Effects of Emotions on Driving Essay

there atomic number 18 reported cases of vehicular accidents either year in the United States. Even though number one woods are conscious(predicate) that drinking and using cellular phones while movement are dangerous, they deteriorate other factors that superpower contribute to accidents much(prenominal) as physical limit and emotion. Emotions, along with psycheality types, characterization games and gender differences, determine driving fashion. Emotions earth-closet be a positive force in determining driving behavior. For instance, a mortal kindle be motivated to drive dearly by his love for his family.Moreover, if he fears any legal consequences or accidents, it might restrict him from intoxicating driving. On the other hand, if a person has delirious problems, this fire possibly lead to collision. Some may think that emotions may have little effect on ones driving. nonwithstanding according to researches, any kind of emotion has negative impacts on dri ving, which arouse cause impairments that the driver is not fully aware of. A person who is frightened, depressed, upset or excited while driving may be in the same danger as someone who is engaged in a phone call or is drunk (DMV, 2008).There are also cases when a person has to drive after attending to an mite or after learning of a loved ones sickness or death. To avoid accidents, it is advisable that the driver pause a while to get his bearings straight before getting behind the wheel. interrogation about causes of vehicular accidents showed that those who are experiencing negative and even positive emotions were at a distraction level much serious than those who were engaged in a phone call. These emotions can affect even excellent drivers in many ways.First is that they might experience dimmed or afflicted observation and reaction times (DMV, 2008). Second, drivers might not see dust in the street or might not recognize situations such as slowing of traffic, which can res ult to hitting other cars in the way. Third, drivers might not recognize what is happening around them (Connolly, 2007). For instance, they might not recognize that a car ahead is turning around or is about to cross. Fourth, emotions might cause drivers to make assayy changes such as abrupt change of lanes.Fifth, they might feel as if they were detached from their environs (DMV, 2008). There might be some cases wherein a person is multiform in a lane rage. Road rage has become too plebeian these days. It is amenable for many cases of bodily injuries and accidents on the road. These accidents can be attributed to the fact that some drivers overreact and personalize driving situations. Researches about road rage showed that much than half of all the drivers in America can express road rage themselves, or they can be a victim of other drivers road rage. Moreover, the U. S.Highway resort Office declares that the many cases of accidents on the road are connected to road rage or combative driving, as such, road rage is now the primary cause of death (DMV, 2008). The reputation type of a person can also determine his driving behavior. Personality type is categorised into Type A and Type B. Type A is those that are impatient, aggressive and hostile while Type B is those calm individuals (Sedona. com, 2007). One of the traits common in the abusive personality or Type A individuals is precipitation in driving. Drivers categorized as Type A are unceasingly in need of power and control.This might be an explanation for salty in road rage situations. Emotions effects on driving can be further explained by what is going on in the part of the sense involved. Emotions have effects on the part of the brain responsible for reason, thought and judgment. These brain parts mature when a person reaches 25 years of age. Thus, drivers below 25 years old, especially teenagers, are at risk of accidents (Davis, 2005). The parts of the brain related to emotion and decis ion-making of the teens are lighten developing. As their brain develops, teens are susceptible to baseless behavior such as driving too fast.Brain immaturity is responsible for the high gear number of teen crash rate today. Recent brain researches of the national Institute of Health (NIH) have come out and shown that adolescent drivers are at risk of accidents because the executive branch of the teens brain that is largely responsible for weighing risks, making judgments and controlling impulsive behavior is not yet developed. Results have shown that a 16-year-olds brain is uttermost less developed (Davis, 2005) than those teens who are a bit older. This explains why at that place are more 16-year-old drivers who are at a higher risk of crashing than those older teens.In fact, a recorded number of 937 drivers who are 16 years of age were involved in fatal crashes in 2003. some half of those drivers and 352 of their riders were killed. Thus, young teenagers need supervision b ecause they are too young to drive. Another factor that psychologists and doctors looked into to explain the many cases of teen crashes is the moving-picture show games. photograph games on racing feature realistic driving environments wherein players must move through city and traffic (Wood, 2007). Several studies were conducted to determine the relationship amidst telecasting games and driving.One such study was conducted by Douglas Gentile and Craig Anderson, some(prenominal) psychologists. Video games are interactive and engaging. Plus, violent behavior in ikon games is rewarded. Thus, teens and even adults tend to repeat these behaviors as they play. Gentile and Anderson indicated that for these reasons, violent television set games may have stronger effects on aggression. The results have also shown that video game is directly related to having aggressive thoughts and behavior (cited in American Psychological Association, 2004). Another study by German researchers has also shown that video games affect those who play them.The researchers stated that the video games exhibit competitive and reckless driving, speeding and crashing into cars or pedestrians, or performing risky stunts (cited in Wood, 2007). This mode that the actions in video games can result to accidents or crashes in a realistic racing environment. The researchers chose 198 men and women to participate in the study. Results showed that those who play more often were likely to engage in risky and aggressive driving and getting into car accidents while those who played less often were more cautious in driving (Wood, 2007).Studies were done to determine the difference amid male and female when it comes to driving. Men are more aggressive than women, as is explained by testosterone, the male sex hormone responsible for aggressiveness in men. Most people command to know if men tend to be aggressive compared to women when driving, as such, a study showed a situation wherein a male driv er became upset when another driver cut in front of him. He followed the car until he found out that the driver was a female. He was shocked because the female driver drove violently, when in the society women are not depicted to drive aggressively.If the other driver was not female, would the drivers behavior of following the car be justified? Just from observation alone, we see how men and women differ in emotional behavior when driving. Men will likely criticize another driver, making sure that the other driver can hear him. Women, on the other hand, will likely criticize other drivers to themselves because they fear retaliation. There are also instances when emotional behaviors get in the way of safe driving. For instance, a girl asked her boyfriend to drive her home, but the boyfriend got upset.At 60mph, he sped around corners where the speed limit was 25mph. The boyfriends want for being in control forced his girlfriend to comply with his emotions. wrath sometimes gets the be st of drivers. It results to behavior that is destructive for both the driver and the passenger (Lucey, n. d. ). Emotions affect driving. When a person is elated, frightened, worried or depressed, he or she might not be able to perform well in driving. Aside from emotions, other factors that can affect driving are personality types, video game influences and gender differences.ReferencesAmerican Psychological Association.(2004, June 8). Violent video games Psychologists help protect children from harmful effects. Retrieved December 1, 2008, from http//www. psychologymatters. org/videogames. html Connolly, A. (2007). How to control your emotions on the road. Associated Content. Retrieved December 1, 2008, from http//www. associatedcontent. com/article/157425/how_to_control_your_emotions_on_the. html Davis, R. (2005). 16, Is it too young to drive a car? USA Today. Retrieved December 1, 2008, from http//www. usatoday. com/educate/college/firstyear/articles/20050306. htm DMV. (2008). H ow emotions affect driving.Retrieved December 1, 2008, from http//www. dmv. org/how-to-guides/driving-and-emotions. php Lucey, C. (n. d. ). sex differences in driving norms. Retrieved December 1, 2008, from http//www. soc. hawaii. edu/leonj/459ss97/clucey/report2. html2 Sedona. com. (2007). Type A personality, Type B personality How much are we really controlled by personality types? Retrieved December 1, 2008, from http//www. sedona. com/lp-typeA. aspx Wood, J. (2007). Video racing games may spur risky driving study. Soft32. com. Retrieved December 1, 2008, from http//news. soft32. com/video-racing-games-may-spur-risky-driving-study_3722. html