Hi!,

My name is Danny and I'm a Art student at San Francisco State University. I'm currently trying to devise a proposal for a ninteractive electronic display board that could measure road rage in a congested area. In this way, drivers could realize how many of them are actually aware of their aggression. What I would like to know is that besides harm towards other, is there other types of communication do you suggest people take in these cases?

Thanks

Danny

Hi Danny,

Fascinating idea. You'll have to fill in more if I'm going to know what to suggest. For instance, what do you mean by last sentence above? Types of communication people take in these cases? You mean what information about themselves drivers give out to the computer system??

I'm sorry but I have not heard of this campaign it may be being organized by our departmental public affairs office I will look into it, their telephone number is zzz in case I am not able to get back to you promptly, thanks...

Dani,

I'm wondering if you know about a public service campaign against aggressive driving that the State and the City are jointly planning for June. They'll be distributing "stress balls" I heard. Sharon Ishii for the city was mentioned as someone involved. I'm interested since this is my special area of interest, having given 200 interviews on it nationally in the past two years. I'll be on KITV with Paul Udell on May 28. So if something is going on in my own state, I should know aout it, right? Thanks for your input. By the way, visit my website at

http://drdriving.org  

A very intelligent, honest page about road rage. I am a 23 year old F from Minnesota and have been driving for 8 years. I used to really enjoy driving....where I went to HS in SE MN is fairly sparsely populated and I learned to drive with no problems or hassles....I was free to make mistakes and learn. No BIG mistakes however!

I have never had any speeding tickets or moving violations. The only accident that I was in was faily minor (for me) I was in my old chevy celebrity wagon and a man hit me suddenly from behind while I was in rush hour traffic in Minneapolis. I can remember screaming in shock on impact and having my head snapped forward and thrown back. I am embarassed to say this but when the state trooper arrived to help I was still crying from the shock.

Apparently the other driver was changing from lane to lane (in a new sedan...which suffered FAR more damage than my old car) to avoid the back up that I was in and failed to realize that you need lots of room to brake to a stop from 15 MPH. I made the mistake for giving the man my phone number at work and was harassed for weeks by him asking me to drop the claim against him because his insurance was going to go up! My neck acts up every now and then....reminding me that even though you can watch out of other drivers you will get caught out.

Now, I gave you that long story to illustrate that even though something that bad happened to me back home, I was never as scared behind the wheel as I am driving every day in Seattle. I have witnessed acts of sheer cruelty and anger while living here (it's only been 6 months!) and sometimes I have to take very deep breaths to avoid having a panic attack. I am very worried for my husband.. he does not know how to drive at 30 years old, is Irish and used to seeing traffic on the other side but still wants me to "teach" him so he can take our car to his work. his work is a good 30 mile round trip across a floating bridge on a very crowded (at the best of times) road. I have discussed my HUGE fears of the other drivers with him and the good thing that he's doing for traffic in the area by carpooling and riding the bus (which is something he's dome all his life in Ireland anyway) but he gets angry at me for "hogging the car".

My main fear is that he will not, simply through the sheer anger and hostility of others on the road here that he will not be able to make mistakes and learn. I do not drive to my work...I walk up the hill and walk back down....the car stays in the apt. garage where it's safe. The only times I use it are for going to the print shop on Mondays and Fridays and running errands. The rest of the time, he is with me in the car.

I guess the big problem for me is that I find myself increasingly frightened behind that wheel and getting angry and frustrated that things have gotten so bad here. I think that your self tests are great...I am checking my thoughts towards other drivers and at times making efforts to be courteous even though I would really like them to get out of my way!

When it comes right down to it, I'm scared. Both for me and my loved ones behind the wheel...thanks for an informing, thought-provoking web page....I've enjoyed knowing that I'm not alone.

sincerely,

-danica

Thanks for your story, Ms. K. People need to hear you out because your experience repeats itself over and over again. As for your concerns about driving, think about this. First, you're right in acting as if driving is dangerous

Second, you're right in thinking that the less you drive the less opportunity for trouble.

Third, train yourself to enjoy driving those times when you have to.

Each time you go for a drive, prepare yourself. Take a Driving Log with you and when you stop at your destination, take a few minutes to write down your emotions and thoughts. Try to observe when you get anxious and whether talking to yourself rationally helps. Don't forget making funny sounds and singing so you feel better.

Write later and let me know if this worked.

