Less-than-perfect driving: A photo, an excerpt and a link
Posted on June 26th, 2008 – 6:05 AMBy Roadguy
It’s been days since we’ve had a photo around here, so here’s one I took on Tuesday:
Both cars were coming east west on 5th Street, which at that point is a one-way and has light rail tracks down the middle. The car in the foreground decided to ignore the “no turns” signs and the straight-ahead green arrow and make a left turn from the right lane. The other car seemed to be behaving appropriately in the left lane but was “in the way” for Mr. Illegal Left Turn, who had to stop on the tracks while everyone figured out what was going on. Fortunately, no trains — which had a green light — entered the picture.
Roadguy has said it before, and he’ll say it again: When you’re in the wrong lane, it’s not the end of the world to go around the block.
Another questionable driving episode turned up in C.J.’s Tuesday column:
Doug Anderson squired Baryshnikov about in lavish wheels supplied by Maserati of Minneapolis, which is owned by Morrie Wagner.
At one point, Anderson says, he was just driving along when he noticed the speedometer was at 109. “You can’t tell how fast it’s going. Felt like you’re doing 50. It really is the smoothest. Unreal,” he said. “I won’t be doing it again, tell you that. It scared me.”
That news scared Maserati of Minneapolis’ GM Barb Bowman, too. “Great. That’s what we want to hear. Our poor loaner car,” she said Monday.
Roadguy immediately thought of alert reader Paul’s treatise from the other day and how a car’s features can detach a person from the driving experience.
Our last item is from alert reader Suz, who writes:
I saw an article recently that might make an interesting Roadguy topic. A researcher at Colorado State Univ. performed a study in which they found a relationship between road-rage and personalizing your car.
Suz notes that you have to have a subscription to Nature to read the whole article, but she found this blurb with more information on Slashdot. An excerpt:
A study by psychologist William Szlemko at Colorado State University in Fort Collins that recorded whether people had added seat covers, bumper stickers, special paint jobs, stereos and even plastic dashboard toys to their cars has found a link between road rage and the number of personalized items on or in their vehicle. “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,” say Szlemko. What’s more, only the number of bumper stickers, and not their content, predicted road rage — so “Jesus saves” may be just as worrying to fellow drivers as “Don’t mess with Texas.”
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,” says Szlemko….
So start counting bumper stickers and see what happens. Just don’t get so distracted that you drive 109 on the light-rail tracks.
14 Responses to "Less-than-perfect driving: A photo, an excerpt and a link"
“Roadguy has said it before, and he’ll say it again: When you’re in the wrong lane, it’s not the end of the world to go around the block. ”
Amen, and that also goes for realizing that you’re in the wrong lane on the freeway when your exit is coming up. don’t whip across 3 lanes of traffic and send everyone else weaving to avoid you, go on to the next exit and turn around. (or better yet, know where you’re going in the first place.)
My 2 cents regarding this study: You cannot determine cause & effect from an observational study. You may be able to conclude that personalizing your vehicle is associated with road rage but you can’t extrapolate and say this is a result of protecting your territory. You would have to do a blinded, randomized trial but I still don’t think this would predict territorial behavior.
Bias Disclaimer: My truck is plastered with bumper stickers. So is my bike.
Oh, how many times this has happened to me. In the right of two left turn lanes, and someone from the left lane turns into me. Better yet is when I honk and they flip me off.
I expect the reason some people choose to make unsafe and illegal turns is because sometimes, the consequenses of missing a turn are much more difficult than just “going around the block.”
If you’re in a standard grid network without one way streets, then going around the block is no big deal. but if you’ve got a lot of one way streets, or should you be unfortunate enough to find yourself in Eden Prairie, “going around the block” in itself can be quite difficult and frustrating.
I didn’t gather from that piece that they were saying that the personalization of the car *caused* the road rage. I think it was just saying that people that are prone to personalizing their car are also prone to road rage. It’s an indicator of how they see their role on the roadway.
“If you’re in a standard grid network without one way streets, then going around the block is no big deal. but if you’ve got a lot of one way streets”
If you’ve got a lot of one way streets, as in downtown Minneapolis, then maybe you have to go around 2 or 4 blocks. Still, not a big deal.
Pity the driver in Eden Prairie - “going around the block” might require refueling or an overnight stay at one of their luxurious hotels.
I am at a loss to think of a scenario where the consequences of missing a turn are greater than the consequences of making an illegal and unsafe turn.
Difficult and/or frustrating is no excuse for putting yourself, your passengers, and anyone unlucky enough to be around you in danger.
Does anyone else see people turning left from a one way from the far right lane cutting across 1-2 lanes of traffic? I see it all the time. Is there something people in driving school learned that I missed?
That was a cute study, but I wish scientists would be a little more scientific.
Instead of examining the car, they might study the OPERATOR a little more in depth. Battery of psych tests; maturity level, how they view themselves and the world. Do they see themselves as ‘victims,’ ‘heroes’, etc.; do they think the world is fun and cool, or, do they think everyone is hostile and evil, etc., etc.
Until then, I am not going to assume that a driver with a pile of Beanie Babies in the back window is full of rage. I just don’t see the connection.
I also am in HEARTY agreement with what Roadguy said, “When you’re in the wrong lane, it’s not the end of the world to go around the block.” It amazes me to see all the people that just have to make a sudden turn left or right from a lane that is not the inside lane, crossing one or two additional lanes of traffic in the process. Is it really that bad to have to miss the turn and circle back most of the time? Is the saving of time really worth the risk of life and limb for themselves, passengers, and the other cars? Whew, it’s good to get that off my chest.
Regarding the original entry about the two cars turning, closer inspection will show that several things might be clarified:
1. I’m fairly sure Roadguy means to say the cars were traveling west (or technically, WNW in downtown Minneapolis). I say this because 5th St. in Minneapolis is one way going west, and if they were going east than the shadows from the light poles show the earth has somehow tilted and the sun is now in the northwest during the day. Also, Google Maps has a Streetview picture of this intersection at 5th St. and Portland which confirms my opinion. A different theory would be the cars were going the wrong way on a one-way street, or maybe Roadguy is just directionally challenged (hush, that’s a secret). 
2. The cars are turning onto Portland Ave., which is a one-way street. Therefore, even if the outside car should not have turned left, it is mildly surprising that the car on the inside of the turn didn’t turn into the inside lane, but drifted all the way across Portland to the far lane.
Oh, good grief, I’m a moron — of course they’re heading west (or west-ish). My apologies — it’s fixed.
Yes, but if we went around the block, we’d waste time. And ‘time is money’!
I’d prefer an illegal and unsafe move any day. Money in the bank, money in the bank …
Elydog - it’s funny that you and others keep mentioning that. All of the professionals I know (and anyone else with any economic sense) are bamboozeled by the inability to see this basic concept. Again, if you think it’s not, then why don’t we all walk to everything? Answer - because it’s faster to drive.
Besides, the cost of going around the block is less than the cost of an increased risk of an accident. That’s why you go around the block. If going around the block would cost me an hour, I might illegally turn instead.
I don’t walk everywhere because walking is boring, and I can’t really carry $200 worth of groceries home. I am a college student, so my time is basically worthless. It would make much more economic sense for me to ditch my car and walk everywhere.
While in some cases, your opinion is true, it can clearly not be applied like a blanket to all situations.
