi-tasking with things not directly relevant to driving.

But for non-hypermilers to learn to respect and appreciate hypermilers, they need to experience hypermilers as considerate. This is critical. In the online culture of hypermiling, I found little emphasis or awareness of strategies, techniques, and driving styles that monitor and moderate the effect hypermiling has on the other motorists. This is then a psychological problem between the two camps on the road. For the sake of peace and safety, hypermiling communities need to step up their practices in the area of driver to driver influences.

How one driver acts impacts on hundreds of other drivers. We all know this, but few of us have made it into a focus area for observation while we are on the road and in parking lots. Situational awareness must include conditions, vehicles and drivers.

One of the safest ways to drive is in convoys, with vehicles around you that travel at the same speed, and maintain a relatively safe four-second interval between cars. This style of driving makes events predictable, so that mistakes are avoidable or correctable, as long as the driver is focused and not distracted by other in-car activities.

What is Your mental driving economy?
What things do you keep track of when driving?
What is your situational awareness?

Do you Practice the Emotional Use of the Gas  Pedal?

1. When the light turns red on me just as I get there, I feel depressed for a few seconds.

2. When I just make the light, I feel elated.

3. When a slower driver blocks my way, I get enraged with impatience and disapproval.

4. When the slower driver blocks the passing lane, I feel outrage and condemnation.

5. When I get to work in less time than my average, I feel elated and competent.

6. When the lane I am in is slower than the other lane, I feel like I am being cheated or that I have chosen the wrong lane.

7. When ...
Let me know what else you do as a driver that pertains to how you keep track of other drivers in relation to you. Why do you do that? Email DrDriving

See also this news interview: starbulletin.com/2000/11/10/features/story1.html  

For comments, email Dr. Leon James  letters@drdriving.org

Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2008

From:  gershon_ben_franja@yahoo.com

Leon, I think many of your concerns are based on what you feel hypermiling is rather than what it actually is. Slow starts: The most efficient load factor to accelerate on an engine is 50 to 80% of capacity. A hypermiling start done correctly may actually be a bit faster than traffic around us.

Pulse and glide: This is something unique to the hybrids. It really doesn't work on a regular car. A variation does work. Getting up to speed going uphill and pushing in the clutch going downhill in places you can maintain speed. A person behind me would never notice what I'm doing.

Left lane hogs: Yes, people do this, but this is not hypermiling. It's a lack of consideration. Being polite to other drivers is a huge part of hypermiling.

Coasting: If I can't maintain speed coasting, it's more efficient to use a light touch on the gas pedal and maintain speed. If I'm coasting to a light, people seldom come closer to me here. Coasting to lights seems to be the norm here. It's rare to see cars more than 2 or 3 deep at the busiest red light. Just a month ago, they were 10 deep. I get a chuckle when I plan to start a coast a bit later due to approaching traffic from the rear and they slow down before I do.

However, if I'm on a 2 lane road doing the speed limit and someone wants to go faster, legally, I can't exceed the speed limit. It's something the speeder is going to have to deal with. Surprisingly, I'm more often the one being held up than the one holding up traffic. I simply adjust my technique a little and it's no big deal. On the use of the word "convoy." Perhaps a third word could be chosen as the word convoy may also have a negative connotation due to the movie. It hints at aggression. It's something I see mostly on the interstate where a homogenous streem of traffic forms in the right lane with people content to maintain whatever the stream does. It's usually led by a Swift truck (whose speed is governed at 64 mph) or one of the other usually led by a Swift truck (whose speed is governed at 64 mph) or one of the other carriers that govern the speed.

When I started riding the bike, I noticed that if I did 65 in the right lane, traffic was much smoother than it was at 75. People realized they have to pass me sooner and move left. Since they are going 75, they get by me quickly and don't clog things up. The traffic pattern becomes more hazardous if I do 75 in the right lane. However, if I do 60, then people overtake too quickly, slow down, and then possibly get blocked by the person behind them creating a mess.

So, I am against going 15 below the speed limit unless traffic is already moving at that speed due to congestion.

I'd really like to see any terminology relating to war not used. I don't see any war on the roads here. I see people just trying to get someplace, some driving differently than others. To me, it's more like a complex video game than a war. Other traffic is simply part of the terrain I need to navigate through in the safest way possible while still saving gas. However, if you personally consider that there is a war going on, you will find there is a war going on. I prefer to feel I'm at peace with those around me, and I find people around me act peacefully.

Gershon

---

What (some) experts think of hypermiler driving techniques Hypermilers use many tactics to try to get extra fuel mileage. Some are more practical than others. Some sacrifice comfort. Some are considered unsafe by driving experts. Some of the techniques, and how practical and safe they are for most drivers: Easy starts Don't floor it. Gently accelerate to cruising speed and take it easy when you get there. Practicality:  Great idea, experts say. Jackrabbit starts waste gas. Gentle driving techniques are safer, too. "If you drive carefully, you can almost always meet or beat the EPA (gas mileage) estimates," says Ron Cogan, publisher of Green Car Journal. Coast to stops with engine off Hypermilers call coasting to stop signs and lights either "auto stop" when driving hybrids that automatically shut off the engine in coast mode, or "forced auto stop" for switching off the key in other cars. Practicality:  Some hybrids are designed for that. Coasting in neutral in other cars is generally harmless, but switching off the engine while moving is downright dangerous, says AAA spokesman Geoff Sundstrom. Power steering and brakes won't work. The steering wheel can lock up. Pump up tires Many hypermilers inflate tires to the maximum pressure listed on the tire sidewall, not as recommended on door stickers or in the vehicle's manual. Higher tire pressure can lower rolling resistance. Practicality:  Potentially dangerous, says Dan Zielinski, spokesman for the Rubber Manufacturers Association, a tire trade group. Going way above recommendations can amount to "dangerously overinflating" and affect handling, make tires vulnerable to road hazards, cause tires to wear out faster and possibly impair stopping distance, he says. Drive the speed limit — or less Cars get better gas mileage going slower on freeways because there is less wind resistance. "The higher the speed above 60 (mph), the more fuel you're losing," Cogan says. Practicality: Consumer Reports tested a Toyota Camry and got 5 mpg more at 55 mph vs. at 65. California Highway Patrol Officer Heather Hoglund says slowing down is great, but stay in the right lane with other slower traffic. Drive off center in lanes Called "ridge riding," you lessen resistance by driving off center in a lane, out of the worn tracks left in the pavement by traffic. Practicality:  OK, but only if there is room to stay well within your lane and not impede — or crowd — other traffic. Time stop lights Pace your driving to hit as many green lights as possible. Practicality:  Great idea, say experts. And more cities are trying to help by timing lights on arteries to get more cars through on green, to save fuel and promote obeying the speed limit. Hang back from cars ahead More space in front of your car gives you more room in which to work speed changes that can squeeze out more mpgs. Practicality: Safe. Also adds margin for emergency stops. Combine errands Cars burn more gas when warming up. Hypermiler Louis Hudgin of Gilbert, Ariz., consolidates his errands to hit several businesses by foot from one parking spot rather than driving to each. He tries to park so he never has to back out of a space. Practicality:  Fine, if you don't mind a little exercise. Don't use air conditioning Engines work harder if they have to run the AC. But you don't want to roll down the windows, which increases wind drag. Practicality:  You may wish you'd used some gas to keep from arriving at your destination a sweaty, wilted mess. 'Drafting' trucks Following close behind a truck cuts wind resistance. Hypermilers say they don't dangerously tailgate. Hudgin says he stays three seconds back. Hypermiler Wayne Gerdes says you also can get drafts from trucks whooshing by in the next lane. Practicality:  The three-second rule isn't bad, Hoglund says. The old-fashioned rule for safety was less: One car-length back for every 10 mph of speed. But safety experts recommend a minimum margin at 55 mph of four seconds (about 323 feet), plus at least one more second (about 81 feet) if there are big trucks and another second for reduced visibility or bad weather. By Chris Woodyard, USA TODAY From:  http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2008-06-23-hypermiling-gas-saving-tips_N.htm

Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2008
From: Gershon ben Franja gershon_ben_franja@yahoo.com
Subject: Hypermiling videos

Leon, You said in a previous post that hypermilers need to examine their effects on traffic around them. Yesterday, I rode the bike to Ft. Collins and back a distance of about 370 miles round trip on the interstate. I video'ed the whole thing and made shorter videos of the more interesting parts. The first video is an area of moderate traffic with 2 lanes. of traffic. The speed limit was 75. I was doing 65 through most of the video following a truck pulling a 5th wheeler about 5 or 6 seconds behind me. This is a good distance as I can see ahead far enough to avoid an obstacle that might pass under the vehicle ahead of me. It also gives a vehicle to the left a place to go through for an exit. Notice how smoothly the traffic flows throughout the whole video. There isn't any severe tailgating and no weaving. Here is the video:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=q8AT339vUhc

The second video is through Denver with multiple lanes. The speedlimit was 55 or 60,
depending on where I was. I maintained 55 in the right lane when able or one over from
the right lane if the right lane was exit only.