DrDriving

Dear Dr. James,

I'm a Sgt. in charge of the Traffic Unit for Jacksonville, NC Police Dept., I am in the process of developing a program on Aggressive Driving or commonly referred to as "Road Rage". I will be presenting it at Community Watch groups, Civic Organizations and hopefully local schools.

I have seen your reports on the Web and I am writing to see if you already have a lesson plan on this topic which could assist me with my program. I have just applied for a grant from the Governors Highway Safety help our police department tackle aggressive driving. Can you tell me of other locations I may find more information on this subject.

Thank you for any assistance you can provide.

Sgt. Billy Houston

Sgt, I don't have a lesson plan, but your request makes me think I ought to have one. If you make one, send it to me by email and I will post it for others.

After selecting your materials, please email me the file name and the portion of text involved (approximately), with a statement of its use. I will then give you permission. That's it. Write back if you have any questions. I want to support you in what you're doing about aggressive driving.

Leon James

DrDriving

I am looking for anything on the dangers of speeding. Could you help me.

thanks.

Go to the file below, and give the Find command and type in speed. You'll find several links.

DrDriving

Dear Dr. James,

Would it be alright to use some quotes from your Page on Road Rage? Thank you

Ida

" One Must Put Forth Super Effort to Soar Like an Eagle

When Surrounded by Turkeys"

You're welcome to do so as long as you provide the reference address (drdriving.org) and use quotes or other means to demarcate the original.

For my record, please send me a copy, or a reference where it was used.

Leon James

Dr. James,

I am conducting my own research on driver aggression here in North Dakota. To date, my efforts have been toward determining the predictive validity of some of the more well-known paper and pencil measures of aggression in driving behavior in the field. My experimental procedure involves volunteer participant (accompanied by an experimenter) who are provoked into acting aggressively by a confederate driver. Various behavioral measures of aggression are serving as dependent variables. What I am finding is that none of the popular aggression inventories are even remotely correlated with driver aggression in field situations, itself an interesting finding.

I have, however, selected a dozen or so individual items from the various inventories used that were significantly related to behind-the-wheel aggression and plan to use those items to predict road rage in future conditions.

I have a couple requests. First, with your permission I would like to investigate the predictive validity of your "World Road Rage Survey." That is, future participants will complete the items mentioned earlier as well as your survey (and others) before being placed in a driving situation intended to elicit aggressive responses.

Secondly, I would be interested in any recent findings you've made relating to driver aggression. I have extensively perused the info provided on your web page but am interested in anything not to date included on your page.

Thanks,

Andrew McG

Dr. McG,

I was pleased to learn of your experiment. I hope that kind of set-up works realistically enough to bring out useful information about the thoughts and feelings of the driver.

The literature typically settles at .3 correlation (about 9% better prediction than chance)--which is something, but not much. My approach to trying to increase this correlation is to use items that are directly related to driving issues but get at the same psychological trait. Hence my current Driver Personality Test--any comments on that?

Yes I grant permission. You might like to use a shorter version by eliminating the items about the Parents, which doubles its length.

Leon James

Dr. James,

Thanks for the reply. The set up is so realistic that debriefings must be conducted immediately to avoid unwanted attacks to the confederate driver and/or his vehicle. However, at this point I am not looking so much at thoughts and feelings as observable behavior (including blood pressure and heart rate as well as driving actions). In reading your material and that by John Larson I understand the importance of looking at people's perceptions and may look for ways to incorporate such directions in future research.

Many of the inventories have been observed to be no more correlated than .1 with any of my objective measures of driver aggression. I have found that some of the individual items approach coefficients of .4, although I am expecting some artificial inflation given that almost 200 items have been examined and the problem w/ type I error.

I am curious about how your Driver Personality Test(Titled: DrDriving's Driver Personality Survey and involving respondent's analyses of driving scenarios?)is scored.

Thank you for your permission. I will surely keep you apprised of my findings.

Andrew

p.s. ...and it would be far simpler to "pretend you're from Hawaii" if one didn't live in N. Dakota, where we're currently being blessed by 38 degrees and steady wind and rain.

Dr. McG,

you wrote: "I am curious about how your Driver Personality Test (Titled: DrDriving's Driver Personality Survey and involving respondent's analyses of driving scenarios?) is scored"

I'm still working on this--it's pilot research right now. My idea is to see if I can discover Desirable Driver Profiles, followed ultimately by training methods to be researched through random assignment treatment studies on accident involvement and other "employment" related dependent measures. My plan is to see if I can teach drivers to adopt these DDPs and whether it has an effect on their cumulative record.

