Study: Armed drivers more prone to road rage
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February 5, 2006
BY mailto:[email protected] FRANK MAIN Crime Reporter
Americans with guns in their cars are more likely to engage in "road rage" than unarmed drivers, according to a new study funded by the Chicago-based Joyce Foundation.
The Harvard School of Public Health surveyed more than 2,400 people who were asked if they carried a gun in their vehicle at least once in the last year.
About 23 percent of those who said "yes" admitted to making obscene gestures while driving -- compared with about 16 percent of those who claimed they never pack a weapon, the study said.
The survey also found 14 percent of those with firearms said they "aggressively followed" other motorists, vs. 8 percent of those without guns.
Tighter restrictions favored
The authors, David Hemenway, Mary Vriniotis and Matthew Miller, acknowledged their survey did not ask whether a gun was in the car at the time the road rage incident happened.
"Despite these limitations, our findings indicate that the same type of individuals who cause most of the road deaths in the United States -- young males, particularly those who smoke, binge drink and have been arrested for non-traffic violations -- are most likely to engage in rude and hostile behaviors on the nation's roads," the authors said. "Road rage may be most dangerous when an enraged motorist has immediate access to a lethal weapon, such as a gun."
Vriniotis told the journal New Scientist that "in the interests of injury and violence prevention, it probably makes more sense to tighten rather than relax restrictions on gun carrying in motor vehicles."
John Lott, a controversial former University of Chicago economist and author of More Guns, Less Crime, scoffed at the study on his Web site. Lott criticized the survey for not asking if the guns were in the cars legally or illegally.
"Permit holders tend to be extremely law-abiding," he said.
BY mailto:[email protected] FRANK MAIN Crime Reporter
Americans with guns in their cars are more likely to engage in "road rage" than unarmed drivers, according to a new study funded by the Chicago-based Joyce Foundation.
The Harvard School of Public Health surveyed more than 2,400 people who were asked if they carried a gun in their vehicle at least once in the last year.
About 23 percent of those who said "yes" admitted to making obscene gestures while driving -- compared with about 16 percent of those who claimed they never pack a weapon, the study said.
The survey also found 14 percent of those with firearms said they "aggressively followed" other motorists, vs. 8 percent of those without guns.
Tighter restrictions favored
The authors, David Hemenway, Mary Vriniotis and Matthew Miller, acknowledged their survey did not ask whether a gun was in the car at the time the road rage incident happened.
"Despite these limitations, our findings indicate that the same type of individuals who cause most of the road deaths in the United States -- young males, particularly those who smoke, binge drink and have been arrested for non-traffic violations -- are most likely to engage in rude and hostile behaviors on the nation's roads," the authors said. "Road rage may be most dangerous when an enraged motorist has immediate access to a lethal weapon, such as a gun."
Vriniotis told the journal New Scientist that "in the interests of injury and violence prevention, it probably makes more sense to tighten rather than relax restrictions on gun carrying in motor vehicles."
John Lott, a controversial former University of Chicago economist and author of More Guns, Less Crime, scoffed at the study on his Web site. Lott criticized the survey for not asking if the guns were in the cars legally or illegally.
"Permit holders tend to be extremely law-abiding," he said.
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from what I read, they called up about 1000 people and asked them if they have had road rage in the year up to now. Then they asked them at the end if they ever carried a gun in their vehicle within that same year.
See where I'm going with this? They didn't ask if they were carrying when they had the road rage, or if they carried all the time, or if they were carrying legally, or what they were carrying (handgun/rifle/shotgun).
Another "spin" poll.
Wayne
See where I'm going with this? They didn't ask if they were carrying when they had the road rage, or if they carried all the time, or if they were carrying legally, or what they were carrying (handgun/rifle/shotgun).
Another "spin" poll.
Wayne
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Not sure whether we had a discussion on this here or it was on THR but - I seriously doubt the veracity of this ''survey'' - and think Lott has a very valid point.
I can imagine a category of person who might have a gun in the car illegally and think they were Wyatt Earp - but the vast majority of legally possessing CCW folks are IMO more polite, not less.
Yes Bud - I think it is a crock - a large one with very hot contents!!
I can imagine a category of person who might have a gun in the car illegally and think they were Wyatt Earp - but the vast majority of legally possessing CCW folks are IMO more polite, not less.
Yes Bud - I think it is a crock - a large one with very hot contents!!
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Heey - it's from Harvard. The bastion of .....ah........NEVER mind <Roseanna Roseanna Dana voice><Those psuedo-intellectual....Never mind>
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I am suspious of ANY "gun" poll that comes from Chicago.
I get so tired of reading about things that are authored by idiots.
Of course they didnt ask. That would have skewed the results of the poll and wouldnt serve to push their anti-gun agenda.
Yeah right. That way when you do enounter roadrage from some punk they can just kill you nice and easy like.
I get so tired of reading about things that are authored by idiots.
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As I've said before on this forum, statistics can be manipulated to "prove" anything you want.
Who says John Lott is "controversial?"
Who says John Lott is "controversial?"
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what a bunch of crap
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Nope! In fact if anything I am so laid back when driving while packing that I could care less about someone doing that and I sure don't do it back at them.rocky said:
To tell you the truth I don't even remember an incident in a year or better where any "road rage" type stuff even happened to me. I have seen a few times where it has happened to others on the road though, one was so bad that the girl had to call the cops and they pulled this guy over.
Before CCW the sky was the limit though, I must have had 7 to 10 road rages a day at least! running people off the road, beating up old people for going to slow on the hwy, 45 mph is the minimum grandma not 44! :comeandgetsome: beating all kids up that drive slammed Honda's just because, mooning people at will, man it was much more fun to drive before I carried! :biggrin2:
Ti.
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Snowshoes said:
Yeah... cuz the car moving along at 65 mph on the highway is not a lethal weapon...? I've seen far more people die in motor vehicle crashes then I have ever seen die due to a GSW!!!!
stupid people!
--Jim
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1,157 Posts
But nobody got shot???
Just the finger?
that's not rage, it's control.
AFS
Just the finger?
that's not rage, it's control.
AFS
I just found that and thought I'd share
back in the late 1980s I was a bicycle courier in Atlanta..there was a driver who worked for a different company who carried a .357 magnum. He whipped it out in traffic in a "Road Rage" incident and got shot and killed by four gun dealers on their way to a gun show
back in the late 1980s I was a bicycle courier in Atlanta..there was a driver who worked for a different company who carried a .357 magnum. He whipped it out in traffic in a "Road Rage" incident and got shot and killed by four gun dealers on their way to a gun show
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BS!
I know for a fact that I am more tolerant of the idiot drivers when armed.
Same goes for all the other idiots I encounter on a daily basis.
I know for a fact that I am more tolerant of the idiot drivers when armed.
Same goes for all the other idiots I encounter on a daily basis.
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233 Posts
And of those 23% that had made "rude gestures" in the last year, 100% said "Yes" when asked if they had possesed hands in their cars in the past year as well. :hand5:
So there ya go folks, I have scientifically proven that people who possess hands are much more prone to violence!
:haha: So the sooner these --> :congrats: are :banned: the safer us poor wittle :sheep: will be....
So there ya go folks, I have scientifically proven that people who possess hands are much more prone to violence!
:haha: So the sooner these --> :congrats: are :banned: the safer us poor wittle :sheep: will be.... 1 - 20 of 34 Posts
