The Effect of Music and Suggestion on Defensive Driving Responses of High School Students: Implications for Music Therapy

The cost of road accidents is devastating to the U.S. economy. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that over $230 billion is incurred annually through lost workplace productivity, property damage, medical costs, travel delays, lost household productivity, insurance costs, legal costs, workplace costs, and emergency services. In 2005 approximately 6,420,000 car accidents occurred in the United States, injuring 2.9 million people and killing 42,636 persons. (Car Accident Statistics, 2010; Wenske, 2002).Although traffic fatalities have decreased almost 20% in the last 30 years, traffic fatalities have increased in the last few years. NHTSA (2010a) estimates that up to one-third of recent crashes and up to two-thirds of the ensuing fatalities are from aggressive driving, or road rage behavior.Aggressive Driving/Road RageDefinitionsThe terms, "aggressive driving" and "road rage" are often used synonymously but there are differences according to traffic authorities. NHTSA defines Aggressive Driving . . ."as occurring when an individual commits a combination of moving traffic offenses so as to endanger other persons or property" (NHTSA, 20106, p. 1). While aggressive driving is a traffic offense, road rage is categorized as a criminal offense. Road Rage is defined as. . ."an assault with a motor vehicle or other dangerous weapon by the operator or passenger(s) of another motor vehicle or an assault precipitated by an incident that occurred on a roadway" (NHTSA, 2010c, p. 1).BehaviorsAggressive drivers often display the following behaviors: ..."exceeding the posted speed limit, following too closely, erratic or unsafe lane changes, improperly signaling lane changes, [and the] failure to obey traffic control devices (stop signs, yield signs, traffic signals, [and] railroad grade cross signals" (p. 1). Running a red light is one of the most dangerous types. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety estimates that 250,000 crashes a year are attributable to running red lights (Fumento, 1998). In an NHTSA survey, over 60% of respondents felt personally threatened for themselves and their families due to unsafe drivers (NHTSA, 2010d).Contributing CausesRoad congestion. Increased traffic causes increased potential for road rage. Newly constructed road miles in the United States have increased 1 % since 1 987, but the number of miles driven has increased by 35%. In addition, close to 70% of urban areas have highly congested freeways at rush hour as compared to 20 years ago (Vest, Cohen, & Tharp, 1 997). The increase in daily driving added to life stressors can result in a build-up of negative mood and stress. This can create an atmosphere amenable to aggressive driving (Calovski & Blanchard, 2004).Characteristics of aggressive driving. In one study of 298 drivers aged 17 to 86, "a measure of aggressive driving predicted more frequent and more error-prone overtaking, which are effects attributed to the use of confrontive coping strategies in interaction with other vehicles" (Matthews et al., 1 998, p. 1 36). Drivers are at greater risk of accidents if they are unaware that emotions are a major contributing factor in crashes. Drivers are more likely to be in crashes if they are not willing or able to call up emotional coping strategies in the face of driver stress (Legree, Heffner, Psotka, Martin, & Medsker, 2003).Cell-phone use triggers driver aggression. Cell phone use is cognitively distracting enough to . . ."adversely [affect] a driver's ability to appropriately react to . . .roadway conditions requiring change in speed or direction. . .to brake when following another driver. . .[or an] ability to brake in response to a red light..." (McGarva, Ramsey, & Shear, 2006, p. 134). Drivers using cell phones may also react slower when a red light turns to green. This can anger other drivers behind the cell phone user's vehicle. …