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By Monica Scandlen The Indianapolis Star May 30, 2000
If you've driven in Indianapolis, you have a stupid-driver story to tell. Maybe you had
to hit the brakes while another driver swerved across three lanes of traffic in front of
you. Or held your breath while a sport-utility vehicle crawled up your bumper as you drove
75 mph down the highway. Or just tried to stay out of the way while other drivers cursed,
gestured and traded paint. More than once, you've probably wondered: "Where are the
police when you need them?"
An answer to that question comes today from the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, which will announce a $200,000 federal grant to combat aggressive driving
in Indianapolis. The money will be used to hire police officers to work overtime patrols,
targeting aggressive drivers on interstates and heavily traveled city streets within the
circle formed by I-465. That includes I-65, I-70, Fall Creek Parkway and 38th Street. The
grant will be administered by the Marion County Traffic Safety Partnership, a coalition of
local law enforcement agencies. In addition to putting more officers on patrol, the money
will be used to launch a public safety campaign aimed at persuading motorists to drive
more carefully and exercise patience on the road. Indianapolis and Tucson, Ariz., beat 55
other major metropolitan areas to win the 18-month grants from the federal Department of
Transportation.
It's hard to say exactly how many aggressive drivers there are in Indianapolis. But
local and national surveys show it is a growing concern. Last year, the traffic
partnership surveyed 276 law enforcement officers in Marion County. Eighty-six percent
said drivers are more aggressive than they were five years ago. Sixty-three percent of
those officers said they see aggressive driving every day. Also last year, a national
survey by the national highway safety agency found that one in three people think drivers
in their area were more hostile than the year before. It isn't so hard to figure out why.
Lt. Don Bickel, a 30-year veteran of the Indianapolis Police Department, who will head up
the enforcement against aggressive drivers, has some ideas. People are in more of a hurry.
They drive longer distances to work. They have more distractions, such as cell phones
and pagers. Most of all, Bickel said, they are less courteous and more likely to yell or
make rude gestures. "But you can't just say, 'It's a sign of the times, so it's OK,'
" he said. Although it might be hard for typical motorists to tell the difference,
police officers distinguish aggressive driving from road rage. Road rage usually involves
violence, like one car running another off the road or one driver pointing a gun at
another. An aggressive driver is someone who commits several violations at once, like
speeding, weaving in and out of traffic and changing several lanes at once. "What
we'll be looking at is the overall picture, the person's driving behavior," Bickel
said.
He plans to do that in several ways, including having officers on overpasses to spot
aggressive motorists and radio to other officers, who will pull over the drivers. Officers
also will patrol roads in unmarked cars and target construction zones, where aggressive
driving seems more common. Ann Stickford, the local traffic partnership's project
director, would like to see a 5 percent decrease in crashes at the end of the 18-month
grant. Marion County has averaged about 35,000 vehicle wrecks a year for the past five
years. The most common causes for those crashes were speeding, following too closely,
failure to yield the right of way, disregarding signs or signals and impaired driving.
"The aggressive driver is more dangerous than the driver who rolls through a stop
sign," Stickford said. "The aggressive driver shows multiple behaviors. "In
this day and age, we have so much going on that, when we get in our cars, we all become a
little bit aggressive."
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In Pa., a Unique Campaign Against Road Rage Oct. 6 — If motorists on a
particularly frantic stretch of Philadelphia roadway don’t know the dangers of road
rage yet, officials there hope new signs will serve as daily reminders.
“Beware of Aggressive Drivers” blares one black and orange sign, while others
read “Don’t Tailgate” and “Slow Down — Save a Life.”
Communities across the nation are grappling with road rage, the anger that boils within
some drivers and causes them to weave in and out of traffic, drive too fast on crowded
highways, tailgate, scream at fellow motorists and toss occasional obscene gestures.
At best, road rage creates a harrowing atmosphere on roadways, at worst it can cost lives.
While statistics released this week show highway traffic deaths remained about the same
last year from 1998, speed-related fatalities increased slightly from 12,509 to 12,628 in
1999, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Drive Nice, Win Latte
Leon James, author of Road Rage: Steering Clear of Highway Warfare, said New Jersey had
recently posted temporary road signs urging people to “Drive Friendly,” and a
St. Louis bridge repair bore signs warning drivers: “Expect to Be Frustrated.”