You mentioned wanting to see the predictive usefulness of the Road Rage Survey. I'm wondering if you'd like to include the Driver Personality Survey, or a subset thereof? The social psychological forces to be measured are described in the Introduction. You mentioned you already made use of personality tests, with little spectacular success. But you will note that these items are specifically about driving.

Leon James

Dr. James,

You mentioned my including your Driver Personality assessment amongst the paper and pencil measures I will be using to predict driver behavior and mentioned using a subset of items. Any suggestions for this subset?

Previous to conducting my earlier study, I was under the impression that the construct of aggression could be studied generically, with conclusions drawn applicable to various situations, including road rage. I now believe that aggression behind the wheel of the car is a very particular exhibition of anger, rage, and hostility I am interested in your application to professional drivers and imagine there should be plenty opportunity to apply this research through consulting work. Have you made any efforts in this direction?

Andrew

Dear Dr Driver

I am working on updating a Manual for our Occupational Health and Safety Policy and Procedures for Sales Representatives in an Australian Manufacturing organization.

The missing link has been Road Rage and you have provided this at this great Web Site.

What I would like to know is can I have permission to use information from your site and in particular Chapter 11.

I would be grateful for your reply.

Regards

Allen W

Mr. W, with respect to using materials from my Web site, I'd glad to grant permission under these conditions: That you refer to the original address; that you demarcate the parts you use with quotes or other method and mark it with "Dr. Leon James" as the author; that you email me the parts you're going to use to specify what it is; and finally, that you describe its one time use.

Thanks for your interest. I'm happy you will be including road rage as a topic. I believe it makes a difference. If you want a box inset

exclusive with my answer to one or tow of your questions, I'd be happy to email it to you.

Leon James

Dear Dr James

Thank you for your reply and I will certainly comply with your requests. The document will not be finished for at least a month so do not be concerned if I have not sent you information until around that time.

Australia is experiencing an increase in Road rage and our traveling sales people are certainly confronted and possibly contributing themselves although I hope not.

Again , thank you for your permission.

Allen

Mr. W, with respect to using materials from my Web site, I'd glad to grant permission under these conditions: That you refer to the original address; that you demarcate the parts you use with quotes or other method and mark it with "Dr. Leon James" as the author; that you email me the parts you're going to use to specify what it is; and finally, that you describe its one time use.

Thanks for your interest. I'm happy you will be including road rage as a topic. I believe it makes a difference. If you want a box inset

exclusive with my answer to one or tow of your questions, I'd be happy to email it to you.

Leon James

Hi Jen,

Thanks. It's updated now. Very good idea. Who can I get in touch with to see if I can help?

Leon

Hi,

I enjoyed reading your page at

What a wealth of information!

I did notice one small error in one of the links included in the page. In one place, the address for CASAD is given as The last four characters should be deleted, leaving the URL as Could you please make this change?

Thanks,

Jen

Hi,

I wrote to you earlier this evening requesting that you update CASAD's URL in one of your web pages. Since then I've read more of the pages on your wonderful site, and noticed a couple of other outdated links to CASAD. There are two such links, one with "citizen groups" as the anchor, the other with CASAD's name.

By the way, I found it interesting that you pointed to the portrayal of drivers behaving badly in movies, cartoons and car commercials as a possible problem, as I haven't seen much attention given to this issue. CASAD has started a campaign to get car manufacturers to stop featuring dangerous driving in their TV commercials, and I hope that will do some good in the long run.

Thanks for your time.

Jen

Leon,

Thanks for the link. I looked around your site some more it is quite extensive. I have returned the favor and created links to your Home Page and to the "Psychology of Songs" page from our section called Classroom Strategies and Resources.

http://www.wpe.com/~music i

By the way here is a page you might be interested in, done 20 years ago when I was teaching the social psychology of song lyrics: Also, something I used dubbed "Hey Cards" used when I taught Community-Classroom style (I have online articles on this too).

Take care. Leon James DrDriving

Hi, I have created a link to your excellent web site from the song "Fri, 7Bad Habit" in our Song Directory. Take a look. http://www.wpe.com/~musici  Regards and thanks, JC

hello i am doing a report on road rage for my sociology class and i was just wondering do you know when road rage first was discovered and who discovered it? if you could answer that i would be very appreciated. thank you.

