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Road Rage Linked To Automobile Bumper Stickers
Ponca City, We Love You sends news of a study by Colorado State University psychologist William Szlemko that recorded whether people had added seat covers, bumper stickers, special paint jobs, stereos, or plastic dashboard toys to their cars. Szlemko found a link between road rage and the number of personalized items on or in people's vehicles. "The number of territory markers predicted road rage better than vehicle value, condition, or any of the things that we normally associate with aggressive driving,' says Szlemko. What's more, only the number of bumper stickers, and not their content, predicted road rage... Szlemko suggests that this territoriality may encourage road rage because drivers are simultaneously in a private space (their car) and a public one (the road). 'We think they are forgetting that the public road is not theirs, and are exhibiting territorial behavior that normally would only be acceptable in personal space,' the researcher says.
tasteless people behave in tasteless manner. still no cure for cancer though.
"The number of territory markers predicted road rage better than vehicle value, condition, or any of the things that we normally associate with aggressive driving,"
Measuring the degree of car territorialisation to predict road rage? Seems like a damn roundabout way of doing it, you might as well measure your car velocity by looking at the apparent motion of the stars.
I suspect analyzing drivers' I.Q would make a simpler, better job at predicting stupid road behaviour.
This problem's not hard,
And for societal win,
To irresponsible retard:
A safe, simple Schwinn
Burma Shave
Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
Here in the UK you rarely see bumper stickers, yet road rage is not exactly rare. So I don't really see the correlation. Having said that, whenever I see the Jesus fish on the back of a car, I do want to run it off the road on general principle. But maybe that's just me.
Wow this is a shocker that a university even did a study like this.
Very interesting article, thank ya.
so people please dont give your house a private paint job or put any personal decorative item on your window because probably that will lead to another research by ahem trying to link them with house rage
What about linking road rage to the proximity of one's i.q. to that of a strawberry? Now the question would be: where's the link between stupidity and car stickers. Maybe there's no stupidity involved in putting one sticker on your car. But what about putting 10 stickers on your vehicle?... I dunno. Oppinions on this one?
Don't drive as if you own the road ... Drive as if you own the car.
Since all creatures notoriously marking "their territory" (i.e taggers, dogs, bumper-sticker-appliers) seem to be exeedingly aggressive. And not too, um, witty...
"If you continue to post this comment, all moderations done to this discussion will be undone! Are you sure you want to post?"
WHERE IS THE YES BUTTON?
that anything that differentiates cars (small, personalised, convenient, fast) from public transport (large, impersonal, inconvenient, slow) has an unquantifiable bad effect.
One way or another, this should start a very productive round of FINALLY having more useful scientific data about territoriality and driving.
Of course the obvious other thing to do, which I'm willing to bet would be quite useful if done right, would be to interview highway cops on their experiences about what kinds of cars correlate with what behaviors. We know well that they profile, but I'll betcha dollars to donuts that some of their generalizations are non-obvious and true. Ideally, this would then be supplemented with reviewing footage from squadcar cameras but that might not be so easy to arrange.
It's all about the information. And what we do with it.
I walk past a car at my work's parking lot that has Bush stickers all over it. I have fantasies about keying the holy living shit out of that car as I pass it. I don't DO it - I don't really know how to key a car, never having done it before, and I can control my impulses.
Not everyone can control their impulses.
Well I think they have a point, you have to have a pretty low IQ to festoon your car with bumper stickers. The things are not easy to get off, look like crap as they wear, and genuinely don't do the paint or finish any good. Putting them in the windows is just as bad as many will block line of sight.
Too many times bumper stickers are just pretentious slaps at people around the driver who has some deluded belief that they are the only righteous person on the planet. I am not speaking of religious righteousness, I am talking about that self important I am saving the world while your just killing it tripe. Still my favorites are those who put political candidate tags on their cars. Better are those who leave them on well after the fact.
Its like having a neighborhood of Prius owners who all drive their cars to work solo.
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
I, for one, love the fact that a lot of the really bad drivers identify themselves with one particular bumper sticker - Bush/Cheney. To me, that's advertising "stay away from me, i'm a crappy driver."
What about that surprises you? I, for one, am delighted.
It's all about the information. And what we do with it.
but I think they have it backwards. I think dumbasses are likely to drive stupidly and be stupid enough to spend money to load up their car with that crap.
Correlation != Causation - but you already knew that. I know you did, did you, 'researchers'?
I have developed a truly marvelous proof of this comment, which this signature is too narrow to contain.
This is very helpful information. Now I'll know which vehicles my wife should keep the gun trained on.
Better known as 318230.
as a cyclist I lack opportunities for such displays of wit(I guess I could use my backpack), but if I did, it would have to read:
"The size of ones genitals is inversely proportional to the size of ones vehicle"
The best part is that SUV drivers would run out of fuel before they could even catch up!
Monstar L
...are the cause. People see "Vote George Bush 2004" and see red.