The approach is slightly different in Berkeley, Calif., where traffic cops are known to
hand out coupons for free gourmet coffee drinks to drivers who stick to the speed limit.
But James says the Philadelphia effort is the first where permanent warning signs have
been planted.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation began posting the messages in a northern
Philadelphia suburb last week near busy Interstate 476 hoping to calm problem stretches of
highway. More signs were to be planted today on other state routes.
Targeting driver behavior is crucial to reducing accidents, said DOT spokesman Ron
Young. “There is no room to build new roads, so we have to make the best of what we
have,” he said.
(...)
The Associated Press contributed to this report. original here
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I have had the opportunity to work with Dr. James through our aggressive driving program
here in San Antonio. There is no doubt he is the foremost expert on the subject. Although
I have not been able to read the complete book at this time I have skimmed through it and
it appears to reflect many of the ideas we have discussed over the previous few months.
Through his guidance we have established what I feel is a very comprehensive aggressive
driver program here.
Any aggressive driving program must be a comprehensive team effort of education,
enforcement and a strong judicial effort. The police alone can not be the only element in
an anti-aggressive driver program. The officers in the program must be trained in not only
what behaviors identify a person as an aggressive driver but also why that person behaves
in that manner. The public must be made aware of and constantly reminded of what
constitutes aggressive driving and how to deal with out ever increasing traffic congestion
and lack of driving manners by other drivers. Enforcement must re-enforce those sanctions
against bad driving while being supported by a judicial system that can not only impose
monetary punishment when necessary but also act as an extension of the re-education
effort.
In a time period when we are all bombarded with a constant messages of "do
it now" and "just do it" and other messages of instant gratification,
patience and tolerance seem to have disappeared from many individuals life styles.
Voluntary compliance to traffic laws and conditions must be the goal of any aggressive
driver campaign and regular and constant awareness and education must play a large part in
this effort. Dr. James efforts go a long way in accomplishing this goal.
Tom Polonis, Captain
San Antonio Police Department
Commander, Technical Support Section
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Date: Fri, 11 Jul 1997 09:49:35 -1000
From: Jason Bryan
To: DrDriving@DrDriving.org
Subject: good work! Dear Dr. Driving:
I was spending some time today reading stories on Road Rage. I learned a lot. It's good
to feel that I am not alone in my feelings. Reading all of the information was really good
and healing. I am kind of wondering, short of writing my congress person, building a
website, making bumper stickers, I wonder what I can do to help make the roads a safer
place. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Warmly,
Jason Bryan
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi, Jason,
Bumber stickers can be very useful as reminders. I like people to remember to Drive
with Aloha spirit Be a supportive driver Do a random act of kindness every few minutes!
Dr. Driving
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Spring is in the air and our attention is being directed to the upcoming activities of
our students at the local high schools. Proms and graduation are the two biggest events
and Santa Clara County law enforcement agencies, courts and probation are taking part in a
program call Sober Graduation and Reality Check. This program is designed to discourage
high school students from drinking and driving during these events. The Milpitas Police
Department Traffic Division has assigned two officers to take six students and two high
school advisors through the first part of this program, Reality Check. The students are
usually journalism students and a photographer to report on the event to other students
through their high school newspaper.
Reality Check is an all day event that starts with a short presentation from the police
officer to the students on what it would be like to investigated and arrested for driving
under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. The student is handcuffed and the group is
transported in a police vehicle to the police station to be processed for DUI. We then
take the group to the Santa Clara County Main Jail for a tour of their facilities. The
department of corrections gives the students a tour of the jail to give them a first hand
experience on what is it like to be in jail. The students see real inmates awaiting trial
or serving out their sentence for a criminal conviction. It is made very clear through the
correctional officer's presentation and the experience of seeing inmates that jail is that
worst place to stay. Students are fingerprinted and photographed. They also get a
presentation from a gang expert.
The next stage is a presentation at the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
Chambers. The students meet a panel of experts which is chaired by a Superior Court Judge.
The other panel members consist of representatives from the Santa Clara County District
Attorney's Office, the Department of Corrections, the Probation Department as well as a
few local law enforcement agencies. The students ask questions of the panel of experts
concerning students drinking alcohol and driving a motor vehicle. They also get a
presentation from a local citizen whose life has been radically altered from a DUI related
accident. This part of the presentation really hits home with everyone. Some of the
presenters in the past have been physically crippled or had brain damage from a DUI
related accident.
