One of the newer and most important fields of psychology today is that of traffic psychology. It may sound insignificant at first, but when one considers the amount of traffic accidents and deaths caused by traffic incidents, one starts to consider why these incidents keep on occurring and, more importantly, what the cause of these incidents may be. Traffic psychology is concerned with this very notion and aims to shed some light on some of our more interesting behavior tendencies.
This type of psychology is very closely related to something known as transportation psychology, but the differences between the two sets are clear. Traffic psychology is primarily concerned with the study of behavior in people driving on the roads and how that behavior influences their actions on the road. This is where “road rage” and all sorts of other terminological distinctions come from. Transportation psychology is, on the other hand, concerned with how people move around in general and is significantly less exciting.
Behavior and Accidents
One of the most important things that traffic psychology touches on is the relationship of behavior and accidents. The study of this behavior usually depends on various ages of drivers and their mode of transportation. Traffic psychology in this area studies such things as the attentiveness of drivers while driving, the cognitive properties of drivers, the driver’s fatigue or workload level and its impact on driving, and the social interactions of driving.
Many findings report some fairly obvious observations. The less social interaction a driver has with the other drivers on his or her road, the more likely an accident is to occur. Driver-to-driver communication is important to avoid collisions. Driver fatigue is also clearly an issue, as those drivers that are not properly rested before getting behind the wheel represent a certain risk to other drivers on the road.
Also important to look at in this area is the idea of driver personality. Drivers who are “risk-takers” are more prone to pass on a double-solid line or perform risky movements in traffic that can put other drivers at risk. This personality often influences many accidents because of the reckless abandon that the individual driver shows towards traffic and the social interactions of the other drivers.
Practical Applications
Traffic psychology has been used to perform a number of practical applications designed to make road travel safer for all drivers on the road. Specialists in this area collaborate with engineers and city planners to plan roads to make them more effective and “driver-friendly.” It is also used in terms of the economics of the road, with items such as toll booths and gas prices monitored to determine their impact on drivers in general.
Traffic psychologists also introduce educational methods by which to influence good driving behavior. Habits formed through bad traffic psychology are monitored and exposed with advertising campaigns, classroom instruction, and other public property tools. The “road rage” campaigns were one example of traffic psychology at work. Other campaigns involved include drunken driving campaigns and other campaigns concerned with public safety on the roads.
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Almost everywhere, it’s required to have SUV insurance in order to drive your sport utility vehicle legally. This means that if you hurt someone or damage something, the insurance company will help pay hospital bills and to fix damaged vehicles and property. Since sport utility vehicles tend in general to be more expensive than cars, the corresponding insurance has the potential to cost a bit more as well. However, in determining what you pay for insurance, your driving record has the most substantial influence on the cost. Someone who has never had an accident or ticket will pay minimal premiums since they represent minimal risk to the insurance company. Someone who has had a few accidents, a lot of speeding tickets, or even something like a DUI conviction will pay a huge amount for insurance since they are statistically much more likely to cause an accident and be an expensive liability for the insurance company.
Where you live and park and the amount of crime in that area can also have an impact on the cost of insurance. Finally, your SUV insurance will have demographic implications as well: A teenage driver will always pay more than someone in their thirties, and men almost always need to pay more than women. Shop around with as many companies as possible in order to try to find the lowest rates that you can. You can also gamble a bit by choosing coverage with a high deductible which will mean lower premiums but will cost you more out of pocket in the event of an accident.
2001 Dodge Ram 1500 – My Dodge was struck by some young drivers screwing around while I was sitting at home watching TV. The truck had 89000 miles on it, I was the original owner. I took my car to Service King and Geico Insurance was the insurance Company handling the claim. They treated me terribly and told me my truck was only worth $1500.00 Kelly Blue Book and that they were probably going to total the truck out. Service King told me the truck could not be repaired and Geico Insurance totaled my car out. They offered me a little more money for the truck toward the end. I looked for other Dodges in used lots in my area, and even new models were trashed and not as nice as mine, and priced around $8000.00 or more. Dodges my same year were at least $6500 and more and still were not in as good as condition as mine, and where all easily over 120000 miles. Geico said, if I could find another Dodge in my area, exact same features, they would offer more. Long story short, after they told me to stay in my region, they found a Dodge in Tulsa Oklahoma, that was the same truck, base model, that had 29000 miles, was an automatic, and it was priced at $5900.00. So that became the basis for the value they used and offered me less, because mine was a standard transmission. In short, I got ripped off, by both Service King and Geico Insurance. Yes the one that uses a green reptile to sell insurance, that claim they offer the best coverage, blah, blah blah. Service King told me it would …
President Obama tells the crowd in St. Louis, MO that the time is now to pass health insurance reform and announces new plans to rein in waste and abuse in Medicare, Medicaid and other government health programs.