Now, that's why I don't put political bumper stickers on my car. Obama, Hillary, or McCain, I don't care. I don't need some nut-job running me down because he doesn't like my choice of candidate.
(Plus, it'll spoil the purdy paint.)
Camping on quad since 1996.
Kudos for the "correlationisnotcausation" tag.
I wonder how they did the statistics?
If they were naively looking for 95% confidence despite testing several variables, they are more likely to have a fluke result.
who have a psychotic need to display their politics so aggressively
i'm talking about the people with 4-5 bumper stickers, all stridently ideological
of course you are entitled to be proud of your beliefs, but if you are radioactively evangelical about them, then i am 100% certain that your mind is completely closed and your brain dead hack partisanship is total
on the other hand, you can be assured no one will want to borrow or steal your car... although these bumper sticker hordes are usually stuck on a 15 year old rust eaten subcompact
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Ixthus fish and a Volvo badge: that combination is my number one worry when I'm out on a bike.
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Did they study the effects of drifting along and not passing while in the passing lane on a limited access highway (a 2 point ticket, called disrupting the flow of traffic, in most states)?
I mean, really, if you did these things on foot you'd get, "Um, excuse me" and "right behindja," and "sorry there, ah, commin through."
The real source of road rage is not being able to say, "excuse me." It frustrates humans because we need to be able to express ourselves. We're pack animals and the cars isolate us.
My hunch is that inconsiderate behavior is a better predictor than bumper stickers. I haven't done a study though. Could be wrong. (Ignore my sig it's a joke.)
Imagine if you weren't allowed to use roads because a bus company complained about your driving 3 times. --skunkpussy
People who dare to provoke using bumper stickers mostly also have a good self-confidence. So I think this result in a study is obvious.
exhibiting territorial behavior ... acceptable in personal space
I'm sorry. Where did I miss this? I was raised to believe that rage is unacceptable anywhere... even in private.
âoeAny society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.
In those days, I was already fed up with the habit of Quayle and the rest of the Reagan Republican camp of vilifying people whose beliefs ran counter to their own by using the word "Liberal" as an epithet. I felt that Quayle was not qualified for to hold the second-highest or highest offices in in the land. I bought a bumper sticker and pasted it on the back of my car, as close to eye level as the car allowed:
I came out of a few hours shopping at a regional mall to find the bumper sticker peeled off my car, folded, accordion-style, and lying a few feet from the car. I was astonished at the attack on my free speech, and wondered at the fury behind it. I calmed down once I concluded that the vandal's action showed that my message had struck home. I replaced the bumper sticker, which stayed on, this time without vandalism.I didnt read the fine article, but I can see how people that spend the time and money to personalise their car tend to protect it more than people (like me) who dont. I think therefore the correlation they drew makes sense, though their reasoning (territorial behaviour) I would disagree with.
It's all about the information. And what we do with it.
If you don't like my driving...
Stay off the sidewalk
Use your head, can't you, use your head,
You're on earth, there's no cure for that - S. Beckett
Funny I see this article as the just after driving to work and seeing a car with Anti-Bush stickers. I never get pissed seeing such stickers, since I hate Bush as it is. I usually just laugh when I see Jesus Fish or the equivalent. The only stickers I have on my car are a Cthulhu one, one of my university, and a sticker of the band Tool. I can not see anyone getting pissed at these. At least I hope not. I am waiting to see The Flying Spaghetti Monster car emblem. That would give me a good laugh.
"Without curiosity and knowledge, the mind is a vast void. Without the mind, curiosity and knowledge are nonexistent."
People who go out of their way to stand out from the crowd and try to look different are obviously going to get lambasted when they do things wrong.
has anyone noticed the connection between /. sigs and a likelihood of the poster to respond to trolls?
~.~
I'm a peripheral visionary.
Road rage is caused by me being unable to shoot you in the head for being such an asshole. Attention shitheads here are the things you should avoid:
Driving a white Buick 25mph under the speed limit.
Slowing down when I'm behind you and speeding up when I try to pass.
Being shorter than the dashboard.
Zoning out at a green light.
Goosing the throttle on your Harley you fat fuck.
A ricer wing bigger than Mexico.
Passing me on a one lane highway ramp.
Stopping, yes stopping at the end of a merge ramp on to the highway you redneck motherfucker.
Waiting for a half mile of no traffic in both directions to make a left turn.
Green light, asshole, it's not getting any greener.
So the people that spend the most on pimping their ride are most likely to smash it into someone else's car?
The automotive industry should be keeping these people medals:
A/ They total 2 cars, causing 2 more cars to be sold.
B/ They spend a silly amount of money on 'extras' for their car.
The only question is if their insurance premium will pay for the damages they cause...
Back when I lived in Atlanta, they just legalized possession of a firearm in a glove compartment without a special permit/license.
Now THAT's disturbing...
It gives a whole new meaning to those dixie-flag bumper stickers...