Notice the right lane was the only lane doing the speed limit. All the lanes to my left
were braking the law. However, traffic was moving smoothly. Each vehicle tended to pick
the lane that was going their speed and staying in it.

The video is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWlxtNjR0G4

You made this statement on your webpage:
"Hypermilers and non-hypermilers have evolved into two road user communities that are
in conflict with each other behaviorally, emotionally, politically, socially, and
morally.

Their driving values clash. Their driving attitudes do not fit together smoothly. Their
traffic thoughts are contrastive. Their driving goals are dissimilar. Their vehicular
behaviors are mutually antagonistic."

I don't see just two communities here. I see one for each lane and various
subcommunities in each lane. However, I don't see any conflict whatsoever. I didn't see
a single incident of road rage yesterday although I did see one glaring error. But it
was just that, a mistake.

The videos together run about 18 minutes. If you have any comments, please include the
time on the video.

Now, consider what might happen if the faster traffic became hypermilers. They would
move right and the right lane would fill up. When following distances got too close,
people would slow down, and some would move to the second lane which would also go

slower than before. However, this would leave more room in the lanes further to the
left for people to go faster.

"Hypermilers and non-hypermilers have evolved into two road user communities that are
in conflict with each other behaviorally, emotionally, politically, socially, and
morally."

Their driving values clash. Their driving attitudes do not fit together smoothly. Their
traffic thoughts are contrastive. Their driving goals are dissimilar. Their vehicular
behaviors are mutually antagonistic."

I'd perhaps change the statement a bit. Hypermilers and others seem to have two
different goals. One likes to go slow, one likes to go faster. Surprisingly, the needs
of both are being met. As the hypermilers move right and maintain a steady speed in the
left, resisting the urge to pass to gain a small advantage, others are given more space
to go faster. Instead of a war, it seems to be a mutually beneficial relationship.

Selected Google Results for Hypermiling  6/08  

Hypermiling Forum

        Emotional Territoriality

Site Map  ||  Search this Site

	Enter your search terms
	Web DrDriving.org

From:  http://editorial.autos.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=445065

What Your Car Says About You

Whether you like it or not, your vehicle choice oftentimes speaks volumes about who you are.

(...)

Matter Over Mind

For more than 20 years, Dr. Leon James at the University of Hawaii has researched and taught the psychology of driving. In our car culture, James says, drivers idealize their rides and even lend them human qualities. Under hypnosis, drivers will refer to their car as if it were a friend or lover. In everyday life, owners name their cars and talk to them.

And whether the car is racy or outdoorsy, owners seek attributes that mirror their self-image. "People construct an ideal in their mind of the perfect car, and those attributes are transferred to its driver as well," James said, noting how negatively we associate the drivers of dilapidated or dirty cars. Some of us get so offended we'll deliver a hand-scrawled scolding, strangely written from the car's point of view: Wash Me. (...)

See this article on DrDriving: Moving Relationships Befriending the Automobile to Relieve Anxiety Jameson M. Wetmore  http://www.drdriving.org/misc/anthropomorph.html

Excerpts:

"Interacting with an automobile as though it were human opens up a way of conceptualizing its "incomprehensible" mechanical problems and offers a method of communicating with an automobile that is understandable to people who are more comfortable with human interactions. This relationship, in turn, is occasionally used as a way to calm a person when the driving situation appears dangerous. Thinking of the driving process as a team effort helps give the driver the confidence that often results when more than one person is working together toward the same goal. Conceiving of an automobile as a friendly companion is a method many people use to assimilate the sometimes troubling technology into their everyday lives. (...)

In this paper I will argue that anthropomorphism is a method some people have used in similar negotiations with their automobiles. Even though the automobile has attained closure in the United States as the predominant method of vehicular travel, individuals who use them must still assimilate them on a personal level. Because automobiles are a source of anxiety for many people, this is not always a simple process. Not all automobiles are the flawless, shiny objects that are sometimes discussed in automotive histories. They are just as often a ten-year-old hand-me-down station wagon that doesn’t always start when it rains. Cars have the potential to break down at inopportune times, perhaps leaving the driver in a dangerous place or causing him or her to be late for an important occasion. In addition they are sometimes dangerous to use. Car crashes claim the lives of tens of thousands of Americans each year. When these fears are overwhelming, it can be difficult for a person to use an automobile. Conceiving of a car as a companion can help mediate these concerns and make it easier for a person to use. The ability for individuals to use a car with relatively little stress helps give automobiles the predominant place they hold in American culture today. (...)

One man I interviewed addressed the difference between cars that are liked and those that are disliked when he reflected on the one car he had not named: "I wanted to name it, but it had no personality. It was a 78 Brown VW Dasher. Nothing stuck. It never had enough personality. My girlfriend at the time proposed ‘Maxime,’ but I didn’t have enough affection for it, so it didn’t deserve a name." (...)

The personalities these people developed for their automobiles were quite varied. Some spoke of their cars as sprightly and fun while others regarded their cars as slothful or weak. But most of their descriptions revolved around their car’s reliability. Sometimes this was an explicit part of their vision, at other times implicit, but it was always an integral part of their vision of their car’s human characteristics. Quite often, the owner’s conception of their car’s personality was expressed in terms of its quirks and idiosyncrasies. These traits, whether the result of miles and miles of use or a manufacturing mistake, were explained as the primary way an owner can see his or her car interacting with him or her.

For instance, in a 1918 journal, MIT Professor Walter James reflected on his experiences with "Lisize="3ie," his Model T: "In these chronicles I have remarked that the Ford is inclined to have a mind of its own, and to exhibit that mind at most unpleasant times and in most unexpected ways, stopping dead without apparent reason, standing still in the face of all kinds of persuasion and abuse, then, when good and ready, starting off again." All of the car’s idiosyncrasies are described as a manifestation of it being "Lisize="3ie" and having a personality. (...)

Nearly all of the people interviewed attributed a specific gender to their automobile. This was often an intricate part of the personality they envisioned their car as having. They often displayed this attribution in the gender specific name they gave their automobile and also by referring to their car as "him" or "her." In most cases this attribution was a conscious act and in describing the personality of their car, many of the interviewees made references to what they themselves termed "gender stereotypes."

One family, for instance, has given all their cars masculine names except one. Why? "Because the older cars were all masculine. They had speed and power, so they were masculine." In the early 80s, the mother of the otherwise all-male family argued that women were underrepresented in the family and they needed to give a car a female name. Their next purchase was a white Chevrolet Citation compact they named "Cindy." The car’s "check engine" light kept coming on and they kept taking it to the dealer for service. The dealer found nothing wrong with the car, but they decided it was not worth the hassle, so they returned the car and purchased another. They discovered later that the car’s engine exploded a month after they returned it. As the mother of the family tells the story, her husband and son "decided that females were too temperamental" and they did not want to give another car a feminine name. When asked if their outlook had changed in fifteen years, they said that the mother was interested in purchasing a Cavalier, another compact Chevrolet, with a sunroof. The husband argued that "we can have a female name for that, or a wimpy male name." The wife questioned if this would ever happen, arguing that her husband likes V8s, and she did not believe they would give a feminine name to a car with such a powerful engine. (...)

Continues here: http://www.drdriving.org/misc/anthropomorph.html

Territorial Markings as a Predictor of Driver Aggression and Road Rage

Journal of Applied Social Psychology Volume 38 Issue 6 Page 1664-1688, June 2008 To cite this article: William J. Szlemko, Jacob A. Benfield, Paul A. Bell, Jerry L. Deffenbacher, Lucy Troup (2008) Territorial Markings as a Predictor of Driver Aggression and Road Rage.  Journal of Applied Social Psychology 38 (6) , 1664–1688.  

The above is from:  http://micro189.lib3.hawaii.edu:2191/doi/full/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2008.00364.x

The above is from: http://channels.isp.netscape.com/atplay/package.jsp?name=fte/carpersonality/carpersonality&floc=wn-nx

People Love Angry-Faced Cars

By Jeremy Hsu, Staff Writer
posted: 06 October 2008 10:42 am ET
 
If a Toyota Prius just looks too friendly for your tastes, you’re not alone. People readily see faces and traits in cars, and a new study suggests that they prefer cars to appear dominant, masculine and angry.