The last part of the program consists of a tour of the Santa Clara County Morgue. The
students receive a presentation from a medical examiner and a full tour of the facilities.
The students have an opportunity to see the covered bodies of deceased people that are
waiting for processing. The medical examiner will tell the students the circumstances
behind the death of these people, especially if it was from a DUI related accident. The
tour is concluded by a demonstration from the San Jose Fire Department. They show students
the emergency equipment they use to extract a person from a wrecked car. Several wrecked
cars are on site to show the severity of damage to the car and what could happen to the
driver.
All of this is to keep our young people from drinking alcohol and driving a motor
vehicle. Our students get a real life experience of the consequences drinking and driving.
Hopefully they learn that life is precious and that alcohol and drugs will change their
lives, preventing them from achieving the good things that life has to offer.
original here
This approach could be tried with aggressive drivers, don't you think?
Let me know what you think.
Email Dr. Leon James at DrDriving@DrDriving.org
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AFFECTIVE OBJECTIVES
1. To strengthen the desire for lifelong driver self-improvement
2. To neutralize or weaken existing negative driving attitudes
3. To strengthen and inculcate positive driving values
4. To learn how to transform self-centered goals into highway community goals through
activities that weaken one's identification with aggressive models and strengthen one's
identification with supportive driving models
5. To prepare drivers to deal effectively with aggressiveness or provocation by other
drivers and with their own aggressiveness and road rage
COGNITIVE OBJECTIVES
1. To understand why it's necessary for drivers to develop inner standards of behavior.
2. To understand what is aggressive driving and how to measure one's own aggressiveness as
a driver.
3. To learn how to analyze traffic situations and events in order to identify emotional
intelligence choice points where people could have acted differently for a better result.
4. To practice driver self-assessment and self-improvement activities, including keeping a
Driving Log, Collecting Self-Observational data, and Critical Thinking Analyses of driver
behavior in challenging situations.
5. To understand the basic facts and solutions to impaired driving (DUI, anger, advancing
age, inexperience, drugs and medication)
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| |
Name |
Symptoms |
Remedy |
1 |
Obsessing about slow traffic |
"At this rate
we’ll never get there" , "I feel like I’m going backwards" ,
"Now I’m stuck behind this slow driver" etc. |
Leave earlier;
Give up getting there on time; Distract yourself with radio or music; Admire the scenery;
Practice yoga breathing |
2 |
Feeling combative with
self-righteous indignation |
"This jerk
just cut me off—gotta give him a piece of my mind" , "I don’t deserve
to be pushed around" , "Nobody gives me the finger and gets away with it"
"Nobody should fool with me and get away with it"; etc. |
Make funny animal
sounds; Make up some possible excuses for that driver; Think about your parents and
children who might do the same thing; Think about being a saint |
3 |
Feeling excessively
competitive |
"Darn, that
guy made the light and I didn’t" , "How come that lane is faster than this
one" , "Those pedestrians better watch out—I’m coming through" ,
etc. |
Tell yourself
it’s just a habit from childhood to feel anxious about not winning, or being left
behind; Remind yourself it feels good to be civil and helpful |
| 4 |
Being over-critical |
"Look at that
idiot who forgets to turn off his signal" , "I can’t stand it the way he
slows down and speeds up, slows down and speeds up" , "How can he pay attention
to the road if he’s babbling on the phone" |
Tell yourself
it’s human to make mistakes; Recall to yourself your own mistakes; Remind yourself
that patience is a virtue; Try to maneuver your car away from that car |
| 5 |
Love of risk taking |
"I like to go
fast, but I’m careful" , "I can make this light if I speed up" ,
"I can squeeze into that opening if I time it right" , "I can insult that
driver ‘cause I can get away fast" , etc. |
Think of your
loved ones and how they would feel if something happened to you; Tell yourself you prefer
to be a mature and prudent person |
|
Program soothes the savage driver BY JACK WHEAT jwheat@herald.com
Miami-Dade is the nation's first county to try aggressive-driving classes for people
who spend too much time in the company of police officers writing tickets, said
Christopher Huffman, chief operating officer of the American Institute for Public Safety,
the company that offers the course.
The program is ``Roadrageous,'' a pilot project of the private AIPS and the 11th
Judicial Circuit.
In addition to assessing fines, Miami-Dade judges may now order repeat traffic
offenders to attend an eight-hour class on how to curb antisocial behavior on the
highways, said Chief Circuit Judge Joseph Farina.