"I was in love with a beautiful blonde once, dear. She drove me to drink. It's the one thing I am indebted to her for."
It says "Fuck your flag and fuck you". The various people angrily giving him the finger as they drive by don't exactly make me feel safe in his car... he just thinks its funny.
Murphey's fighting Occam, and we're in the stands.
The GGGP do not do that. He let them OVERTAKE him, and then only he overtake them and leave a good distance between them and him. Although I disagree with the GGGP method, don't paint them worst than they really are.
C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
visit randi.org
I shall not want.
As a matter of fact, I do own the whole road!
My blog
It's been mentioned in a number of books and other sources (How to avoid or lessen your chances of getting pulled over) that cops / police are much more likely to "Pick" cars that have bumper stickers / stuffed animals / hats prominently displayed to give tickets to.
Well, that's ok then, because they never claimed causation. If you read even the summary, they don't say that bumper stickers cause accidents. In fact, the hypothesis is that a third factor ("territoriality") causes both.
;)
Basically that:
1. being territorial makes you mark your car. Sorta like dogs piss on trees and hydrants. Except smell markings don't work well with humans, so we use visible cues instead.
2. being territorial makes you act like the road is yours, or that everyone within X metres is in your personal space and should play by your rules. And when they don't, you might take it upon you to teach them a lesson or flex your muscles otherwise.
So they don't even seem to contradict your assessment much.
Look, I'll be the first to join in the "correlation != causation" chorus when it's warranted. But some people seen to have a knee jerk reaction to post it, even when nobody claimed causation in the first place.
Or was balking at "researchers" the whole purpose of that exercise?
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
Especially true for those yellow stickers with a wheelchair on them, yup.
I may be a bit of an ass, but my girlfriend wanted to stick one saying 'kick her in the cooter' (which a friend had given her) on the back of her car because 'it amuses me'. I'm prone to childish bursts of temper and find it highly inappropriate and not at all funny so one blazing row later and it's not going on her car. Okay, there is the context.
Maybe they have it a little wrong, those who see stickers get pissed off and start to drive more aggressively, so the drivers with personalized cars are on the receiving end of some road rage, which could then cause them to respond in kind.
I know I get pissed off and drive like an ass when I see that kind of thing but if I was asked about it without having bumper stickers in my mind I would think I was one of the most conscientious drivers out there
Why not just *add your own stickers amongst them. Bonus points if you put in one that mingles well, so that it sticks around for awhile but is still in a place that gets noticed by other people. Does BushOrChimp have bumper stickers?
*The above is intended as humor and not serious advice...
Here in Miami where 80% of the drivers are immigrants, there's only one thing which is linked road rage.
You can predict it like clock work regardless of what sort of junk he has on his car or not.
There are a lot of idiot drivers in Miami. They do stupid things. They cut you off. They pull in front of you and stop short on purpose.
They run red lights. They wait till the last 20 feet to get over.
This is what links road rage here.
They're using their grammar skills there.
kdawson has framed things in an ambiguous manner, it's the road rage of the person INSIDE the car with stickers, not of the person behind them.
ever hear of the statement "wear your beliefs on your sleeve" or "wear your feelings on your sleeve"? example: you go to a party, and meet a stranger and ask how are they, and instead of a polite reply they tell you that their husband likes asian shemale pornography or their wife can't achieve orgasm except with her own hand
that doesn't really bother me, nor do the bumper stickers. the point isn't about my aversion to someone else's personal info, the point is someone who aggressively puts their personal issues and beliefs out there for all too see. people can handle this sort of thing, this isn't about strangers being exposed to personal beliefs being somehow damaged or discomforted
the issue are those who have the need to aggressively get their deeply personal beliefs and feelings out there in front of strangers. it belies large psychological blind spots. its healthy to not want random strangers to know deeply personal things about yourself. to invert that simple protection mechanism isn't about a surfeit of confidence, it is about a surfeit of lack of self-awareness
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
When you're simultaneously in a private space (your home) and a public one (possibly the most public space ever).
My Journal
I don't have any stickers on my car - except the medical aid emergency number sticker. However, I DO feel road rage on a daily basis.
Maybe I should install a bazooka on the roof and get rid of the rage in a constructive way....
You mean to tell me that:
Vanity = Selfishness = Low Tolerance = Aggression?
Never!
The road between democracy and tyranny is paved with secrecy in the name of security.
The problem really is that we seem to have to find a way to classify something as "rage" and you also no longer have the right to be annoyed at anyone for any reason.
Seriously, when the moron woman in the Escalade on her cell phone blows through the 4-way stop as I am in the middle of the intersection after making an appropriate stop DOES piss me off!
The definition of what is "road rage" is pretty much anything other than driving the speed limit, not overtaking, and generally being a wart on the road. Speeding, overtaking or what they'd call excessive or aggressive...all equals road rage, so you're pretty well screwed.