Sarah

Hi Sarah,

Road Rage was first used in England by newspaper reporters starting around 1983. It entered the English language officially in 1997 according to the Annual Supplement of the Oxford English Dictionary. In the US, the expression has been used increasingly starting in 1997.

Some states have now passed aggressive driving laws that mention road rage by name.

Hope this helps. Don't forget to quote the source of this information as: "Information based on Personal Communication from Dr. Leon James known as DrDriving whose Web address is drdriving.org May, 1999."

Take care.

90% of my work day is spent driving behind another company car. I have to follow various teams on their regular routes. This close following sometimes causes me to drive very aggressively. I still try to be courteous...waving "thank you" when cutting into a line of traffic or allowing others to cut in when it won't cause me to lose my team in traffic. I sometimes wish I had a big sign on my car telling everyone I'm following the car in front of me!!!

My name is Jeff and I go to Punahou school. I am currently doing a research project involving the raising of Hawaii's driving age and I was wondering if you had data regarding the number of accidents, minor or major, involving teenagers. The specific type of data that I am looking for would state that fifteen year olds got in x accidents, sixteen year olds got in y accidents ... if you also know what percentage of these people had gotten their license in the last year that would be helpful. Thank you for any input you might have.

Try this Website:

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/new/

DrDriving

Thanks very much for updating the links to CASAD's web site!

The person to contact about the car commercial campaign is Lisa Sheikh, the executive director of CASAD. Her e-mail address is roadrights@aol.com. I'm sure she'd be pleased to hear from you.

I look forward to reading more of the information on your web site. So much to read and learn, so little time!

Regards,

Jen Sutton

Ms. Lisa Sheikh Executive Director CASAD

Jen Sutton has brought my attention to your media campaign Web site and suggested I contact you. He's been checking out DrDriving's CARRworkbook, a portion of which contains the work my traffic psychology students at the University of Hawaii have done regarding the development of DBB Ratings (Drivers Behaving Badly). They have documented not only commercials, but also the rest of the TV fair offered daily to viewers, including children.

I think this type of activity fits with your campaign and you're welcome to link to my site on this issue.

It links to your media campaign page, buy the way. Let me know what you think.

Leon James

DrDriving

Hi Norma, here is a site you might like to visit: http://www.aggressivedriving.org/pictures/rvrd98/index.html  Have a nice day,

Leon

Aloha! I keep noticing you popping up in the media somewhere now and again to reiterate the fact that Hawaii's driving conditions are worsening. Here are my two cents (for what they're worth):

I would be willing to pay more taxes to shake-up the DMV Division. Make it state-of-the-art, make it stringent, make it intimidating enough so that people who think nothing about driving and the hazards they create from Road Rage will think twice before they have to renew their licenses.

Who the heck thought of the idea to do away with the renewal test? I agree that the test as it was was horrible. You have a manual that you can memorize then forget after the test. I say make the permit, license, and renewal tests much harder and difficult to pass. Not purposely, but really make it meaningful for driving (especially here in Hawaii). Everything from turn signals, speed limits, stop signs, pedestrians, crosswalks, etc. should be strictly reiterated upon.

And, stricter than what was on the old test.

Make the test difficult for teens who are irresponsible. Actual driving renewals should be given, especially if our roads are being congested. If the driver starts exhibiting signs of road rage on the test, they fail. Driving tests in traffic is an excellent test of skills and wills. Everything from complete stops, turn signals, changing lanes one at a time instead of across several lanes and more should be tested.

The penalties for any violation (no license, expired license) should be harsh. If the city is going to allow the people to own "weapons" (i.e. vehicles), they need to make sure that more responsibility is put upon them.

If worst comes to worst, privatize the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Licensing Division. Make it top-notch, state-of-the-art, stringent, strict, severe, et cetera. Make it so that only those who really deserve to be on the roads are on the roads. 99% of those in vehicles around me exceed the speed limit. Even in residential 25 mph zones. Honest. Makes me sick.

So why are vehicles manufactured so that they can exceed 70 mph? What is the rationale? Who thought of that idea? Certainly not John Ford, I don't think so... ;)

I would pay higher taxes for: Education, Police, Licensing, and Social Services (boy how we need better services than what we have now).