The finding rests on the propensity we have to actually see faces or human characteristics in everything from cars to clouds, a phenomenon called pareidolia. But now researchers hope to better understand what goes on in the brain when people see faces in objects versus humans faces, as well as help automakers design more appealing cars.

(...)

(...) For this, Thorstensen enlisted his own group of experts that included Sonja Windhager, an anthropologist at the University of Vienna. They asked 20 males and 20 females to rate 38 passenger car models which came out between 2004 and 2006.

Study participants assessed cars based on a system known as geometric morphometrics (GM), which allowed the men and women to rate certain traits on a sliding scale (such as "infancy" to "adulthood"). The traits represented maturity, sex, attitudes, emotions, and personality — all things that people infer from human faces at a single glance.

After rating car traits, participants then answered the question of whether they saw a human face, animal face or no face at all on the cars. They drew facial features such as eyes, nose and mouth on the car images whenever they did see faces.
Lastly, the study participants answered whether they liked a car or not. The study restricted car choices to passenger cars, because hulking SUVs would have skewed the results.

People overwhelmingly preferred cars that rated highest on "power" traits." High "power" cars like the BMW 5 Series tended to be lower or wider, and have slit-like or angled headlights with a wider air intake.
The participants also largely agreed on which cars had which traits, such as arrogant, afraid and agreeable. A few traits such as disgusted, extroverted and sad caused more disagreement.

(...)

The above is from: http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/081006-car-face.html

 National Safety Council (NSC): Fatal accidents increasing

By William Atkins Tuesday, 12 June 2007 According to a June 7, 2007 NSC report, the number of fatal, preventable accidents in the United States is increasing after a decreasing trend for over twenty years.

Specifically, the number of human deaths from preventable, fatal accidents has risen over 20% between 1996 and 2005. In 2005, approximately 113,000 people in the United States were killed accidentally.

The all-time record high is 116,385 accidental deaths in 1969, which the report says could easily be exceeded, if the percentage trend continues, within a few more years.

The all-time record low occurred in 1992, at about 99,440 people dead from preventable accidents. The decreasing trend in fatal, preventable accidents occurred between 1969 and 1992. That good trend is related to the initial installation and use of seat belts and air bags, home smoke detectors, and better drunk-drinking laws.

Accidents are the leading cause of death in the United States for all people aged one to 41 years. Overall, in all age groups, accidental deaths are fifth on the list of preventable fatalities—with heart disease, cancer, stroke, and chronic lower respiratory diseases being in the top four.

The number one activity involved within accidental fatalities include motor vehicles, especially, activities such as speeding, general distractions, multitasking, using cell phones, and not wearing seat belts.

The number two activity involved with accidental fatalities includes the ingestion of illegal drugs, prescription drugs, and over-the-counter drugs. The NSC report states that overdoses from all types of drugs are the fastest-rising cause of accidental deaths.

Falls, choking, and drowning, in that order, are the third, fourth, and fifth leading causes of accidental fatalities in the United States.

These five categories of accidental fatalities account for about 83% of all U.S. accidental deaths. The state of Massachusetts has the lowest death rate from preventable, fatal accidents. Unfortunately, New Mexico has the highest death rate.

The website of the National Safety Council is http://www.nsc.org/. The NSC has tracked statistics of preventable, fatal accidents since the 1920s. Its results are published in the Journal of Safety Research.

From: http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gW4gPjZd2EpVnRcxWJABi8wKiGmw

Parents 'behind road rage rise' 

6-28-08
Young drivers aping their parents' bad behaviour behind the wheel could be the cause of a rise in road rage incidents, according to a survey.

Road rage is most likely to occur among inexperienced motorists aged 18-29, with 61% of this group admitting to personality changes while driving, the survey from insurance company Norwich Union found.

Two-in-five young drivers blame their parents for their erratic driving behaviour, saying they inherited their road rage tendencies from seeing their mother and father at the wheel, the survey also showed.

From:  http://www.radioiowa.com/gestalt/go.cfm?objectid=A6D531B5-E515-99D9-619A6133950CBD9C

The next time you think about tailgating someone, check their vehicle for bumper stickers, window decals and vanity plates.

A new study shows these kinds of "territory markers" indicate whether a driver will respond to offensive behaviour with forgiveness or the finger.

Researchers from Colorado State University report that personalized items on an automobile - everything from dashboard decor to Support Our Troops stickers - predict road rage better than vehicle value, condition, or similar clues to aggression behind the wheel. What surprised study authors most, however, was the fact the content of the items had no bearing on levels of hostility. (...)

Leon James, a noted expert on driving psychology and road rage, says people who act on their road rage tend to express their emotional territoriality more than others, something that could easily translate to the purchase of "overt" vehicle adornments.

"Anything you put on your car is aggressive because it forces other people to look at it," says James, a professor at the University of Hawaii. "Drivers aren't out on the road to read your message."

The above is from:  http://www.canada.com/topics/news/cns_writers/story.html?id=ae5b9f9d-1293-49dd-bc1d-6bc29c189776&k=55380

Monitor Your Mental Driving Economy

What Causes Driving Stress and the Emotional Use of the Gas Pedal?

Emotional Territoriality in Driving – What Is It?

By Dr. Leon James   6/08

These are three independent systems of the driver that need to be trained to work together efficiently. All drivers improve with experience. But this is usually true only about one sector of their traffic actions -- handling the vehicle. The majority of drivers do not improve in their traffic emotions and traffic thoughts.

Emotional territoriality refers to all the things that the driver cares about and reacts to emotionally.

For instance, some drivers care about how other motorists take care of their car, whether it obviously needs a wash, or repair in a dent, or engine maintenance. This traffic emotion is an extension of the territory of things they care about. Other drivers hardly notice anything about other cars, but they always notice when another driver forgets to turn off the signal, and they have an emotional reaction to it, which is sometimes expressed facially and verbally, for example “Look at that idiot. His signal is still blinking!”, which may be accompanied by shaking the head in disbelief, or in disapproval. Overtly aggressive drivers may go even further in the expression of their disdain by yelling at the driver while passing the car.

The yelling and the shaking of the head are traffic actions that result from the cooperation of their traffic emotions and their traffic thoughts. Understanding this cooperation is the key to managing our traffic experience, and improving it so that driving becomes less risky, more efficient, less stressful, more peaceful, more supportive, and even enjoyable and productive.

We need to practice monitoring our mental driving economy. This refers to how we keep track of what’s happening around us in traffic. Every moment of driving consists of a loop that we repeat as we drive: Noticing where the other cars are; appraising how you need to adjust to that – like when to slow down or when to pick up; and executing the decision.

Noticing-Appraising-Executing. This is the driver’s loop.  

Drivers feel overwhelmed by traffic emotions. This causes driving stress and the emotional use of the gas pedal. Both involve costs in higher risk and unhappiness. Drivers can learn to better manage their traffic emotions by monitoring their mental driving economy. This will give them an indication of their emotional territoriality. What are the things they notice about other cars and motorists? How do they react emotionally? What are their traffic thoughts in connection with these emotions?

Knowing their traffic thoughts and traffic emotions, will allow drivers to intervene in the process. The goal is to shrink one’s emotional territoriality, to stop extending their emotions to traffic events that do not impact them directly. It involves shrinking one’s emotional territoriality by practicing an attitude of latitude. We can notice another driver speeding past us without reacting emotionally. We can experience the sudden fright when someone cuts us off and we have to break quickly. We can’t help the emotional reaction, but we can do something to cut it short. We have the choice of choosing traffic thoughts that exasperate and intensify our disapproval of the other driver, or, we can choose traffic calming thoughts. We are in charge of our thoughts much more than of our emotions, and by controlling our traffic thoughts, we control our traffic emotions.

To achieve effective driver self-management, we need to know what we care about emotionally as we notice things around us. We need to monitor the traffic thoughts that go along with the traffic emotions. For instance, you’re looking for a parking space and notice one right next to a larger car that is not perfectly aligned. You’re annoyed. You feel outraged that you have to either squeeze in, or look for a better stall. If the driver would show up at this point you might glare at the person, or even verbally express hostility. When you think about this scenario from a manager’s perspective who is responsible for a fleet of drivers, you would not rank high with such traffic emotions, thoughts, and actions.

See also by Leon James:  Emotional Use of the Gas Pedal || Musings in Traffic ||  Emotional Spin Cycle || Self-monitoring Inventory || Drivers Behaving Badly on TV || Children and Road Rage || More articles...

 Interview Answers on Road Rage and Other Rages for Various News Sources by Dr. Leon James

	Enter your search terms
	Web DrDriving.org

Songs About Driving Cars on Roads and Highways

From our book on Road Rage and Aggressive Driving

What principles are safest for children as passengers, pedestrians, and cyclists.