And remember it doesn't matter what the other dude did if the cop only sees you.
In most places I've been, the number of bumper stickers is also often proportional to the age/price of the vehicle. You don't see many bumper stickers on a new porsche, and most new+expensive vehicle drivers usually aren't the types to jump out and risk their health in a road-rage incident (though to be fair they're more than likely to drive like assholes and cut people off while flipping the bird, inspiring RR in others).
drifting a little off topic, but on the stories tags.. When did this lame meme become a slashdot mantra? It's more casually thrown about than whatcouldpossiblygowrong.
Anything anyone disagrees with and suddenly it's correlationisnotcausation time
This would have made a great April fools day article
Jack of all trades,master of none
Forget Road Rage indicators...there are plenty of bad driver indicators. My family has a "three strikes" rule (yes, we're a bunch of judgmental pricks). First, giant SUVs make you a choice suspect. Secondly, ANY multiple use of jingoistic slogans/logos/etc. get you closer to the trifecta. Single, subtle "support our troops" type stickers are fine, but plastering four or 5 of the stupid things on your giant SUV just make you suspect. The final touch is multiple stickers avowing any religious belief. More than one jesus fish is too many, for example. So if you have all of these, you ARE a bad driver, and give ME road rage. (Bonus touch...a special handicapped sticker on your GIANT SUV. If you are so damned handicapped that you need close up parking, then why in the hell are you driving a giant vehicle?)
You, sir, are an inspiration to us men everywhere. I guess we now just need to buy our wives 18-wheeler trucks, to enjoy some incredible sex.
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
A lot of people made a big deal out of how much of a threat it would be to police officers and such, but in reality, anyone who was a threat and who would be willing to shoot an officer during a traffic stop would not be obeying the law to begin with.
*To be eligible for a GFL, you must:
-be able to own a firearm (ie, not a felon, no domestic violence convictions, no dishonorable military discharge or involuntary mental hospitalization)
-have no drug convictions
-not be conviced of any crime with a sentence > 1 year
-at least 5 years past the end of any sentence for a "forcible misdemeanor"
-at least 21 years old
-a legal permanent resident of Georgia
there are some other small conditions as well.
The meek may inherit the earth, but the strong shall take the stars.
Especially this bumper sticker.
I'm thinkin' that territoriality theory might explain a lot after all.
Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
So covering one's bumper with stickers is the way to get people to think twice before cutting one off?
I dont think the stickers make them Rage, I think the rage and stickers are a symptom of a larger problem. Honk if you're agro.
Winkey shortcut mapping for 64bit windows. WinKeyPlus
"A WOMAN BY BIRTH-- A LESBIAN BY GRACE. (And if y'all see Grace, tell her I said hi.)"
There's a reason that I don't put bumper stickers on my car; most of the witty sayings can be very difficult to read, thus encouraging others to drive closer to my vehicle so they can see what it says. The closer they hug my bumper, the more I want to just slam on my brakes.
My contention is that it's not so much that the drivers feel territorial because they have bumper stickers (which most of us forget about after a couple weeks of them being on the car). Rather, the curiosity of other drivers to *see* what they say induces them to drive closer, thus aggravating the driver who forgot he put the stickers on in the first place.
Of course, all that being said, most people still drive like idiots.
Hold on while I zip up. Jerks.
Justifiable, but that's not the point.
Once that clown gets in front of you and slams on the brakes, the whole thing could become YOUR FAULT if you rear-end him. How he got there becomes irrelevant once he establishes position back in the lane.
Nothing short of an at-fault accident is likely to change the idiot's mind. Confronting him was both dangerous and ineffective, as you have discovered. The statistical reality is that a disproportionate percentage of maniac drivers also have criminal records. What if the moron had a gun in the car? The guy could be a fugitive for all you know.
If you really want to take action, get the license plate and call the cops on your cell phone (hands free, I hope). This makes more sense when the driver is exhibiting signs of drunk driving, because the cops will take special interest in making an interception if you can identify the car , the direction, and the road.
I am picky about the brakes in my car. My BMW can stop on a dime. And I'm always on the lookout for morons.
Many years ago, I had a VW 5-speed. I could downshift to 2nd gear while braking and it was like catching the arrester hook on an aircraft carrier. Used it (defensively) on several occasions.
Use your head, can't you, use your head,
You're on earth, there's no cure for that - S. Beckett
... what causes all the rage on /.?
Prov 9:8 Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you; rebuke the wise and they will love you.
n/t
you got me, poorly said on my part ;-)
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
TFA doesn't examine another type of aggressive driver, the guy who worships his car. He won't put any bumper stickers on it because that would damage the finish, and he washes it weekly. He is far more territorial about his car than the guy with bumper stickers, but there is nothing about the car to warn you that he has this personality type.
"Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past." -- George Orwell
Extremists on both sides are equally culpable at being violent retards, or are you not aware of the homosexuals who are murdered every year in the name of Jesus.