Mahalo,

Keith

Thanks for your views Keith. I understand where you're coming from. However, whenever I feel like you do, I remind myself to be more tolerant of the diversity of drivers and their individual needs and styles. I trained myself to practice thinking less subjectively. It made me a better highway citizen, but above all, a happier driver!!

Leon

Well, to be honest, I'm probably one of the best drivers out there. I don't exhibit any road rage, drive the speed limit, and most of all, drive DEFENSIVELY. These comments are not coming from an "emotional" side of me, strictly objectively, although my "makes me sick" comments make it sound more subjective. But, thanks for taking time out to respond!

Aloha,

Keith

OK, Keith. I think one of my functions as DrDriving is to search for better ways for people of being drivers. You consider yourself an excellent driver. Good! But my job is to remind good drivers that this definition also includes the driver's feelings. So tolerance and compassion are superior to intolerance and frustration and annoyance.

Here's a suggestion for you, Keith: First, acknowledge that tolerance is superior over intolerance or annoyance or whatever negative you want to name.

Second, witness yourself being intolerant next time you drive. Monitor your thoughts (e.g., criticism, ridiculing, complaining, etc. about other drivers whatever it is they do this time or that time). Catch yourself in the act, so to speak.

Third, choose to be supportive for one trip to see what it feels like. Observe how others react and how you feel. To be supportive means to pretend you're imbued with the Aloha spirit for every driver no matter what. It also means facilitating their progress, like helping them, every day...). See the Three=step Method here.

Leon yielding, making room waving on, being happy they made it through, that kind of thing. Let me know what happens. Thanks, Keith and good luck. It takes courage to do this, let me tell you (I've been doing it for years on the Pali)

Thank you for your helpful website. I am a reformed road warrior, too. I agree with nearly all of your comments, except one. The demon cannot be tamed. It must be evicted, permanently. And it's not through the use of psychology, even though psychology is beneficial to mankind. This is the dilemma; wanting to be "a good driver" but not being able to follow through. I have given this much consideration. I acknowledge your credentials, sir. I look forward to reading your book.

Thanks for your comment about the taming of the daemon. I'll think about it.

DrDriving

I just became a signal mom due do a young woman who had a temper on Hwy 15 to Las Vegas. 5 Months have gone by and I have started a crusade to see that a new law can come into affect. ( 10 to 15 years in jail even 1st offenders) A car is a weopen when used in anger to harm and kill another. I have been told by those who saw the crime scene that he was an innocent individual who was at the wrong place at the wrong time. I understand the kindness on the highway but I also believe if you do misdeeds then you should pay with your freedom.

The lady that killed my husband is on a 1st offense charge and I am being told my not do time only probation. She is know facing 3 to 18 year on other charges but none on Road Rage. In voluntary manslaughter, leaving a scene, and reckless driving.

Please write back

I would like to hear your comments

Thanks for writing. I'm sorry about the tragedy, and I understand your passion to do something about road rage. If you ask me, my advice would be (after you're through with your lawsuits, and frustration) to become active in promoting Quality Driving Circles or QDCs. These are small voluntary groups of people getting together and helping one another become supportive drivers. Let me know when you feel like starting something in your area.

DrDriving

Dear Dr. James:

Recently, I visited your "Dr.Driving" web site and found it most impressive in dealing with the topic of road rage. For an important English project of mine, I am researching road rage, and will prepare a slide show presentation to present to the class. For my project, my teacher requires me to interview someone (in person or via e-mail) about my topic. Because of our different geographical locations (Hawaii vs. Virginia) I wish to interview via e-mail because you seem the most qualified and educated to help me with my project. I would really appreciate it if you could answer the following interview questions for me so that my teacher would see that I consulted with a professional on my topic.

1. What is road rage?

2. How did it originate?

3. What is the difference between road rage and aggressive driving?

4. What are the causes of road rage?

5. What are some examples of road rage?

6. Have cases of road rage risen in the past 10 years?

7. What should one do if they are the victim of road rage?

8. How does one identify a potentially dangerous situation?

9. What can be done to prevent road rage?

10. Will road rage be a problem for our society in the future?

If you could answer these questions for me and send the answers by e-mail by June 1, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you for your time and effort.

Sincerely,

Saima

Hi Saima,

here is what I suggest: you find the answers I have already given to these very same questions in previous interviews. Put them together, send them to me, and I'll add a summary exclusive so you can fulfill the report requirements you have. This way you do the work, not me, since I have already done my share!

DrDriving