Article: Losers in the human race

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Losers in the human race

Losers in the human race
Article from: The Courier-Mail

Geoff Shearer

June 02, 2008 12:00am

HOW was the drive to work this morning? Another Monday, another working week ahead, another 40 minutes wasted on the roads getting there . . .

But can you remember much about those 40 or so minutes? Did you disengage and drive almost as if by remote?

That can be a dangerous thing. According to US research and some Brisbane anecdotal discussions, it is what people do when they find their regular commute becoming incredibly boring that is contributing to the dangerous mess that is the southeast's peak-hour traffic.

On a bus or a train you can read a book, make eyes at another passenger, close your eyes and listen to music, play sudoku (in The Courier-Mail, of course). In the car, drivers are also attempting to break the boredom by playing games.

One of the most disturbing "games" that arose in a recent weekend discussion was the practice of spotting a car ahead of you in the traffic and tagging it as the one to beat.

By using local knowledge of the road ? such as which lane gets a clearer run ? the aim is to beat this car to some destination point, assuming you're both making the same daily run to work. Something along the lines of: "I'm going to be the first, Mr Red-Ute-Driver, to get to the Gateway Bridge toll booth."

The game gets complicated when alternative routes (rat runs) are used in an attempt to jump the morning traffic queue.

It gets even more dangerous when the driver of the other car realises they've been tagged and the race is on.

There are variations on the game, no doubt, and limitations ? it can't be done on the morning commute from the western suburbs, for example, where the speed varies between 0.2 and 2.3km/h. And it can't be done anywhere in the Redland Shire ? because driving there requires your full concentration to negotiate the confluence of roundabouts.

It would be funny, if it wasn't so dangerous.

One colleague gleefully told me how he likes to draw parallel to a four-wheel drive or truck in the left-hand lane and sit in their blind spot. And then toot wildly and give them "the shock of their lives" when they try to change into his lane.

Another said she would often slow when approaching an amber light ? sometimes almost to a stop ? then accelerate through just before it turns red. Seemed like a peccadillo until her eyes lit up as she explained her reasons: "I love looking (in the rear vision mirror) at the look on the poor schmuck's face behind me when he's caught by the red light and I'm not. Loser!"

Research from the US has found the main reason behind such behaviour is boredom. They are travelling the same route every day to and from work and they are travelling over a longer distance than drivers traditionally commuted in the past. Think about that and then extrapolate it to the situation truck drivers face and it may explain ? but not excuse ? some of the behaviour you see exhibited by them on motorways.

The bored driver, it can be argued, is better off playing some sort of game ? at least then they are concentrating on the traffic situation around them.

They already face plenty of distractions ? and inattentiveness behind the wheel is a major factor in crashes.

Research from Monash University's Accident Research Centre indicates that about a quarter of crashes in the US are the result of insufficient driver attentiveness. Smoking, mobile phones, nattering passengers and music all take the driver's mind off what they really should be doing.

Lapses in concentration are often a pain in the bumper. But the road games bored drivers are playing step beyond the maintenance of concentration ? and they add to the frustration and the peril of other drivers.

Chris Hale from the University of Queensland's Centre for Transport Strategy says anger, sensation seeking, impulsiveness and boredom are, to some degree, normal human behaviours but they're not to be tolerated when behind the wheel.

"Our most dangerous drivers are created by their own inability to control these emotional impulses while driving," he says. "Roads are not the places for people to be expressing their frustrations with the ups and downs of life. Go to the gym, join a yoga class, have a barbecue with friends, take a trip to the beach, maybe even think about catching a bus instead."

High speed, alcohol and not wearing seatbelts are three major factors in deaths on our roads. We nod sagely and agree and tick them off as abhorrent practices that it would be ridiculous to even consider on the morning commute. Yet we believe it's OK to flout the little rules ? a red light here and there, a few km/h over the limit ? just as long as I beat that red ute to the bridge.

You can't win every game and luck runs out.

Remember, even at 60km/h on a suburban road, that change of luck could indeed have fatal consequences.

[ozbob]

Ease the strain, catch a train!!