Personally one reason I don't post my opinions on my car is so I don't have to deal with Trucker McGee harassing me.
"I only speak the truth"
Karma: null(Mostly affected by an unassigned variable)
I have one bumper sticker (actually, a bumper magnet) on my car: "Worst President Ever".
Last week, I walked out of the supermarket (accompanied by my six-year-old son), I found this note on my windshield.
I suppose this must be an example of tolerant conservative thinking?
"Hell Yes I'm Drunk. I'm No Stuntdriver"
None of them can see the clouds; The polished wings don't care.
My father always told me to drive as if everyone else on the road is a raving lunatic. That way you're prepared for almost anything drivers may do and are pleasantly surprised when you meet drivers who aren't lunatics.
What's interesting, is that I can think of several instances where this kind of defensive driving has allowed me to avoid or prevent accidents from happening.
Then you're losing the Natural Selection game.
It's not really losing. If your genetic combination is selected against, for whatever reason, then failing to reproduce is the correct way to play. Reproducing anyway just further dilutes the gene pool, weakens your species, and ultimately inhibits useful evolution.
because i'm already on double mandatory probation from the grammar nazis. the spelling masters want me under house arrest and the punctuation protectors and the capitalization czars are intent on having me executed
so stand in line, i'm not interested. my usage of the word is perfectly reasonable. feel free to petition the UN, or perhaps, swallow a shotgun
xoxoxoxox
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Tami always bitches about my "road rage" even though it has no effect except to let me let off steam. Is this road rage, or do you have to do something like zoom around someone and cut them off, flip them the bird, or otherwise let them know that they have annoyed you for it to be road rage?
The question becomes how to fight and win without raising the danger level and letting the obnoxious one know he is out of place.
I have two effective methods.
For severe tailgaters, I turn on the 4 way and slow down. It's a dangerous situation and reducing speed to compensate for the hazard on the road is proper. A slow speed crash is better than a high speed crash. Witnesses notice the flashers and pay attention to the danger, often resulting in a change in driving for the better.
Sometimes the tailgater doesn't get it and tries to press the issue by driving in a threatining manner. The response is deploying the video camera and leave it on to record any dammage caused by the dangerous driving. Get the face, plate and license plate. Getting these shots is easy as they are often way too close to be safe. Keep it as evidence if things get worse. They seldom do. If they do, post it on youtube like this;
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4696538634559226736&q=redneck+road+rage+revenge&ei=JNRXSJyhD5Hk4ALRg_ysDw&hl=en
Disclaimer, it's not how I got my video camera. It's also not my video.
The truth shall set you free!
This is Tami. She goes wherever he goes.
There are some great variations on the "My Kid is a..."
"My kid sells drugs to your honor student."
"My kid knocked up your honor student."
I've seen the former on a car, the latter only in a catalog...
Neither of these is a cause of the other. Rather, they are both caused by a more general problem: being a fucking idiot.
At least people don't mark their territory by peeing on their cars.
I have mod points and could have modded parent up. However, I feel it more productive to point out that parent is right on topic, being a bumper-sticker style quote and all. I'll let the rest of the fine mods take care of the rest.
APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
Most flame wars over the net are probably linked to those with stickers all over their computers, monitors, keyboards, etc.
This just in: Road rage linked to white trash tweekers. Film at 11.
--Toll_Free
Abortion is wrong. Just let it go nature way. If the fetus/baby dies, oh well. If it is in dangerous of the mother, then remove it and try to make it live.
See, I was born with many programs (Nager's Syndrome) and I am over 30. Sure, I have many problems but I am alive today! Who knows how long I will live.
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
1) Anybody going slower than you is an idiot; 2) Anybody going faster than you is a maniac; 3) Never, ever drive behind an old man wearing a plaid hat.
Any movement or decision in traffic that could be construed as dangerous, rude or presumptuous must be followed by the driver blinking the hazard lights for a few flashes. Otherwise the affected drivers nearby will honk angrily at the "refusal to apologize" implied by not blinking the hazards.
811.29.3.2
Wouldn't it just be simpler to move into the right lane and let the speeder go past?
Sure you might have to slow down a bit to match the traffic in the slow lane but at least the "dangerous" driver gets further from you. But after he goes by you can move back into the fast lane and continue. If there are many cars trying to get past you then perhaps you were the problem not the other way around.
Be courteous, get over, lower your stress and the speeder's, both of you will live longer, now you have done a good deed.
Nothing is foolproof, fools are too ingenious. - Murphy
What you say is true, but what I refer to is the law that passed between '96 and '99.
From what I recall, you did not need a GFL to carry a firearm in your glove box.
Legal issues about shooting policemen aside, I'm simply not very comfortable with people carrying weapons in their glove box.
Then again, I'm not an American, but one of those peace-loving loonies from Amsterdam
"I was in love with a beautiful blonde once, dear. She drove me to drink. It's the one thing I am indebted to her for."
