Research Catalog

Title

Terror on the highway : rage on America's roads / Paul Eberle.

Author

Eberle, Paul, 1928-

Publication

Amherst, N.Y. : Prometheus Books, 2006.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

285 p., [8] p. of plates : ill.; 23 cm.

Summary

From the Publisher: A doctor chases, then assaults an elderly woman after she cuts in front of his BMW; a teenager shoots another driver because the driver "looked at him with disrespect"; one man kills another because "he was driving too slow." These are a few of the many examples of extreme road rage documented by Paul Eberle in this shocking look at the havoc caused by angry people in their cars. Eberle makes it clear that young and old, men and women, and all socioeconomic classes are involved in this epidemic of rage and violence on our highways. In 1998, the California Highway Patrol recorded 209 incidents of Assault with a Deadly Weapon in which a motor vehicle was the weapon used, and in the same year the media reported more than 4,000 stories on road rage nationwide. The problem has only gotten worse. Eberle lists the warning signs of potential road-rage drivers, suggests ways to avoid such dangerous individuals, discusses the psychology of the car as "holy icon" and the effects of traffic congestion on "mad car disease," expresses skepticism about psychologists specializing in aggressive driving, and proposes ways to reinvent our cities to make them less stressful, dangerous places. Complete with graphic pictures showing the dire consequences of driving while enraged, Terror on the Highway should be mandatory reading in all driver education classes.

Subjects

• Aggression
• Aggressiveness
• Traffic safety
• Automobile drivers > Psychology
• Road rage > United States

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 281-285).

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

1. Car wars : "I shot him because he was driving too slow" -- 2. Aggression : "I shot him because he passed me" -- 3. Women warriors and leading citizens : "I shot him because he looked at me with disrespect" -- 4. Choices : "I can't believe I shot her" -- 5. How are we going to fix it? : dealing with the madman -- 6. Public perceptions : what the cars are saying -- 7. New legislation and programs : some immodest proposals -- 8. Warning signs : spotting trouble before it's too late -- 9. Outside agitators : ambient precursors of aggression -- 10. Density : too many cars, not enough roads -- 11. The car as sacred icon : "do not kick the holy virgin" -- 12. Road rage psychology : the roads scholars -- 13. Dos and don'ts : avoiding the land mines -- 14. Reinventing the city : leave your guns at home -- Glossary.

ISBN

• 1591023793 (pbk. : alk. paper)
• 9781591023791

LCCN

^^2005032630

OCLC

62326665

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library