``I believe that aggressive driving is responsible for more accidents and injuries than
any other negative driving activity,'' Farina said. ``We decided to take a proactive
approach to this.''
The American Institute for Public Safety hired a national expert on driver attitudes to
design the course and another to evaluate it before Farina signed off on it three months
ago.
``About 100 percent of the time, driving in traffic is a stressful situation,'' class
instructor Mike Panzeca said. RoadRageous is for drivers who erratically dart in and out
of traffic, run stop signs and red lights, pass stopped school buses and speed.
Panzeca said multiple offenses are a good indicator that people in the course need to
be there. ``The average person gets tickets once every three years,'' he said. Many more
drivers need it, Farina said. But multiple offenses are the only indicator judges and
traffic hearing officers can rely on, because there's no such crime as ``aggressive
driving'' in Florida -- yet.
The Florida Highway Patrol wants the Legislature to define aggressive driving, make it
a crime and establish penalties. If that happens, courses such as RoadRageous could pop up
statewide.
The course is a turbocharged version of defensive-driving classes offered nationally
for people with reasonably clean records who get tickets. If people opt to take those
four-hour classes to brush up on their driving skills, their driving records do not
collect points that could raise their insurance rates.
The American Institute for Public Safety offers such courses in an improvisational
comedy format. The eight-hour RoadRageous is a more intensive mix of comedy, videotaped
segments and psychology. Besides their fines, the tagged road warriors pay $65 for the
class and devote a full day of their weekend to it.
``There are two kinds of drivers: morons and idiots,'' Panzeca deadpanned -- morons in
the slow cars ahead, idiots zooming past you.
The joke launched Panzeca's theme: Anger toward fellow drivers escalates into grudge
matches; even when it doesn't lead to tickets or wrecks, it leaves the combatants angry
long after they get to work or home.
``People do things in their cars in traffic they would never do otherwise,'' Panzeca
said. The common courtesy they routinely exhibit in bank lines and elevators is replaced
by angry yelling and gesturing. The key to stopping angry driving is stopping the angry
thinking, he said.
Original1999
Miami Herald article here
|
Advanced Driver Improvement Courses In Florida
Reasons for attending an Advanced Driver Improvement Course:
point suspensions
habitual traffic offender
court-ordered
Course completion is required within 90 days of driver license reinstatement.
The RoadRageous Course has been approved for this purpose.
"This course is approved by FDOTand FDLE (Florida) and counts towards the mandated
training hours for law enforcement."
Chris Huffman President Chief Operating Officer, American
Institute for Public Safety
|
Warning: These Rules may vary in different States and CountiesAny person charged with a
moving or non-moving traffic violation that would result in points being assessed to the
driving record, may choose to attend a driver improvement course.
Exclusions:
- All criminal violations
- CDL drivers who are charged with serious traffic violations while in their commercial
motor vehicle
- What is the benefit of attending a driver improvement course?
Attending a driver improvement course to satisfy the violation will be entered on your
driver record as an "adjudication withheld." In other words:
- no points will be assessed against your driver license,
- the civil penalty will be reduced by 18 percent and
- your insurance company cannot impose an additional premium or refuse to renew a policy
for motor vehicle insurance
- solely because the insured committed a non-criminal traffic infraction.
Exceptions:
- a second infraction within 18 months or
- a third infraction in 36 months or
- exceeding the speed limit by more than 15 mph
Do I have to pay the civil fine when I attend a driver improvement course?
Yes, the civil penalty is reduced by 18 percent as required by law. For the exact cost
of the civil penalty, contact the Traffic Division of the Clerk of Court in the county
where you received your citation.
How can I choose to attend a driver improvement course?
You may come to the Clerk's office in the county where you received the citation or if
the officer provided you with an envelope at the time you were cited for the violation,
you may use it to indicate your intention to attend a driver improvement course. Read the
affidavit attached to the envelope carefully.
Within 30 calendar days of the date your ticket was issued, complete the affidavit,
have your signature notarized and return the affidavit to the Clerk's office in the county
where you received your citation. Mail the affidavit early enough to ensure it is received
in the Clerk's office within the 30 calendar days.
Check with the Clerk's office in the county where you received your citation to see if
the civil penalty accompanies the election affidavit. You will have between 60 and 90 days
from the date of the ticket to complete an approved course and submit the completion
certificate to the traffic division of the Clerk's office.