1. To become more aware of habits of thinking while walking or riding.

2. To develop objective judgment about strangers' behavior.

3. To develop emotional intelligence as drivers, passengers, and pedestrians.

4. To critically analyze driving incidents (scenario analysis) by focusing on identifying choice-points (how to prevent or break the chain of errors that leads to catastrophe).

5. To acknowledge the human rights of all drivers.

6. To acknowledge passengers' rights (their convenience, comfort, and safety).

7. To acknowledge pedestrian rights (why they must have the right of way).

8. To acknowledge the rights of bicycle riders and how to behave near them.

9. To acknowledge the rights of truck drivers, the need for truck deliveries, and how to behave near them.

10. To practice group discussions on the importance of civility in public behavior (respecting mutual rights, inalienable rights, fairness, character, community, etc.)

11. To be able to defend the ideal of social responsibility in public places

12. To recognize the benefits and rewards of being supportive and positive.

13. To practice self-witnessing activities as passengers

14. To practice self-witnessing activities as pedestrians and other road uses

The Highway Safety Act of 1996 authorizes the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), through its separate agencies of the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHA), to fund traffic improvement programs implemented by state and local governments, including funding safety improvements in the areas of occupant protection, emergency medical services, police traffic services, roadway safety, impaired driving, speed control, motorcycle safety, traffic records, and pedestrian and bicycle safety.

Bicycle advocacy groups want more restrictions on the movement of cars, which drivers oppose. Controversy surrounding the issue is inevitable since the parties involved protect contrary interests, and because it is amounts to speed control, traffic calming tends to set opposing lines between neighborhood constituencies

Motorists in transit vs. local residents
Drivers vs. bicyclists ·
Drivers vs. pedestrians Bicyclists vs. pedestrians ·
Private vs. commercial drivers 4-wheel drivers vs. truckers 

Authorities set speed limits according to traffic engineering studies. They find that the best way to ascertain the appropriate speed limit for a stretch of road, is to survey the speed of free flowing traffic, and to set the speed limit at the 85th percentile. This is the speed exceeded by 15 percent of the vehicles. This practice minimizes accident risk and maximizes motorist compliance. The NMA argues that instead of following this approach, current speed limits are based on political considerations (...).

Safety: Aggressive driving targeted by new technology

08 Apr 08 15:01

Military personnel are among the first in the UK to benefit from a new technology that measures aggressive driver inputs and flags them up on the dash, writes Nick Gibbs.

Designed to alert drivers to unsafe maneuvers, the gadget from US-based GreenRoad Technologies measures g-forces and compares them with a safe-driving benchmark. Sophisticated software can then recognize 120 different driver actions and will judge whether they're dangerous or not. If a danger is recognized, a red light appears in the driver's peripheral vision.

article continues below

---

---

Traffic taking a toll on psychic health, experts say

From:  http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-trafficpsychone8-2008jun08,0,6960850.story

By Christopher Goffard, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer June 8, 2008

(...)  For Leon James, a professor of psychology at the University of Hawaii, a lifetime's academic pursuit began 25 years ago when his wife told him his driving scared her. She pointed out that he switched lanes before he looked, took curves too fast and raged against other drivers.

The rebuke stung his pride but got him thinking -- and led to his pioneering role in the small academic field of the psychology of driving. He began by asking his students to carry voice recorders to monitor their responses on the road, and learned that they were no strangers to rage -- particularly when cut off, tailgated or stuck behind slow cars in the fast lane. James said studies have found little correlation between motorists' personalities inside and outside of the car. Road rage can overtake those who are models of agreeability at home or at the office.

"People tell me, 'I'm amazed at myself. I'm not an aggressive person. I'm not this way. Why do I feel this way?' " James said. He has concluded that asphalt aggression is not an anger-management problem but one of socialization -- people absorb their driving mores in the back seat at an early age, watching grown-ups curse, pound the steering wheel and cut each other off.

Even as kids learn self-control on the playground, he said, they are taught the opposite on the road. "What we need is traffic emotions education starting in kindergarten," he said. "You can't just act the way you want."

---

Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2008
Dr James,
I'm not sure if you've heard anything about this stunt, but I came across it and wanted to
inform you (just in case).  It has left many people injured and some dead.  If you just look
up "Ghost Ride the Whip" you will find more information on its origins.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOiWaTSypt4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cGyeYtvb4M&feature=related
Aloha,
W.W.

World Health Day 2004   World Health Day 2005: Make every mother and child count    World report on road traffic injury prevention Road traffic injuries are a major but neglected public health challenge that requires concerted efforts for effective and sustainable prevention. Of all the systems with which people have to deal every day, road traffic systems are the most complex and the most dangerous. Worldwide, an estimated 1.2 million people are killed in road crashes each year and as many as 50 million are injured. Projections indicate that these figures will increase by about 65% over the next 20 years unless there is new commitment to prevention. Nevertheless, the tragedy behind these figures attracts less mass media attention than other, less frequent types of tragedy. The World report on road traffic injury prevention is the first major report being jointly issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank on this subject. It underscores their concern that unsafe road traffic systems are seriously harming global public health and development. It contends that the level of road traffic injury is unacceptable and that it is largely avoidable. Related link  Preventing road traffic injury: a public health perspective for Europe

  Give this video and book to a friend or loved one!

The principal objectives of the RoadRageous Video Course are:

1.  to raise awareness of the behavior of aggressive driving

2. to modify aggressive driving behavior

3.  to provide information on alternative methods for dealing with impatience, frustration, anger and intolerance on the roads.

It is being used with ORDINARY DRIVERS, NEW DRIVERS, ELDERLY DRIVERS, PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS, LAW ENFORCEMENT, MILITARY PERSONNEL, TRAFFIC COURTS, DRIVER EDUCATION SCHOOLS, and INDIVIDUAL HOME STUDY (video by mail or online)

See clips or register:  RoadRageous Video Course at AIPS ||  Clips (Real Player)

    Excellent with the book:  ROAD RAGE AND AGGRESSIVE DRIVING

 "the definitive book on the aggressive driving epidemic."

 To read excerpts   ||   To order from Amazon.com

"With strong documentation and easy-to-follow steps, Dr. James and Dr. Nahl show us how to adopt a more gently paced way to stop racing against time and people to get someplace and truly enjoy getting there. They show us how being a better driver helps us lead a better, happier, healthier life." 
 Paul Pearsall, Ph.D. Author of The Pleasure Prescription and Toxic Success: How to Stop Striving and Start Thriving

Search this Site  ||  Songs About Cars

Site Map ||  Pets Psychology and Rage-Depression -- Pet Loss Support, Human Catheads, More...

	Enter your search terms
	Web DrDriving.org

 

---

The following is excerpted from: 
 Road Rage and Aggressive Driving : Steering Clear of Highway Warfare
by Leon James & Diane Nahl (Prometheus, 2000).

ROAD RAGE CHECKLIST: YOUR RANGE OF HOSTILITY

  

The following twenty steps are arranged along a continuum of escalating degrees of hostility, beginning with relatively milder forms of aggressiveness (step 1) and going all the way to extreme violence (step 20). How far down the uncivilized path do you allow yourself to go? The majority of drivers we tested go as far as step 13.

1. Mentally condemning another driver
2. Verbally denigrating another driver to passengers in your vehicle
3. Closing ranks to deny someone entry into your lane because you're frustrated or upset
4. Giving another driver the "stink eye" to show your disapproval
5. Speeding past another car or revving the engine as a sign of protest
6. Preventing another driver from passing because you're mad
7. Tailgating to pressure a driver to go faster or get out of the way
8. Fantasizing physical violence against another driver
9. Honking or yelling at someone through the window to indicate displeasure
10. Making a visible obscene gesture at another driver
11. Using your car to retaliate by making sudden, threatening maneuvers
12. Pursuing another car because of a provocation or insult
13. Getting out of the car and engaging in a verbal dispute on a street or parking lot
14. Carrying a weapon in the car in case you decide to use it in a driving incident
15. Deliberately bumping or ramming another car in anger
16. Trying to run another car off the road to punish the driver
17. Getting out of the car and beating or battering someone as a result of a road exchange
18. Trying to run someone down whose actions angered you
19. Shooting at another car
20. Killing someone

How far down did you go on the continuum? The checklist is divided into five equal zones of intensity of aggressiveness.