So I should get rid of that Bush 2008 sticker?
I know W can't run again, but his dad still has one term left, and there's always Jeb who could potentially be president for eight years. So we could get at least another twelve years of Bushes, and then hopefully find a few more Bush family presidents after that.
McCain/Palin '08. Now THAT's hope and change!
This is not going to work out well for you when some other driver calls in that you are driving around pointing guns at people. Then you look like a grey-haired lunatic, and the courts don't look kindly on them.
paintball
That's a bad Youtube example as the "preppie" character admitted it was all a setup and a bit of an amateur film project.
If you don't want to repeat the past, stop living in it.
Colorado State University psychologist William Szlemko has certainly figured out how to incite "tax payer rage" with yet another study based on OBVIOUS anthropological common sense that could also explain racism,check out line fights and job discrimination along with a host of other titles that could be cut and pasted over the words "road rage" in his study.
Tell ya what Bill,you keep your studying to yourself and we can put our tax dollars to something more important than making sure your tenured butt is in a nice Beemer.
*Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
I was going to mod you up but felt it was better to chime in.
I never experience road rage until I moved to a big city (Washington, DC). Since then I have had at least two incidents where someone got pissed at me then followed, honked, and yelled at me for miles.
One was when I stopped in a yield lane making a right turn from one busy road to another. Traffic wasn't clear for me to merge, so I slowed and stopped until I could get in safely. The asshole in a huge, shiny SUV behind me didn't like me wasting his time. After I merged, he pulled up along side and yelled. I just looked over, decided he was an idiot, then looked back at the road and continued driving. He kept following me, tailgating and changing lanes to stay behind me, until I pulled into the entrance gate at work. Thank god for armed guards. The asshole fled.
The other time I don't know what I supposedly did wrong. My best guess is that he thought I ran a red light against him. But he had a flashing red and my road was only a flashing yellow. Anyway, he pulled up next to me, honking and yelling for a mile. I just acted casual and slowed down, refusing to pull alongside. Eventually I made a left turn when he was boxed in and couldn't follow me.
I can definitely see the desire to carry a gun. Just two problems: it's illegal in DC, and I might use it. It doesn't matter how safe and courteous you are. If you spend much time in a crowded city you'll encounter some some hyperactive self-important assholes on the road.
Here's some more random correlative evidence: I love me some bumper stickers, and I'm a self-declared asshole, particularly to other assholes.
Road rage is contagious... it takes one irresponsible prick to start it, then all the other testosterone hounds jump in. It's not in most people's nature to be aggressive on the road, but in response to a fast-moving threat I find it perfectly justified to fight back.
-Billco, Fnarg.com
1. Actually, as someone who had a lot of interest in physics, I don't see it as at odds with physics either. The history of physics and even chemistry is littered with observed phenomena or correlations, for which we had no good explanation after a while, or conversely for which we couldn't yet do a controlled experiment.
As an example of the former, black body radiation had been a problem since 1859. It's been almost half a century of failed attempts at explaining it, until Planck in despair gave up on the last hope of explaining it via the accepted physics (according to his own confession) and came up with the quantum theory. At first even he didn't think of it as more than a mathematical construct. As an example of the latter, well, it would be even more time afterwards until we could actually observe a single photon.
As an even better example of the latter, anything which involves astronomical distances or masses is still well beyond our possibilities to do a controlled experiment. We can't create a type I supernova in any lab, for example. We must rely on whatever happens to happen when we look up there, and some stuff took an awfully long time. Some still hasn't conclusively happened, so it's all based, you guessed, on correlations.
It happens in chemistry or medicine too. For example there was this observed correlation that low doses of quinine treat malaria, while high doses cause the same symptoms as malaria. (/That observation alone was what got homeopathy started. Later we learned what really happened there, but nevertheless it wouldn't have happened without that original observation that if you take quinine you get rid of malaria. We also got stuck with a bunch of pseudo-science quacks in the process, but I guess that's life.
So basically the idiots who tagged this "correlationisnotcausation", well, are just idiots and hadn't read even the whole summary before jumping in to polish their logo. It already spelled out that it's not the stickers that directly cause accidents. They don't really represent one side of science against another side.
2. That said, if I'm allowed to nitpick, I do think that the whole idea of science is to try to study causation and make falsifiable predictions. It's not just engineering college, it's the very idea of it all. And it applies equally to psychology, sociology, economics, whatever else. We don't just list some funny observed correlations for the sake of going "wow, that's amazing" and move on. We want to know why it happens, and how it can be predicted or influenced. That's the whole point of doing it.
Yes, we don't always immediately know what causes it. Sometimes we just have an observation and correlation, and smart people scratch their head, come up with hypotheses and test them. That's ok. Happens in physics too, as I was saying. But, nevertheless, the ultimate goal is to understand exactly what happens there, and why.