For exact information, consult the traffic division in the Clerk's office where you
received your citation. (In the phone book, look under your county government listing for
Clerk of the Court.)
Do I have to pay to attend a driver improvement course?
Yes, the cost ranges between $22.95 and $40.
Do I need anything else after I attend a driver improvement course?
Yes, you must present the completion certificate to the Clerk's office in the county
where you received your citation. Please consult with the traffic division in the Clerk's
office in the county where your received your citation for their exact requirements.
Can I change my mind after I sign the affidavit to attend a driver improvement
course?
No. Once you notify the clerk of your intention to attend a course, you have between 60
and 90 days from the date of the citation to complete the course and present proof of
completion. Please consult with the traffic division in the Clerk's office in the county
where your received your citation for their exact requirements.
What happens if I choose to attend and do not?
A person who chooses to attend a driver improvement course and has paid the civil
penalty, but fails to attend the school within the time specified by the court shall be
deemed to have admitted the infraction and shall be adjudicated guilty. In this case, the
person must pay the clerk of the court the 18 percent deducted because of the election to
attend a course and a $10 processing fee. No additional penalties, court costs or
surcharges will be imposed. The clerk of court notifies the department of the person's
failure to attend the driver improvement course and points for the violation are added to
the individual's driving record.
How many times can I choose to attend a driver improvement course?
You can choose to attend a driver improvement course only once in any 12-month period
and no more than five times in your lifetime.
Where can I get more information about choosing to attend a driver improvement
course?
For the specific requirements, please contact the traffic division of the Clerk's
office in the county where you received your citation.
If I live in a county different than the one where I got my citation, what do I do?
Contact the traffic division of the Clerk's office in the county where you received
your citation for their specific requirements.
If I choose to attend a driver improvement course and do not attend, does this count
as one of the five times I am allowed to choose this option?
Yes. Once the affidavit has been signed and recorded by the court you may not choose
the school option again for 12 months and all monies are forfeited.
Where can I find information on where to attend an approved driver improvement
course?
You can consult your local telephone directory for a listing of schools.
The above FAQ information is from the State of Florida. Original Page here
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Date: Wed, 17 Sep 1997
11:23:03 -1000 From: "Michael J. McDermott"
To: dyc@DrDriving.org
Subject: article on road rage for teens in Futures magazineDear Dr. Driving:
I'm a freelance writer doing an assigned article on road rage for Futures, a magazine
published by Scholastic Inc. that is distributed to high school juniors and seniors. I
have found the material on your web site to be very helpful and have seen you quoted in
many articles during my research. I would like to request a specific quote from you to use
in my article. I am looking for a quote that dramatically describes how big a problem road
rage has become/is becoming in the U.S. If there is something you can say that will help
make it particularly relevant to kids in our audience, that would be great.
TIA for your cooperation.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please transmit this Open Letter to your readers
From DrDriving
Dear young persons,
By the time most adolescents begin their career as drivers, they have experienced years
of road rage or aggressive driving, as passengers in their parents' car and with other
drivers. Add to this the many portrayals of "bad driving" scenes on TV and you
can see how ingrained this habit becomes. Road rage or aggressive driving is a cultural
habit we acquire subconsciously and automatically as we grow up.
Most drivers have road rage though it may not show in the open. Road rage is a feeling
of rebellion and anger against others on the road or against road restrictions and
regulations. Aggressive driving is a type of road rage which is expressed by tailgating,
lane hopping, passing dangerously, failure to yield or signal, racing the engine, playing
loud music, not wearing seat belts, scaring your passengers with risky behavior, and
yelling or making insulting gestures. These are angry responses to other drivers who seem
to be in your way. According to government officials, aggressive driving is now the Number
1 problem in transportation today.
Speeding dangerously and racing are also types of road rage, being angry responses to
regulations that forbid these activities. Drinking and driving is a type of road rage too,
showing an angry rebellion against authority and a raging disregard of the well being of
other drivers and pedestrians who are injured and killed by imparied drivers.
What are the results of road rage? Consider these facts:
1. In the US, about 45,000 people die every year of car crashes--as much as the total
fatalities in the entire Viet Name war.
2. 16-24 year olds represent 24 percent of total fatalities.
3. On a per population basis, drivers under the age of 25 had the highest rate of
involvement in fatal crashes among all age groups.
