Slashdot Mirror
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.
I'm not a psychologist, but I don't think I'd let a study done with that methodology through peer review. It's way too susceptible to confirmation bias on the part of the police. Traffic cameras would be much better.
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
You can sort of test this yourself while walking. While walking down the street, step in front of another pedestrian (cut them off) and then keep walking, you'll hear negative comments. Do the same thing, but then apologize and the person you cut off will act like it was their fault.
Perhaps they need to define the data better then. does bumpersticker already on the car or placed on it by someone else count or is it just bumper stickers that the person who is driving it placed on the car?
I also have a severe problem with the definition of road rage too. A while back, I had my 4 year old nephew in the car and some jack ass thought that the speed limit (45, on a 2 lane residential area) was too slow and passed me on the double yellow line going around a curve. At the time I noticed him over taking me another car was coming around the corner and he shot back into my lane forcing me to slam on the brakes and run onto the shoulder in order to avoid an accident. Well, that cause me to fish tail a little but the car remained under control and no accident occurred.
Up the road, was an intersection with a 4 way stop. I jumped out of the car and proceeded to ask him what the hell was going on and we started arguing when I told him how to drive and where to pull he head from. A cop was sitting at the cross intersection and turn on his lights and all. He was saying I was having a problem with road rage when he was radioing in for backup. About that time, a car came up behind us and the driver walked up to talk to the cop. I was handcuffed and told to stand by my car. The car going to other direction thought I actually had an accident and turned around for fear of being hit with a leaving the scene of an accident. When he saw us talking to the cop, he gave them his side of events and the cop had me write a statement then let me go. I assume they cited the other guy. But I was going to be hit with some road rage charge for telling a person who almost killed me (and my nephew) to watch what the hell they were doing. Had that third car not turned around, I would have been screwed and another meaningless state for this meaningless result in this study.
I'm confident that the parent was correct in his assessment of the usefulness of this study and results. Not necessarily because they did something wrong, but with the inherent flaws in the data collection itself. To me, road rage is aggressive driving but evidently, it can be a number of things depending on who writes it up and so on. And the question of some kids putting bumper stickers on a car verses the current owner willfully doing it is skewing things a bit too.
I wonder if we could get them to do a study on slashdot rage...I think that I've noticed that people with sigs tend to fly off the handle more often than those without them.
Which is fair enough. What's the justification for overtaking them after they go past?
I understand your situation, and I'd be angry too. But what you did is pretty much the definition of road rage. Better to take the plate number, the car's description, and then call the cops. It's their job, not yours. And keep in mind: you could end up leaving your kids without a father, as plenty of people are happy to kill you for chewing them out.
The problem with the car horn is a honk can mean so much from:
- Move over you spineless git!
- hey dickwad, you almost hit me
- Hi there
- careful, you're about to hit something
- I just passed out and slumped into my steering wheel
You try talking for a while with just a mono-tone "Hey" you'll find it's very difficult to be understood
I will not give in to the terrorists. I will not become fearful.
Not a bad idea. I was once driving 60 in 65 mph limit and on the right most lane, everyone was happy cruising on the other lanes except for one dude who was hell bent on me driving faster; when he brandished his gun it was enough motivation for me to take the next exit.
No Sig for you.!
I'm going to get a bumper sticker that says "get the fuck out of my way, asshole!"
Seriously, though, I have no bumper stickers, seat covers, personalized anything on my car. However, I'm prone to curse at idiots in traffic (they can't hear me, of course) especially when they threaten my life.
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?
I think Tami doesn't know the difference between rage and annoyance.
mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
The Hummer covered in American flags and ribbon magnets for every armed service (because, y'know, the driver was in the Army, Marines and Air Force simultaneously) and the Forester with the "SMASH FAITH-BASED FASCISM" and "HOW MANY IRAQIS PER GALLON" stickers (because, y'know, Subarus burn rage, not gasoline like those awful SUVs) are equally likely to make a right turn through the bike lane without looking.
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
I think action is the defining characteristic of road rage. No action, no harm, no foul. FTA, the point is that you recognize that the inside of your car is your space, but that the road is shared space. Road Ragers don't acknowledge that second point.
.40 S&W. For any of you that think it's OK to confront someone who doesn't drive in a manner convenient for you, consider that.
I have no bumper stickers. After having been on the receiving end of three road rage attacks/incidents, involving people following me and physically threatening violence, I now carry a
I was taught to respect my elders. The trouble is, it's getting harder and harder to find some.