Unfriendly Zone: Items 1 to 3 -- mental and verbal acts of unkindness toward other drivers

Hostile Zone: Items 4 to 7 -- visibly communicating displeasure or resentment with the desire to punish or retaliate

Violent Zone: Items 8 to 11 -- carrying out an act of hostility either in fantasy or in deed

Lesser Mayhem Zone: Items 12 to 16 -- epic road rage contained within personal limits

Major Mayhem Zone: Items 17 to 20 -- unrestrained epic road rage; the stuff of violent media headlines.

The above is excerpted from: 
Road Rage and Aggressive Driving : Steering Clear of Highway Warfare by Leon James & Diane Nahl (Prometheus, 2000).

See also Congressional Testimony by Dr. Leon James

Search this Site ||  Children's Books at Amazon.com

---

From: Esquire magazine May 7, 2008 http://www.esquire.com/style/answer-fella/decaf-coffee-0508 

Leon James, professor of psychology and coauthor of Road Rage and Aggressive Driving: Steering Clear of Highway Warfare, says such impulses are neither uncommon nor significant. "It's very similar to other behaviors that don't have to do with cars, like throwing yourself down a cliff. People don't like to look over the edge, because they suddenly feel, Oh, no, I want to jump. They don't really want to do it; they're just toying with the idea. For people who are worried about it, I recommend making funny animal noises -- like a bear or lion or kitty cat -- and bingo! You're out of the whole thing."

Even so, adds James, "If it happens frequently, that's a different story. It should only happen once in a while."

---

From: http://www.nurs.co.uk/news/briefs/cms/1215014057212694732724_1.htm

01/07/2008 - News In Brief

What's driving motorists to 'road rage'

Inconsiderate and slow drivers, as well as congestion are fuelling road rage among Britain's motorsists.

Research by Norwich Union found that road rage was most likely to occur among inexperienced young drivers aged 18-29, with three in five (61%) admitting to a personality changes behind the wheel.

The study found that reckless driving (82%), slow motorists (69%) and traffic jams (49%) toped the list of main road rage triggers. And while one in five (22%) drivers simply shrugged off any confrontation, over half of UK drivers (52%) reacted differently to how they would normally by swearing, shouting, making rude gestures, and flashing their lights.

Interestingly, almost 40% of young drivers blamed their parents for their erratic driving behaviour, saying they inherited their road rage tendencies from seeing them behind the wheel.

Norwich Union's Nigel Bartram said: "With more and more congestion on UK roads and driving becoming an increasingly stressful experience, it's no wonder road rage is more widespread than ever.

"However our research shows how important it is for drivers to try and keep their cool when on the roads - not only will it help make their children better drivers, it will also make their journey easier and less stressful, not to mention safer."

---

 

        THE AGGRESSIVE DRIVING SYNDROME

    by Dr. Leon James

 

 

Our research shows that the aggressiveness syndrome is made of the following 16 driver behaviors. Ask yourself how many of these apply to you on a regular basis:

1. feeling stress

2. swearing

3. acting in a hostile manner

4. speeding

5. yelling at other drivers

6. honking at other drivers

7. making insulting gestures

8. tailgating

9. cutting someone off

10. expressing road rage behavior

11.  feeling enraged

12.  indulging in violent fantasies

13. feeling competitive with other drivers

14. rushing all the time

15.  feeling the desire to drive dangerously

16. feeling less calm and level headed behind the wheel

These 16 driving behaviors define the aggressive driver syndrome. They are all significantly intercorrelated. This means that if you do one of them regularly, you will also do many of the other 15 on a regular basis.

See also:   What Drivers Complain About Arranged by Feelings, Thoughts, and Acts
See also:   9 Zones of Your Driving Personality

Do you swear behind the wheel?

There are large differences in driver swearing behavior when you compare age groups. Young drivers (15 to 24) admit to swearing the most (66% do it), but as they get older (25 to 54), they tend to reduce somewhat (60%), and finally, when drivers enter the senior category of motorists (55 to 94 -- in this sample), they greatly reduce their swearing (42%). Still, these data show that swearing is a cultural driving norm related to age, and a strong one. Six out of ten young drivers admit to swearing and cuss at other drivers, and 4 out of 10 senior drivers do so. Obviously, we need to examine this lack of civility between drivers.

Do you switch lanes without signaling?

Do drivers of different age groups vary in their lane hopping behavior, depending on the type of car they drive? The answer is Yes, as usual: Regardless of the type of car they drive, young people outdo older people in illegal lane switching. There is a high cost for this recklessness since crash fatalities are one of the main causes of death for this age group. The tragedy of it is compounded by the fact that our culture raises these youngsters by providing them with an ideology of driving aggressiveness and hostility as portrayed in the public media--see my report here. The good news is that cultural habits can be retrained by a new cultural focus as I argue in my congressional testimony, namely, Lifelong Driver's Ed from K through 12 and after that, Quality Driving Circles or QDCs that are neighborhood-based or related to the workplace (see our new proposal here).

Search this Site ||  Songs About Driving Cars on Roads and Highways

Do you tailgate dangerously?

The results for the 10 states in this sample for which I had enough respondents to make statistical comparisons, show the worst five States with a mean of 21% dangerous tailgating: Colorado (25%), Georgia (20%), Pennsylvania (20%), Michigan (19%), Texas (19%). The lowest tailgating States are: Illinois (8%), New York (10%), Florida (14%), Ohio (15%), California (18%).

There are as you might expect, age differences as well as gender differences. Among young drivers, 19% admit to tailgating dangerously, which is about one in five. This is more than middle aged drivers (15%) and senior drivers (6%). This age pattern recurs in many aggressive driving behaviors: as we get older, we drive less aggressively. Women admit to as much tailgating as men (15%), in general, but once again there are significant influences attributable to the type of car they drive, as show in this table:

You can see that those drive the "soft" cars (family and economy) tailgate less than those who drive the "hard" cars (sports and SUV) with a ratio of two to one. This holds true for both men and women. However, with SUV drivers we see a reversal between the genders: more female SUV drivers tailgate dangerously, by their own admission, than male drivers of SUVs.
(...)

Site Map  ||  Search this Site

 

	Enter your search terms
	Web DrDriving.org

Road Rage Videos on YouTube BMW road rage ||  critical mass road rage ||  grandma responds to roadrage || crazy driver impatiently plows over crowd  ||  Ladies in parking lot with a bit of road rage ||  Trunk Monkey road rage commercial ||  female road rage  ||  bad drivers episode 1 ||  police chase crazy road rage ||  Simpson's road rage  || truck rollover pileup road rage ||  cyclist assault road rage  ||  road rage In Singapore  ||  more.....

 

What Motorists Are Saying about Anger and Road Rage in Their Lives

 ^^^ Anger is a natural emotion, and is rather self-protective at times. Anger can be maladaptive, and during those times we need to check ourselves, or wait to overtly react. It is healthy to have the ability to get angry, but it is unhealthy to let anger rule or overcome your life to the point that the only thing you can see or feel is anger. Our moods need to have some balance, and controlling anger when it is inappropriate is important. Knowing the difference between inappropriate anger and appropriate anger is an important exploration. For instance, if you want your job, you cannot yell at your boss because you are angry at him, but instead sit calmly and explain your feelings if possible. I am rarely enraged, except when someone i love is hurt. I get depressed oftentimes, but not to the point of feeling hopeless. A little depression can lead to self-exploration, which can be good (reevaluating things, etc.) Again, if emotions are out of control, no matter what emotion it is, that is not healthy.

 ^^^ As the light changed from red to green to yellow and back to red again, I asked myself "Is life really just a bunch of honking and screaming?"  Everybody is in a rush. Whether getting to work or driving home, most people are rushing! I know I have a bad temper. I grew up watching my father get extremely angry. He wouldn't hit us, the kids, but he would hit other objects and shake things. I grew up thinking this was the way to deal with anger. I know its wrong. I am trying very hard to control my anger on the roads and with the people I love. I tend to get most angry with those I love and who love me. I take the worst out on these people and then regret it later. Our society is like this too. We are all very selfish and want what we want when we want it. I hope this will help your survey. I can honestly say that I am trying to make a POSITIVE change in my attitude and the way I see others and the way in which I handle my anger. Thank you for this opportunity to express myself.

 ^^^ I believe that our society is becoming more self-centered in general. People seem to have a me-first attitude that didn't exist 30 or more years ago. There's a sense of entitlement that seems to justify bad (and/or narcissistic) behaviors. Anger, rudeness and lack of consideration for others are becoming so much the norm that I find myself surprised when strangers are kind or considerate (whether on the road or in a store or whatever). I find it difficult to be mean or rude, even when I feel I've been wronged -- it's just how I was raised and I think most others my age (50+) are the same. But it looks to me that this attitude will die with us and our society will be one mean place to be in future years.

