Truck Topics
How Does Traffic Affect Your Driving Disposition?
It’s a simple fact—you react to things. Some things don’t affect your disposition; some things do. Your mood affects what you do, think, feel and say. That is, it affects how you drive. Even if you possess great reserve and self-control, your mood affects your conscious and subconscious activity whether you want it to or not.
As a driver, you know that traffic consists of physical, social and psychological components. It’s an interactive field of varying forces that influence your behavior and your state of mind. In other words, traffic can bring out the best and the worst in you.
On the road, there are many psychological forces at work that require your moment-to- moment interpretation. Some of these events are simple objective interpretations, like turn signaling. Others are complex, subjective interpretations, like deciding right of way at a bottleneck.
The situations you encounter on the road are:
· Events are the expected reactions to typical conditions, such as changing lanes or slowing down for an exit.
· Incidents are unexpected reactions to typical or nontypical conditions, such as passing on the wrong side or failing to yield appropriately.
Some of these are dangerous, while others are merely annoying, such as being insulted by a driver or missing a turn. Your interpretation of driving events and incidents can produce powerful feelings and possibly irrational thoughts. Fortunately, the numbers on this for drivers and expediters are good. Very good.
Statistics show that commercial drivers are by far the safest drivers on the road today. Click Here!
Considering the average operating speed, miles logged, schedule demands, road fatigue, and more, that’s a huge accomplishment.
And that’s a powerful statistic that deserves to be recognized and rewarded.
Driving AggressionOne of the most widespread problem on the road today is inappropriately aggressive driving. It can make you shake your head, it can make you see red and everything inbetween.
Here’s an excerpt from a YES/NO questionnaire the NHSTA uses: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Do you...
Pass other vehicles only on the left? Avoid blocking passing lanes? Yield to faster traffic by moving to the right? Maintain appropriate distance when following other vehicles? Use headlights in cloudy, rainy, and other low light conditions? Come to a complete stop at stop signs, before right turn on red, etc.? Approach intersections and pedestrians at slow speeds to show your intention and ability to stop? Follow right-of-way rules at four-way stops? Drive below posted speed limits when conditions warrant? Maintain speeds appropriate for conditions? Use turn signals for all turns and lane changes? Use your horn sparingly? Avoid unnecessary use of high-beam headlights? Refrain from flashing headlights to signal a desire to pass? Drive at posted speeds, in the proper lanes, using non-aggressive lane changing? Maintain proper speeds around roadway crashes? Avoid returning inappropriate gestures? Focus on driving and avoid distracting activities (e.g., smoking, use of a car telephone, reading, shaving)? Avoid driving when drowsy? Avoid blocking the right-hand turn lane?Score yourself...the more NO answers, the more aggressive you are as a driver.
Number of "No" answers
How you rate as a driver
1-3
4-7
8-11
12+
Excellent
Good
Fair
Poor
Traffic trigger
Psychological component
Putting on the turn signal in consideration of others.
Thinking about how to reduce stress to others.
Feeling responsible for creating stress for other road users.
Evolving an altruistic attitude in traffic.
On-ramp merging.
Not reacting to drivers that fail to leave enough space for picking up speed.
Creating positive mental scenarios rather than negative.
"Traffic is not too bad. I'll just relax." vs. "Traffic is awful. I'll never get there in time."
Understanding traffic situations.
Difference between left and right lanes. Proper following distance. Keeping a cool head in dense traffic.
Using brakes in consideration of others.
Warning them of an obstacle and, not following too close.
Compensating for the blind spot and using both mirrors for 360-degree view.
Not letting a car "disappear" in your blind spot.
Avoiding the "accordion effect" of vehicles following too close, then running out of space.
Keeping proper distance and using the right lane.
Controlling mental violence.
Not letting frustration lead to aggressiveness.
Invoking higher motivations in driving.
Equity, fairness, morality, altruism, religion.
Giving up a "laissez faire" attitude towards others.
"What's happening to that driver is not my problem."
Speeding as an AddictionIt’ll likely come as no surprise to you that the signature element for all vehicular crashes is excessive speed. Traffic psychologists say that car drivers resist the idea that speeding is dangerous and tend to become irrational when discussing it. Yet professional drivers are well aware of the danger of speeding from practical experience.
The USDOT reported that:
· 33 percent of all fatalities were speed related
· 40 percent of all speed-related crashes occurred on a curve
For speed-related fatalities:
· 41 percent involved intoxicated drivers
· 14 percent involved sober drivers
· New Jersey had the lowest number
· North Carolina had the highest number
Fatal CrashesFortunately for this industry, large trucks play a part in very few crashes. Statistics show that when large trucks are involved, the fault lies overwhelmingly with the car or motorcycle driver.
Statistics published by the United States Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Association tell the tale, which is contrary to many car drivers’ perceptions about large truck drivers:
In large truck/car crashes, car drivers were at fault over 71 percent of the time Cars rear-ended trucks 300 percent more often than trucks rear-ended cars Motorcycle drivers were legally drunk 30.3 percent of the time Pick up truck drivers were legally drunk 22 percent of the time Car drivers were drunk 18.8 percent of the time Large truck drivers were drunk 1.4 percent of the time Closing ThoughtsThe bottom line of good driving is paying attention to your perceptions and choosing wisely what to react to.
Remember that the other guy’s dangerous, rude, provocative behavior may be your problem momentarily, but it’s his baggage for the long haul.
ResourceThe American Institute for Public Safety offers a video course aimed at raising awareness of aggressive driving. Its goal is to modify aggressive driving behavior by providing information for dealing with impatience, frustration, anger and intolerance on the roads.
This video course is also being used by:
· Professional drivers
· Law enforcement
· Military personnel
· Traffic courts
· Individuals