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Intolerant and inconsiderate motorists who are driving too fast are unlikely to realise that they’re unsafe.
Drivers who are behaving badly are probably perfectly happy with the way they drive, believing that their own attitude is okay they don’t see a need to change, after all, it’s other drivers that have the problem!
Who are these Tarmac Terrorists? - These seemingly anonymous antisocial elements of drivers who have a complete disregard for our society’s values?
Are they ...
the inexperienced young male drivers, enjoying the thrill of danger showing off to impress their passengers and young female pedestrians?
the social misfits? Drivers who don’t fit in well into society and who break laws of other kinds.
the “Joyriders” who express themselves by driving somebody else’s car dangerously fast, ditching and then burning it?
the Machiavellian Prima Donnas whose style causes antagonism?
the drivers of white vans ?
just ordinary drivers who have an “easy attitude” towards traffic laws?
Automotive cladding
People of all ages who are by their nature impatient, aggressive and selfish will probably drive the same way, but what is it that attracts polite, considerate people who have an even temperament to disregard danger, take unjustifiable risks and lose their tempers when they get behind the wheel ?
A human response to any stressful or frustrating situation is anger. Wrapped in our protective metal armour we’re less likely to be calm or polite if we’re affected by another driver’s mistake.
Space Invaders
Human beings, like animals are territorial. The car’s safety space or cushion is an extension of personal territory, so when other vehicles get close we sense that our personal space is being threatened and our driving style can change depending what happens in this space. Compare your driving manners when travelling on business through a busy town, or an overcrowded motorway with when you’re on holiday motoring through a quiet village out in the country.
Lifestyle Factors
The pressure of a busy lifestyle in a competitive and work orientated society puts drivers in a desperate hurry, looking for any advantage, such as a gap or short-cut. Where territory is “defended” and a manoeuvre is obstructed, the consequences can be lethal.
Domestic troubles at home, or a bad day at work will influence your mood to the extent that you’re likely to be less considerate and tolerant of the “stupid” mistakes made by other road users.
It won’t happen to me. All through our lives we calculate risk against advantage in one way or another. Similarly, when we’re driving, the ease of a car’s handling and implicit belief that its design will protect us, can encourage us into taking deliberate risks.
Your Living Room on Wheels
Inside the cosy cocoon of motor car metal - the outside world is like quickly moving images on a television screen or computer monitor. We feel comfortable with our homely gadgets such as radios, cassettes and telephones. Our human instinct to survive seems to fail as comfort seduces us towards a high risk driving strategy.
Good Driving is No Accident
Most of the UK’s 31.9 million motorists consider themselves good drivers, the evidence they feel supports their claim is that the majority have no endorsements on their licences and almost 60% have a full no claims insurance bonus. How can they be driving badly ?
To measure the level of bad driving objectively, the annual records for motor vehicle violations show over 7 million offences, excluding parking occurred, and over the last three years over 4 million endorsements were issued by the Courts. Several million verbal warnings are issued yearly by traffic police officers in preference to reporting an offence for prosecution.
New drivers under the age of 21 have three times the average of motoring offences. Studies of their style of driving suggests they commit fewer technical errors than drivers in the 20-45 age range, but the mistakes they make are more serious and relate to a failure to anticipate, more likely to lead to dangerous manoeuvring and loss of control.
Belligerent driving phenomena, commonly associated with young men, is typically a human lifestyle problem as women are becoming increasingly aggressive.
What may seem a minor traffic violation to the driver making any of the above mistakes, is perceived as aggressive or inconsiderate by others. The incidence of raising tempers and disagreement between drivers seems to become more common place to each generation of drivers as our roads get more congested, fortunately, driver aggression to extent of physical assault is still rare.
To share the roads without conflict we have to tolerate seemingly aggressive and intimidating acts committed by other drivers.
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