4. The intoxication rate for 16-20 year old drivers in fatal crashes in 1994 was 14.1
percent. The highest intoxication rates were for drivers 21 to 24 and 25 to 34 years old
(28.1 percent and 26.8 percent, respectively).
5. Every minute of every day of every year, a young person between the ages of 15-20 is
inured in a motor vehicle crash in the US.
6. Car accidents are the No. 1 cause of death and injury among children.
7. Alcohol was involved in 41% of all traffic fatalaties in 1994, resulting in 17,000
deaths.
8. Each alcohol-related death costs our nation an average of 37 years of life lost--in
contrast to 16 years for cancer and 12 years for heart disease.
9. There has been a steady increase in DWI rates and alcohol-related fatal crashes
among women, especially younger women.
10. DWI or DUI accounted for about 1.4 million arrests in 1994, about the same as
arrests for larceny or theft, or arrests for drug abuse.
11. In 1996, about 35% of college students report having driven after drinking
alcoholic beverages.
12. More than 50% of the people jailed for DWI are repeat offenders.
13. The cost of motor vehicle crashes and injuries in 1990 was $138 billion,
representing the present value of lifetime economic costs for 45,000 fatalities, 5.4
million non-fatal injuries, and 28 million damaged vehicles--per year.
14. On average, a pedestrian is killed in a motor vehicle crash every 96 minutes.
15. A toddler shot dead in the car after his father flipped someone the bird in
traffic.
16. A 55 year old man is facing murder charges after shooting a youth for tailgating.
17. A young mother is forced to jump to her death over a Detroit bridge by a motorist
she had sideswiped.
18. A high school student in Honolulu was convicted of causing the death of an off duty
policeman who fell over a highway rampart in a scuffle with the youth after they both
stopped to settle the score that started with tailgating and a chase.
19. A Cincinnati woman received a jail sentence for vehicular manslaughter charges for
causing the death of an unborn child after a tailgating and chase battle with a pregnant
driver ended with an overturned car.
20. An Auckland (Australia) irate motorist followed a school bus driver back to the
garage, "scorched his ears and pinned him to the bus with his car."
Conclusion: it is necessary for each of you to take personal responsibility for
containing the road rage epidemic. Be brave. Be noble. Be rational. Ask yourself how you
are contributing to the problem. Discuss it among yourselves. Take action. Form little
groups where you meet regularly and help one another become good drivers, comapssionate
drivers who are thinking not just of yourself but others on the road. Help each other do a
driving personality make-over. Do a random act of kindness as a driver every time you are
behind the wheel. Encourage your parents and elders to respect road regulations and other
drivers.
I invite you to review many possible ideas and strategies at Dr. Driving's Web Site:
Take care and drive with Aloha spirit!
Dr. Driving
|
ORLANDO, FLA. (April 29) BUSINESS WIRE -April 29, 1998--Concerned with increasing
incidents of aggressive driving behavior, AAA moved to strengthen its public education
efforts to reduce aggressive driving behavior and to provide motorists with techniques to
protect themselves. Delegates to AAA's 95th annual meeting, particularly concerned with
violent driving behavior or "road rage," said they are often called upon to
provide recommendations for dealing with aggressive driving.
The delegates supported the following measures in an effort to curtail this serious
safety problem:
Educate motorists about the dangers associated with indulging in
violent driving behaviors.
Initiate stricter enforcement of all traffic safety laws.
Encourage courts to use stronger penalties for traffic safety
offenses which involve aggressive driving or road rage.
Develop driver education curricula components designed to deter
aggressive and violent driving behavior.
AAA is a not-for-profit federation of 96 clubs with more than 1,000 offices providing 40
million members in the U.S. and Canada with travel, insurance, financial and auto-related
services.
AAA news releases can be downloaded from the following sites: AOL -- Keyword: AAA;
Click on "News and Events," "News Releases." http://www.aaa.com/news
|
"It takes novice drivers some five to seven years for their accident rate to drop to
the average accident rate of the driver population as a whole, and the younger the driver
at the time of licensing, the longer this period. This implies that the overrepresentation
of novice drivers in the accident statistics is due to two different factors, immaturity
and inexperience." From Target
Risk by Gerald Wilde.
"We now will attempt to explain why inexperienced drivers have more accidents than
experienced drivers. Obviously this is not because of their lower level of skill per se.