 ^^^ I notice all the time in my city the people who have problems with "road rage". I my self am a borderline road rager, but I will say that I've gotten a lot better. However, there are people out there also that purposely do things to aggravate or irritate the "road ragers" and make situations worse instead of just moving out of their way. Like slowing way down or slamming on their brakes in the fast lane instead of just moving over. In my opinion they are just as bad if not worse than "Road Ragers". Sometimes they are the ones that cause the situations!!

 ^^^ I think people need to get more sleep, more exercise, and have more active relaxation (not tv or computer games). I think that thinking through situations, being compassionate and empathetic, helps. Give the person irritating you all the excuses you would give yourself if you made a mistake. Sometimes lying to yourself (e.g. "that person must not have seen me" or "they didn't mean to do that") helps to decrease anger, when necessary.

 ^^^ I think that socially - we are becoming more insular and have lost the art of patience. I work at maintaining balance - as do many of my peers/friends/family - yet also witness impatience among those groups - more than I recall as a child in the smae groups (or shall I say youngster). My husband - a normally patient person - paid a "per diem" for the horrific commute he has - recounts terrible incidents he has seen on the roadways -and the difficulty of trying to maneuver away from it. I try to travel side and back roads - and am often shocked when I get on our highways to witness the speeding and weaving - beeping and bad behavior on the roads. I must also comment that I NEVER NEVER see State Police out on the roads. I have called in plates of dangerous drivers - and have written letters that have seen no follow up. I wish you had one more question on your survey. It would be this: Do you ever wish you/your family could get around without having to drive on our nation's roads? Yes! Yes I do.

 ^^^ I think we get angrier as a society because we're eating too much artificial food. I've cut back on the amount of caffeine I drink, and it's helped a lot, but I'm still very impatient.

 ^^^ I want to find a way to let out all the stress of the day so that by the time I hit the road I don't get so angry at the guy the "cuts me off" on the way home. Trouble is, how do you get the other guy to find an outlet for his anger? I am seriously considering taking up kickboxing to vent.

 ^^^ Sometimes I feel discouraged like we are completely losing sight of the things that really matter in society, like family, love, religion, children and family virtues and values. I had a brother who passed away at 26 five years ago. It was a very depressing time for me. I used to listen to very angry, aggressive music to revert all of my sadness and discouragement to anger and rage. Now, I find sometimes it is hard to let go of those things.

 ^^^ I'd like to say that there is a good side to road rage: that is that it tends to deter people from intentionally being rude to other motorists. and on the other hand, there are so many cell phone owners that 'road rage assailants need to be particularly careful that there are no witnesses, before they offend.

 ^^^ It seems people do not take responsibility for their anger or feelings. my favorite quote is from the movie "The Big Chill": "I could have, I chose not to."

^^^ Anger can help you to act constructively, to push you to the point where you will do what you previously thought yourself incapable of doing. To act off anger is not always to act in violence or negativity. Most people don't realize this, but anger is the greatest motivator.

---

For explanations see this article.

See also:  Cars, Drivers, Passengers |and| Relationships, Marriage, Romance

See also:  Pets Psychology and Rage-Depression -- Pet Loss, Human Catheads, More...

See also:  Songs About Cars

---

Road rage parents likely to snap at kids

Lara Hertel ,  Reuters Life

Published: Tuesday, June 24, 2008

From:  http://www.canada.com/topics/lifestyle/story.html?id=0a9f4add-2b77-48e3-816e-913451bf0c8c

TORONTO - Parents who succumb to fits of road rage are also more likely to blow a fuse at their children's sporting events, according to U.S. research.

University of Maryland researcher Jay Goldstein said these type-A individuals were more prone to erupt in anger in many situations -- from being cut off in traffic to an unfavourable referee call -- because their ego takes it personally.

"Taking things personally is a strong trigger for anger," Goldstein told Reuters. (...)

Reports of so-called "sideline rage" are often in the media, most recently when a lacrosse league in Winnipeg, this month temporarily barred spectators from games following a string of complaints about abusive parents.

Loud, interfering parents have prompted several youth sporting teams in North America to implement "Silent Saturdays," which bars cheering or yelling during games.

To see which parents were most involved, Goldstein surveyed 340 parents attending their children's soccer game and asked them to rate factors such as stress, pressure and levels of anger. (...)

Those identified as "control-oriented" more often viewed the actions on the field as a personal affront, and reported more feelings of aggression than parents identified as "autonomy-oriented," or less affected by external factors. (...)

Even parents who usually don't take things personally admitted to feeling angry during their children's game, although they were able to control their reactions longer than those who were "control-oriented." 

© The Windsor Star 2008

---

The Great Rubbernecking Debate

Site Map  ||  Search this Site

 

	Enter your search terms
	Web DrDriving.org

From: http://www.sptimes.com/2007/06/25/Hillsborough/An_urge_to_gawk_fuels.shtml

An urge to gawk fuels trouble

Rubbernecking drivers create problems, and it's getting worse, area road officials say.

By MIKE BRASSFIELD
Published June 25, 2007

(...)

Rubbernecking is not a new phenomenon. According to H.L. Mencken's classic book The American Language, the word entered the American vernacular as part of a wave of compound words invented during the late 1800s and early 1900s: Joyride, highbrow, skyscraper, pinhead. Rubberneck.

So why do we do it?

To a certain extent, it's natural, experts say. Humans are a curious species and drawn to the unusual. Drivers are trained to survey the terrain around them.

"That's the driver's job -- to cover all the visual field, to the side and in front. Drivers are supposed to do that," said Leon James, a University of Hawaii psychology professor who's considered one of the nation's top experts on traffic habits.

"The problem is slowing down while you're looking at an accident," James said. He suggests drivers train themselves to look without holding up traffic -- maintain your speed, keep a safe following distance and take quick glances while passing a crash scene.

When a driver stops or slows drastically to rubberneck, experts say it causes a "backward traveling traffic wave" -- the next driver must stop and the next and the next, potentially affecting thousands of vehicles. From the air it resembles an accordion, with gaps closing until the cars are bumper-to-bumper.

When that first vehicle takes off again, the reverse happens. Reopening those gaps takes a few seconds per car and, when multiplied by thousands of cars, leads to traffic jams.

"These traffic waves have been observed to go as much as 25 miles behind one little slowdown," James said. "Long after you get home, the traffic wave you created is still slowing down people on the highway."

That's why sometimes, after being stuck in traffic for an hour, you never even get to see the reason why. It's all been cleared away by the time you get there. (...)

---

Interview with Leon James and Diane Nahl

Chatelaine Magazine Shandley McMurray December 2000

Could you classify this as a road rage incident?

Yes. A chase took place, someone got out and beat on the car and used their car to block, police were called.

How would you define road rage?

Road rage is the inability to let go of the desire to punish or retaliate. It is an emotionally impaired state of anger leading to aggressive behavior in words, gestures, assault, or battery.

How could she have avoided this? Could she have avoided this?

You said she drove for 5 mins. before realizing she was being followed by a hostile car. After inadvertently cutting someone off one must be vigilant and alert to the consequences. And in that case she could have called 911 sooner (rather than calling a friend). Also, how could she have prevented inadvertently cutting someone off--this is important because it's a frequent source of road rage duels. Late at night one must be especially vigilant, and especially for women driving alone in a sports car--all of these are social signs of vulnerability on our highways that require increased prudence. Because being in a rush is so fundamental to our society's dynamic, inadvertently cutting someone off has become routine and not unusual, hence a very large pet peeve of the driving public.

How can women drivers avoid being the victims of road rage?

Besides the above, women drivers need to practice being more alert and conscious of other drivers. We are not alone out there, driving is a group activity and all of us need to treat it as such.

Can you name 10 ways that women drivers can avoid being road ragers or aggressive drivers themselves? (or what are the top 10 ways to dispel road rage?)

Dr. James and Dr. Nahl:

1. Slowly count to ten. While you force yourself to count slowly, your adrenaline goes down to normal levels. Take deep breaths as you do this.

2. Forgive and forget Think about the people who are waiting for you to arrive and how you don't want to disappoint them. Tell yourself it's just not worth the hassle.

3. Make funny noises Laughter not only interrupts your negative thinking, it unloads the stress. Try animal sounds or any nonsense noise--really get into it.

4. Use the Castanza Technique When you're in a bad mood, act the opposite of what you feel like. It worked for George on Seinfeld--remember that episode?

5. Act as-if Do your courtesy waves and put on a pleasant face. The way you drive is contagious. You're influencing others' behavior, not by retaliating, but by peacemaking.

6. Shrink your emotional territory Develop an attitude of latitude. Think of positive reasons why drivers do things that annoy you. Perhaps they're sick or confused. Maybe they're rushing to the bathroom. Maybe they just got some bad news. Maybe...