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
I am a cyclist (don't own a car) and I am cycling to work every day. I always try to conform to the rules. Let me tell you, that there are quite a lot of stupid car drivers around. Of course they cannot tolerate having to stay behind me on a narrow road, even though at the next red light, we will almost certainly meet again. Instead they try to overtake and often enough endanger my very life with that maneuver. That's the part I hate about cycling: If I have an accident with a car, I will most likely be injured severely while the idiot who caused it will only get a few scratches in the paint.
I practice defensive driving too, and since attack is the best defense, I'm following the precepts of Sun-Tzu:
-I always keep the other drivers guessing what my next crazy move is going to be.
-I harass the other drivers and pretend I'm about to hit them to scare them out of my way.
-I always drive as fast as humanly possibly and try to sneak my way to the front of traffic.
It is thanks to people like me that defensive drivers can practice their skill to the limit.
You're all welcome!
VROOM VROOM!
Its Mad Max with pithy political slogans. What the hell is it about the United States that makes it citizens want to run each other off the road for having opposing political views?
If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we shoot people for Apollo-related non-sequiturs?
This reminded me of an article I read in the early 90s about territorialism and parking spots. Fortunately, I found a version of it on Google. Basically, people will pull out of parking spots more slowly when they know someone is waiting to take the spot after they leave. Ever since I first read that article, I've thought about territorialism when observing bad driving habits -- and working in the electronic tolling industry, I see a lot of it. Fun to see it's being confirmed in new and interesting ways.
I just wanted to take this opportunity to apologize for being "that guy" going the speed limit + ~2.5mph (road conditions permitting, of course).
What's amazing is that though much of the time I am the slowest car on the road, I would say just as often I am the fastest, whipping by other cars.
My conclusion is this: no one really cares about any laws. People just do whatever they want. It just so happens that most people are good. But laws don't influence anyone's behavior; no one cares what the speed limit is. People just drive at whatever speed they are comfortable driving, slowing down up hills and speeding down them.
When's the last time you thought, "I want to murder someone, but I won't because it would be unlawful"...? Murder still happens even though it's illegal. No one cares what the law says. People go by their own moral compass.
Spoon not. Fork, or fork not. There is no spoon.
I rarely see bumper stickers on the cars of these crazy drivers, though.
On the other hand, I've got tons of bumper stickers on my car, and yet I consider myself a very safe driver, as is evidence by the fact I have not had a serious accident in 30 years. I always try to maintain a buffer zone -- which has nothing to do with territory, but giving myself sufficient reaction time.
Where I do get pissed is when someone takes advantage of my buffer zone needlessly. The temptation is to tailgate to prevent that, but then that would increase my chances of an accident. And so frustration ensues.
But I do consider that I am an adult and will not fall prey of the puerile antics I observe in other drivers every day.
Having said that, I have work out driving to a fine science over the years. I usually see an accident about to happen and am able to either circumvent it or avoid it. And thus my clean accident record.
All this from a guy who has over 10 bumper stickers on his car! A Lexus, no less!!!! :-)
Ruby Neural Evolution of Augmenting Topologies
'We think they are forgetting that the public road is not theirs, and are exhibiting territorial behavior that normally would only be acceptable in personal space,'
Is driving like an asshole territorial behavior inappropriately expressed in a public space? Or does it only count when you self-report that a guy causing a car wreck makes you feel angry?
you can have my violent video games when you pry them from my cold, dead hands.
Prime UID Club
Driving around town, I'm pretty relaxed, not in a hurry. But on an interstate road trip, I always encounter this BOZO. I set my cruise control for 65-70 mph crank up the stereo and soon enough I catch up to someone going about 5 mph slower and I pass them. For reasons I can only assume are "F#@%ing with me" The sphincter then speeds up and passes me back then parks his ass right in front of me again and slows down forcing me to brake! This may happen several times unless I speed past him at 80+ until he is out of sight. I am sure some of you may also have encountered these jerks. Makes you wish you had a rocket launcher in your grille.
The question becomes how to fight and win without raising the danger level and letting the obnoxious one know he is out of place
I would rather not fight at all. It just isn't worth it. He probably already knows he's out of place but doesn't care.
Tailgaters don't bother me; people running red lights and stop signs bother me. People who think they're entitled to part of my lane bother me. People whose actions cause danger to my person and property bother me.
Some people live to annoy other people. On the internet we call them "trolls".
mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
The biggest problem with driving is it is entirely up to the humans how they control their car. Drivers simply cannot be predicted. If you look through the comments on this story, you'll see probably 1,000+ people calling each other "asshole", "fuckhead" etc. simply because they have their own driving style and get enraged when someone else infringes upon it. This only seems to occur with driving, or at least it is far more visible with driving. I can't wait for automated cars to get here, that would take the 50,000 people who die on the roads every year and save them all (although, the kind of people they are, they might not be worth saving. I don't know.)