In principle, unskilled people can reduce accident risk by choosing maneuvers that match
their level of skill in driving, and by reducing their exposure. However, in practice,
this is not so. They cannot fully adjust their driving manners to their driving skill,
because they operate as a minority in a road system in which most drivers are experienced.
There are strong forces at work that compel inexperienced drivers to drive at a certain
speed and at a certain following distance, and to do other things similar to what the more
experienced majority does. Thus, in order to acquire experience, they have to drive above
their own level of competence and comfort, and that is why they experience more risk when
driving.[38,39] Their elevated experience of risk corresponds with the increased risk they
incur." ditto
|
For Law Enforcement
Traffic Enforcement Education with TEE Cards
OFFICER WORKBOOK
by
Leon James, Ph.D. and Diane Nahl, Ph.D.
Traffic Psychology Educators
The Officer Workbook and Instructor Guide are recommended for use in conjunction with
RoadRageous Aggressive Driver Video Course (American Institute for Public Safety)
Road Rage and Aggressive Driving, (Prometheus Books, Amherst, N.Y.).
First used by the San Antonio Police Department and the State of Florida Traffic Division
Contents
Preface
1. DEFINING AND Identifying AGGRESSIVE DRIVING
- Aggressive Driving Police Initiatives
- Definition of Aggressive Driving
- Threshold Method for Profiling Aggressive Driving
- Aggressive Driving Legislation
2. Dual Role: Traffic Enforcement and Education
- Handing Out TEE Cards in Traffic Stops
- A Sample of 10 TEE Cards
- Why We Need Traffic Emotions Education
3. HANDLING AGGRESSIVE Drivers
- Aggressive Driving Is an Important Social Problem
- Managing an Angry Driver During a Traffic Stop
- The Chain of Escalation in Angry Exchanges
- Causes and Prevention of Emotionally Impaired Driving
- The Aggressive Driver Mentality
- Analyzing the Thinking of Vigilante Drivers
- Aggressive vs. Supportive Driving
Preface
Public safety officers in the 21st century have more qualifications because advanced
training is required to meet the new demands on officers' technical knowledge. The federal
government requires certification training for officers who use Radar Speed Detection
devices, and new certification training is required for those with access to crime
information centers that maintain criminal records. Some states require police officers to
have annual training to maintain their powers of arrest. This is the age of aggressive
driving and officers have a new opportunity to play the dual role of traffic enforcement
and education. State legislatures began passing new aggressive driving laws in 1997 using
a variety of definitions for violations. Some laws use vague language that makes it
difficult for officers to accurately identify the target behavior. Traffic officers now
need specialized training in the technicalities of aggressive driving laws, aggressive
driving behavior, and prevention:
What language does the law use to define aggressive driving?
How serious is the problem nationally?
What police initiatives have been tried?
What can law enforcement do to educate the public about aggressive driving?
What are TEE Cards for Traffic Enforcement Education and when do officers hand them out?
How do officers deal with aggressive drivers during a traffic stop?
What are good interaction principles to follow during a traffic stop?
What are the causes and how can we prevent emotionally impaired driving?
As new aggressive driving laws are applied, law enforcement is increasingly called upon to
testify in court in aggressive driving cases. Officers are exposed to more angry people
during traffic stops for aggressive violations, yet they are expected to take more verbal
abuse and show greater restraint in the use of force. Special training in aggressive
driving prevention has become a practical necessity for all security and peace officers
involved in traffic control.
The dual role of law enforcement as Traffic Enforcer and Educator is supported by the
federal government as one of the new ways to contain aggressive driving. In order to
enhance public support and cooperation, officers need to be prepared to adequately explain
their dual role without lecturing or preaching. This workbook helps to accomplish this by:
Providing a better understanding of the aggressive driver mentality
Providing appropriate educational responses to motorists
This Officer Workbook is designed for either self-study or classroom use to provide
specialized training on aggressive driving prevention. An Instructor Guide is available
for classroom use in Police Academies or officer training centers. The course was first
used in March 2000 by the San Antonio Police Department in conjunction with the Aggressive
Driver Video Course RoadRageous distributed by the American Institute for Public Safety.
It is also recommended for use in conjunction with the authors' book, Road Rage and
Aggressive Driving (Amherst, N.Y: Prometheus Books, 2000). More information on the Web:
DrDriving.org.
Leon James, Ph. D. and Diane Nahl, Ph.D.
For more information please email Dr. Leon James
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