7. Come out swinging positive Don't be rude to the rude. Seize control by defusing anger. Apologize, don't argue, be sympathetic. Don't challenge anything. Go out of your way to appear friendly and peaceful.

8. Drive with emotional intelligence It's intelligent to choose positive explanations, rather than negative because they are less disturbing, more community oriented, less alienating, and ultimately more satisfying than the "you stupid clown" approach.

9. Commit to Lifelong Driver Self-improvement Keep a Driving Log or Diary and make appropriate entries after each trip. Or, you can record yourself while driving, speaking your thoughts aloud. What a revelation when you listen to it later! It's a wake-up call to a driving personality makeover.

These tips and explanations are part of a large collection on our DrDriving.org Web site:

See Traffic Emotions Education (TEE Cards)  ||  See DrDriving's Collection of Tips and Advice

We review various gender issues in driving differences between men and women on our site.

Why did you write your book "Road Rage And Aggressive Driving"?

We wanted to improve our relationship, and later to teach our students a useful method to improve their driving personalities, and now we want to help people on a wider scale to gain self-control over their traffic emotions and stress for a safer, happier, healthier life.

What did you hope you would achieve by writing this book?

What we learned by recording the thoughts and feelings of many drivers in traffic made us realize that we're in the midst of a public health crisis on the roads, and that people are ill equipped to cope with the complexity and intensity of driving today. For today's generation of drivers, both men and women, young and old, professional and inexperienced, it has become normal and common to drive aggressively but calling it something else--assertive, excellent, precision, effective, defensive, careful. This is a symptom of the definition gap we discovered that exists between most drivers' definition of what is aggressive and law enforcement's definition of what is aggressive driving.

The reason that aggressive driving is now the norm in society is that we as toddlers in the back seat, absorbed our parents' driving emotions and attitudes, including how fast they usually drive, what they say out loud to or about other drivers, how they handle distractions inside the car, who they blame after an incident, and their ongoing feelings in the vehicle.

We discovered that people can acquire self-control behind the wheel by overcoming misconceptions acquired in childhood and using simple strategies to diffuse dangerous situations or to avoid them altogether. Our book enables drivers to re-educate themselves to cope with the increasing complexity of driving, including emotional complexity, technological complexity, and situational complexity. Our hope is that people will learn Driving Psychology, practice safer behavior on the road so that the crash and fatality statistics will be dramatically reduced within a generation. We created driving psychology because it teaches drivers of all ages and experience how to engineer their own driving personality makeover. Since we begin our long driving careers as adolescents rigged for road rage and aggressive driving, people need technical skills in self-science to change long habits.

How long have you been interested in this topic?

Since 1981, when we got married and Leon began to drive Diane and her grandmother, who was a vocal commentator on Leon's driving (this is portrayed in the Preface). Subsequently we designed instruction for our college students who learned to engineer their own driving personality makeovers.

Do you think this topic is of more concern to women than men? If so, why?

We get more from women. They are usually concerned about a spouse whose aggressive driving has become very dangerous and frightening to their children. Women spend more time driving children and have more opportunity to pass on their driving habits to their children. We devote chapter 7 to Children and Road Rage with exercises they can do in the car to teach children to become emotionally intelligent passengers and future drivers. A basic tenet of driving psychology is that driver education begins as toddlers. We recommend that mothers take time to engage the children in critical thinking about routine traffic and driving issues.

Back to Interview Answers || Back to DrDriving  ||  List of Interviews  ||  Children's Books at Amazon.com

Site Map  ||  Search this Site

	Enter your search terms
	Web DrDriving.org

---

From:  http://www.greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080703/OPINION/807030319/1004/NEWS01

Know all your limits when it comes to driving

 By Sarah Longwell • July 3, 2008

On the Fourth of July, there will be fireworks. There will be barbecues. And there will be about 44 million Americans traveling to and from these festivities. In order to ensure that all of us return home safely, it's more important than ever that we know our limits.

Thanks to more than two decades of "Don't Drive Drunk" campaigns, nearly 170 million Americans who enjoy alcoholic beverages do so responsibly. The legal limit is 0.08 BAC (blood alcohol concentration) in all 50 states. Over the holiday weekend, that means friends and family can feel free to enjoy beer, wine or spirits and still drive home, as long as they enjoy in moderation.

But safe "limits" for driving aren't confined to drinks. Many drivers don't realize that it's just as important to remain "under the limit" of other influences (speed, distractions and fatigue) when climbing behind the wheel. Since drunk driving is such a widely recognized risk, many researchers use its legal 0.08 threshold as a standard against which other driving behaviors are compared.

Take speed, for instance.

You probably know that speeding is dangerous. But would you have guessed that speeding just six miles per hour (mph) over the limit is as risky as driving with a 0.08 BAC? Well, it is. A group of researchers determined comparable BAC levels for various degrees of speeding and also found that, for example, the danger of driving 13 mph over the limit is akin to having a BAC of 0.21 percent -- the equivalent of almost eight drinks in one hour for the average man.

With speed ranking as the No. 1 cause of fatalities and collisions on U.S. highways, its limit is a crucial one.

Unlike speed, there are few legal restrictions on a different threat: distracted driving. Whether it's putting on makeup, chatting on the phone or one of countless other distractions, these behaviors impact a driver's reaction time in a manner much like drunk driving. Researchers at the University of Utah discovered that mobile phones impair drivers even more than a 0.08 BAC.

Though most of us would never drive drunk, we don't think twice about multitasking behind the wheel. More than 80 percent of drivers admit to blatantly hazardous behavior while navigating traffic, such as changing clothes, painting fingernails and even shaving. Experts estimate that one million people each day chat on their mobile or send text messages while driving. And for dangerous activities like that, there's no safe limit.

How many times have you climbed behind the wheel when you'd rather be climbing into bed?

The National Sleep Foundation reports that "drowsy driving is as dangerous as drunk driving." But even though sleep deprivation impairs a driver as much as a 0.08 BAC, three out of every five adult drivers have driven while drowsy, according to a 2005 poll. More than a third reported actually falling asleep at the wheel.

In addition to eight hours of shuteye, you'll want to remember a few other "limits" for safe driving this Independence Day.

Psychology researchers warn against DWA (driving while angry). "Emotionally impaired driving" significantly impacts perception and judgment. In fact, "high-anger" drivers are three to four times more likely to engage in aggressive driving behavior than level-headed folks. And reckless driving heightens the likelihood of causing a wreck.

Millions of drivers have heard the dangers of driving drunk. And now, safety officials must also educate the public of the importance of other "limits" for the roadway.

So for 2008, just remember: "Know Your Limit."

---

 

Beware of these drivers!

published: Sunday  June 22, 2008

Paul Messam, Gleaner Writer

From: http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20080622/auto/auto4.html

How often have we heard the old adage 'prevention is better than cure'? Well, it is not only better but less expensive. It makes sense and saves cents when we prevent road accidents or collisions.

Human behaviour is governed by stated or unconscious motivations which are manifested through our actions. Like animals, we like our space and may respond aggressively to overcrowding, even on the road.

Psychologist Dr Leon James says that driving fosters a feeling of power on the roads. It's as if drivers are in a short race to win at all costs. There are some drivers who get feelings of superiority from driving aggressively.

But, aggressive driving is dangerous, disastrous and deadly, to say the least.

Refusal to give way

According to the book, Driving Instruction, one sign of an aggressive driver is his absolute refusal to give way to others, even when the other driver has the right of way.

Paula Davis, an experienced auto mechanic who was trained in California, is of the view that some Jamaican drivers are very erratic.

"First, they are always in a rush and, second, they are not paying enough attention to the roads while driving," says Davis.

According to her, drivers need to learn to make a distinction between careless, carefree drivers and those who exhibit rage on the road.

There are motorists who speed because they are in a hurry or simply impatient.

"These drivers make full use of bad judgement and, therefore, engage themselves in risky behaviour."

There are others who refuse to yield to others and so seek to dominate the space which they occupy.

Reckless drivers

Horace Edwards, audit supervisor of London, England, describes many of our drivers as reckless.

"They have a disregard for the lives of other drivers, there is a total lack of road etiquette, they break red lights to name a few."

He proposes a proper data base system to monitor tickets, backed up by the use of traffic light cameras to impound the vehicles of those persons who have a very bad police driving record.

Take special note of the following drivers.

The Speeder

 

He drives like a maniac - fast and reckless. This driver operates as if all others drivers are stupid and cannot drive.

The Tailgater

He is almost as dangerous as the speeder. He follows close to the motor vehicle ahead, often at high speeds. He generally wears an angry and indignant expression.