"you suck" might incite road rage? Hmm go figure.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
If you read the actual procedure, what they did was drive up to a red light in the turning lane and then when the light turned green just sat there and timed how long it took the person behind them to honk. They then just attributed any difference in time to the driver being more aggresive and hence more prone to road rage. I find it hard to categorize honking at someone while stopped at a light as 'agressive driving', particularly when compared to someone who thinks they're entitled to deliberately block traffic for an experiment. Perhaps someone should study the 'territorialty mindset' of the scientists in the study.
I'd like to see a study covering the correlation of cell phone use while driving and road rage in other drivers.
"It is our blasphemy which has made us great, and will sustain us, and which the gods secretly admire in us." - Zelazny
I think the majority of fights and arguments I witnessed - or took part in, heh - in school were about someone taking someone else's seat or desk. Once someone has decided a certain piece of property is "theirs" they will go to absurd lengths to defend or claim it from others.
:)
Even as adults I often notice our territorial instincts in action in less obvious ways such as everyone taking the same seat in the conference room for a meeting as they all took the first time or using the same stall or sink in the public bathroom.
I meant problems. I was in a grumpy mood and hurry this morning. :(
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
"correlationisnotcausation" talk about an overused and misunderstood phrase. I mean come on! No one would seriously suggest that having bumper stickers on a car seriously enrage people to the point where they must run people down. Of course it is correlation not causation. That doesn't mean its not a valid and interesting statistic.
In Australia if you pay a LOT more than the usual road registration you get to put just about whatever you like on the plate. I find it bizzare that people with their names clearly marked on the back of the car do stupid things that will cost them a lot in fines if they get caught, but I suppose it's part of the territorial thing. It's a good rule of thumb here to give people in european cars with personalised plates a bit of extra space so their stupidity doesn't get you as well.
If true, I will admit that this relationship between bumper stickers and road rage is intriguing to say the least. Although, I have to disagree with the idea that most all road-rage is caused by some primal, almost irresistible, instinct to protect one's territory over bumper stickers. What's missing from this study is context. I would like to see a study on the motives of those that perpetrate road-rage, especially from the aggressor's perspective. Why are we looking to inanimate objects like bumper stickers for answers to this? The people involved in road-rage would seem to be much more fruitful, and obvious, study subjects.
Now, imagine you are driving in your car with your family or even just by yourself, and a fellow motorist does something that endangers your life or the life of your whole family. That alone, and more than anything (like bumper stickers), will trigger real primal instincts in a person that could result in so-called "territorial behavior" and/or road-rage. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure not all road-rage cases have such innocent origins, but I'm betting most do.
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whatever.
I had an episode of road rage, related to a very loud , what I learned later via the internet, called "ricer". We all know "ricer". Extremely out of balance low HP engines letting the stuff legends are made out of fly...It still aint a low rpm sube or a chevy, and I snapped. I could have hurt somebody....Bumper stickers do not phase me. In fact I want one that says "POLICE", but thats a lie....like a ricer with loud exhaust...in my FACE.
"Scientific fact: You are getting angrier"
"My science is harder than yours"
"I dont cause accidents, this is a correlation wagon"
"My other car is a priori"
"My other car has a bicycle plow"
i have a couple pretty hilarous geeky bumper stickers and hot dang do i get some slack for it... i swear it makes me a moving target but oh well, crash my wheels just means i get a new car! thank god for gap insurance
They're equally guilty. In fact, both the George Bush and John Kerry people need to wake up and realize this is 2008, not 2004! I do not give a crap who the person in the car in front of me voted for. The John Kerry people need to get over their loss and the George Bush people need to live in the present.
then that sorry sack that was going 2 mph under the speed limit in the middle lane...
That was me, you little jerk. I always slow down and stay out of the left lane while shaving and/or eating lunch.
it's a blue bright blue Saturday hey hey
personally, I have found inner peace by giving an offensive driver a "friendly" wave which I privately consider a five finger flip off.
Tailgaters don't bother me; people running red lights and stop signs bother me.
Well spoken by someone who hasn't yet been rear ended by the tailgater when the bicycle pulled in front of you.
I now slow to allow for the longer stopping distance when I have tailgaters.
I find it easier to miss the kid on the bike when I am not pushed further by the tailgater pushing my tailights into my trunk.
The truth shall set you free!
This article is a waste. I have modified my vehicle in the following way: Tinted windows, nice sound system, tons of stickers from ThinkGeek to show I am that computer nerd(even the license plate border that reads, "will work for bandwidth") a dash cover, European headlights(for those not in the know, it is illegal in Europe to have Amber colored lights on the headlamps so mine lack those), a steering wheel cover and a CD sleeve that both have the FORD logo on them. It doesn't even really look like a 2002 Ford Ranger anymore. I have no road rage and if someone wants to dick around and follow me the will be staring down the business end of a .45....as someone said earlier in the posts (concider that before you flip out on someone)
"That's right...I said it."