Road Rage Research Paper

Thesis:Road rage is a major problem in the United States, it causes accidents, anger, fear, and danger to our roadways everyday.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration defines road rage as “an assault with a motor vehicle or other dangerous weapon by the passenger of one motor vehicle on the passengers of another motor vehicle".

Despite the sufferance of victims, they often aren’t entirely blameless, as their poor decisions and irresponsibility is ultimately associated with their upsetting and newfound situation. Therefore victims like Fin O’Neil in The Story of Tom Brennan, who ultimately chose to travel in a car with drunken, inexperienced, and impulsive driver, it becomes questionable whether he is also culpable for his injuries. Despite Fin’s sobriety and awareness prior to the accident, this does not implicate him, however it becomes debatable whether the outcomes would be alike; with Fin’s extensive injuries and crash itself, if the decisions made on Fin’s behalf were different. Similarly in the story of ‘In My Little Town’, Leigh Charter Jnr also decides to travel with a drunk driver, regardless of the risks. Although his alertness was also compromised by alcohol, he holds some level of responsibility in his death. However, in ‘Shattered’, there are no obvious victims who made poor decisions, due to the situations isolation. Although, it is disputable whether the perpetrator; Peter Hodgkins’ friends who witnessed the accident could have altered the outcome. Though, it was voiced to Peter; “don’t throw a rock at a car, that’s stupid,” (‘Shattered’, 2011) this partly ousts some responsibility, especially due to their intoxication, which is similar to the other stories. However, responsibility is never fully removed from others, as it only takes one person, one conversation, and any one action during the lead to alter the outcome of July 21st 2007, in Kiama, New South

Leanne Davis, 30, who is currently studying law at Southampton Solent University, was already serving a suspended sentence for trying to blackmail Dr Rupert Pemsel out of £10,000, when she was caught overtaking traffic on the wrong side of the road in order to cut in and hit a motorcyclist after arguing with him over the manner of her driving.

Police brutality is a controversial issue that has recently been in the news, but seems to have always been an issue in America. Police brutality refers to the intentional use of verbal or physical attacks directed towards individuals by the police force that result in false arrests, sexual abuse, or death. (Dudley, William 13.) Most of these actions are linked to racial profiling: the targeting of individuals for suspicion of crime based solely on the individual’s race, ethnicity, religion, or national origin. (Dudley, William 13.) Statistics about how often racial profiling and police brutality occurs, movements such as Black Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter, and police reform efforts are just a few points as to why this topic is so controversial today.

Police brutality is a very big problem in America. There are many reports of Police brutality every year, Some of those cases the officer is fully responsible for his actions, and other times the victims played a part in antagonizing the officer. Police have misused their power for a while now, but recently it’s been more publicized. In this year alone, there has been an extreme jump in police brutality and the publication of it.

“To protect and to serve.” This has been the motto and duty of law enforcement agencies since their creation. The earliest police forces were established in England during the early 1800’s. These law enforcement agencies were established in order to help the people. However, not long after the first one was established, the first known case of police brutality was documented. Excessive use of force by a police officer dates back to the late 1800’s. Since then, thousands of innocent people have been improperly and cruelly treated by law enforcement officers. The United States has one of the highest rates of police brutality in the world. Though

In the news, there are many discussions on the topics of police brutality, police officers not being indicted, police retraining, and protests for justice of an alleged innocent person killed by the police. According to The Washington Post, “So far this year, police have shot and killed more than 900 people.” Admiration then starts to swirl in your head and you ask yourself “how many of those 900 people killed were innocent.” This is why many anti-brutality activists and law enforcement leaders are pushing for police officers to be retrained. They are implementing a plan of action for change in the policing business. Police officers need to be effectively retrained and grasp the proper skills such as verbal communication to being a good police officer.

In recent times, the police have been exhibiting an increase in brutality and racial profiling towards minorities. The police are constantly resorting to violence and racially profiling the African American and the Mexican community. Cops are being driven racially to arrest and many times even murder our own people. Even though the police are always abusing their power, the media still finds a way to make the police look bad.

Any person who drives any motor vehicle, bicycle, or motorized bicycle in careless and imprudent manner, without due regard for the width, grade, curves, corners, traffic and use of the streets and highways and all other attendants, is guilty of careless driving.

Now we get into what is known as the reckless driver. A picture comes to mind of a frazzled man or woman driving a beat up Oldsmobile; cigarette dangling from the lip of their mouth, swerving in and out of traffic while others beep their horns in disapproval. This type of driver can occur when a competent driver has had a bad day and is encountering the overly cautious driver. Stereotypically this driver is younger in age and male, but I feel that the reckless driver has no set age or sex. They get so angry for the smallest of reasons that they don’t really care what they do as a result, so long as they go out in a blaze of glory. They tend to disregard most driving signs and have no qualms about risking their life or the lives of others. These are the drivers who barely apply the brake when coming to a stop, more like “tap tap and go”. My uncle Jim is a prime example of a reckless driver. At the age of 82, he drives a boat of a Cadillac, commanding the streets with his led foot and somewhat latent reactions to those around him. Try telling him to ease up or look out, and he’s bound to increase the gas flow to his V8 engine.

a perpetual but insignificant problem. Needless to say, almost everyone agrees that road rage is an actual attitude that can be observed on most American roadways. But what is road rage? Is it some kind of medical condition? A certain habit or behavior?

Speeding is defined as the act or an instance of driving, especially a motor vehicle, faster than is allowed by law. Speeding is often one component of aggressive driving which is defined as committing a combination of moving traffic offenses so as to endanger other persons or property. There are strong direct relationships between the speed at which we drive and the risk of crash involvement and the injuries sustained if a crash results. The probability of injury and the severity of those injuries increases exponentially with vehicle speed. Even small increases in speeds result in a large increase in the forces experienced by the vehicle occupants or other road users. Put simply, the faster you drive, the harder you hit and the more severe the injuries you or someone else are likely to suffer. Traveling over the speed limit can be especially dangerous in bad weather conditions. Speeding was a factor in 53 percent of fatal crashes that occurred when there was snow or slush on

Motor vehicle accidents are undesirable occurrences in which an individual or multiple people are injured or killed in or by a vehicle. These accidents can occur due to a variety of factors including, texting while driving, speeding, drunk driving, driving under the influence, and reckless driving. Accidents affiliated with motor vehicles accounted for 36,161 deaths across the United States and 316 deaths throughout New Mexico in 2015.1 When compared, this meant that in 2015, there was a rate of about 10.9 deaths per 100,000 people across the United States, which is less than the 15.1 deaths per 100,000 people in New Mexico.1

Driver behavior is also cited as having a negative influence on participants’ cycling experience, as it is reported that some motorists are particularly violent towards cyclists and others are unaware of them and so did not leave the necessary space. For some participants, these experiences presented a barrier to on-road cycling. Due to the volume of traffic and the driver habits, cyclists are rushing, pushing on crowed roads. One interviewee told that “I don’t think it is just specific to this Jaffna area, it is nationwide. It is the totally different way of mind-set that they have in Jaffna.