The Road Hog

He disgustingly drives in the middle of the road to prevent anyone from passing.

The Creeper

He is the driver who firmly believes that driving very slowly, even on highways, is the only sane way to drive. The creeper usually obstructs traffic.

The Yakker

This driver talks continually to passengers. This is bad enough, but he feels that what he is saying is so important that he must constantly witness his audience's reaction.

The Weaver

One who careens from lane to lane, passing other cars right and left in a frantic and disdainful effort to get ahead of everybody.

The Cutter-inner

 

He likes to pass at high speeds. He is always the one that whizzes by and then cuts in on you sharply.

Defensive Driver

Unlike others, this driver reads the road, stresses consideration for others, thinks before he acts, has the ability to grasp the entire situation, has wisdom to judge accurately.

He has admirable traits of self control, follows the two-second rule, follows the rules of the road, and acts in a way that protects other road users.

This driver drives to prevent accidents in spite of the incorrect actions of other drivers or the presence of adverse driving conditions.

Dr Persaud points out that when a driver is under high stress, he is most likely to make errors.

"Pent up emotions often lead to road rage," he says.

Dr Persaud says that positive emotions such as love, laughter, peace of mind all contribute towards defensive and safer driving practices.

The above is

From: http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20080622/auto/auto4.html

---

Don't do this in your car

From: http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/05/16/common.driving.mistakes/ 

Pushing buttons

Car companies and their suppliers jump through lawyers' hoops when developing central information consoles that can include satellite navigation, stereo controls and climate gauges. And with good reason.

Tweaking these devices while driving is a leading cause of accidents and near misses, according to Drive for Life, the National Safe Driving Test and Initiative. Most new consoles won't allow you to plug directions into a sat-nav while the car is in gear, but almost all allow you to play with the stereo. Try to do this when stationary, at traffic lights if you must. (...)

Aggressive driving is a factor in about 56 percent of fatal crashes, says the latest study on driving habits from the Surface Transportation Policy Partnership.

Though subject to debate, the study has classified aggressive driving as "speeding, tailgating, failing to yield, weaving in and out of traffic, passing on the right, making improper and unsafe lane changes and running stop signs and red lights." The group says that most drivers admit to making the same mistakes they hate to see other drivers commit.

As a group, teenagers are more likely than most to take their eyes off the road to concentrate on mobile devices, including cell phones, iPods and instant messaging gadgets.

They are also the age group most likely to impress their friends both with the latest in gadgetry and by taking risks behind the wheel. The National Safety Council points out that traffic crashes are the leading cause of fatalities in teens, accounting for 44 percent of deaths. (...)

Driving while upset  || Turn signals  || Pushing the wrong pedal  || Speeding and tailgating  || Buckle up  ||  Driving while tired

From: http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/05/16/common.driving.mistakes/ 

---

According to Natural Resources Canada, speedy and aggressive driving burns excessive fuel and money and only saves a matter of minutes.

If someone told you you could save two minutes of time by burning 39 per cent more fuel would you still do it? Would it be worth it?

With gasoline prices at over a dollar per litre and with the growing concern for the environment, does it really make sense to speed and drive aggressively?

Reducing your speed from 120km/hour to 100km/hr can save drivers up to 20 per cent in fuel costs while aggressive driving (rapid acceleration and braking) can cost up to 39 per cent more in fuel use and cost (as well as increasing the wear and tear on the vehicle).

From: http://www.canada.com/surreynow/news/story.html?id=d400cfa9-9e59-4831-8794-79671a29ed78 

---

Woman shoots motorcycle driver in apparent road rage case

Updated: June 19, 2008

Jeffersonville - A woman accused of shooting a man during a case of road rage and then calling for help may not face charges. The confrontation happened at a busy intersection in the southern Indiana community of Jeffersonville.

Witnesses say an aggressive motorcycle driver blocked an SUV from going around. When the two stopped, the motorcycle driver jumped off his bike. The driver of the SUV, Yolanda Parrish, hit the man with the vehicle door, picked up a gun and then shot him in the chest. Witnesses say Parrish and her 15-year-old son then stood over the man cursing before making this call to 911.

Dispatcher: "You need to put the gun down on the passenger side floor of the car."
Caller: "It is. I am out of the car."
Dispatcher: "Okay. Keep your hands on the either the hood or the roof of the car where they can see them and just stay there like that until the police get there so that way there is no mishaps, okay?"
Caller: "I put it up under the seat."

The motorcycle driver is in a medically-induced coma but he is expected to survive. Police say Parrish acted in self-defense. The prosecutor will decide if she'll face charges.

The above is from:  http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=8525058&nav=9Tai

---

Lollipop ladies get spy cameras to video abusive drivers

Site Map  ||  Search this Site

	Enter your search terms
	Web DrDriving.org

Apr 30 2008

Lollipop ladies in Warwickshire are being given Robocop-style head cameras after reporting a rise in the number of attacks against them.

The cameras are designed to capture motorists hurling abuse at the school crossing patrollers, who for decades have been guiding schoolchildren safely across Britain’s busy roads.

Evidence collected by the miniature two-inch lenses attached to their hat brims will be used to prosecute those who fail to stop, abuse or threaten crossing guides.

The move by Warwickshire County Council, believed to be the first of its kind in the UK, is the latest spy technology to be used against motorists.

Lollipop ladies in Nuneaton, where the pilot scheme is being tested, are confident the £900 cameras will save lives. The move is also said to have caught the eye of other local authorities nationwide.

Lollipop lady Val Atkins, a 63 year-old married mother-of-four, from Nuneaton, hopes even the visual presence of the camera, will be enough to slow motorists down.

She said: "People just keep driving at us and drive round us – it’s quite scary because we are in danger.

"We really welcome these head cameras because the level of abuse is quite bad – only this morning I had a lorry driver giving me a load of verbals.

"Hopefully people will begin to realise that this is very dangerous and must be stopped and I sincerely hope the cameras will do this."

Another lollipop lady Beverley Kingston, 41, from Nuneaton, who is also trialling the cameras, said people had threatened to run her over and hit her with a pole.

She said: "I have had all sorts of abuse – people say they are going to run me over, they call me all sorts of names and stick their fingers up at me.

"Basically they just tell me to shift out the way.

"We get what we call drive throughs all the time when motorists fail to stop.

"I have had children in the middle of the road and motorists still just drive around them.

"These cameras will make people slow down, take us more seriously, it will make our jobs safer and it could save children’s lives."

Warwickshire County Council is purchasing two CCTV cameras to use on patrols of one of the busiest roads in Nuneaton where staffing has been doubled recently due to a number of near misses when drivers have ignored wardens.

The small surveillance kit records constantly but has to wiped clear at the end of every day – it will be shared between 30 lollipop ladies across Warwickshire.

The lens will record in the direction the lollipop lady is facing, enabling them to film individual drivers and vehicle registration numbers which will be reported to the police.

Bonnie Landborough, school crossing patrols supervisor for Warwickshire County Council, said: "People have been coming in and out of side roads, shops and garages and basically getting impatient.

"Drivers have been very unhelpful and very dangerous – they are driving on when the lollipop lady is still there.

"The lollipop stick means stop, by law it is the equivalent of a red light."

Those caught flouting the law, failing to stop for a school crossing patrol face the prospect of a £1,000 fine and three penalty points on their licence.

County road safety officer Stan Milewski said: "It is the first time that this technology has ever been used for lollipop ladies, but we want to send a message to motorists that we will not tolerate drive throughs and road rage."

The initiative follows an estimated 1,400 lollipop rage incidents reported to councils nationwide last year. Councillor David Sparks, chairman of the Local Government Association’s transport board, said: "It’s unbelievable that we have to take this action, but the lives of children are at risk from increasing numbers of drivers who are so selfish that they are willing to put lives at risk by refusing to stop for 30 seconds at a school crossing.

"Councils will do everything in their power to stamp this out. Abuse and intimidation of lollipop men and women who are carrying out a vital service to the community will also not be tolerated.

"Motorists need to be made aware that they are committing a criminal offence and we hope this new technology will prove an effective deterrent.

From: http://www.birminghampost.net/news/west-midlands-news/2008/04/30/lollipop-ladies-get-spy-cameras-to-video-abusive-drivers-65233-20844388/

---

Passenger Contract  ||  Pedestrian Rage  ||  Bicycling Safety  ||  Surfing Rage  ||  Shopping Rage  ||  Dear DrDriving Letters and Answers || Controversial Issues Debated || Cars, Drivers, Passengers |and| Relationships, Marriage, Romance  ||  Songs About Driving Cars on Roads and Highways