Little ones are watching

Star: If you think the police are the only ones watching you on the road, think again.
Besides the law, it is your little ones from the back seat who are watching and learning all your good and bad manners and behaviour behind the wheel.
“So don’t blurt out bodoh (stupid) no matter how angry you are as they will do the same or something worse when they grow up,” said Kuala Lumpur Hospital psychiatrist Dr Nor Hayati Ali.
She said aggressive driving behaviours could be habits acquired during childhood and children tend to learn from their parents and other adults, apart from picking up the wrong tips from other sources such as computer games.
“Sometimes it is okay to be angry but how you react is something you have to be careful of,” Dr Nor Hayati said at the National Conference on Crime Prevention 2005 yesterday.
She said it was usually out of frustration due to various reasons that people became aggressive.
Although many motorists admitted to being aggressive while driving, they do so with little or no menacing intent, she said.
“Instead, it is rather out of frustration as a result of unclear road priorities in which drivers disagree as to the right of way or it could be due to being late or environmental factors in which drivers tend to follow what others do,” she said.
Dr Nor Hayati said motorists with a history of disorderly behaviour, drink-driving, those disqualified from driving, fighting, theft, burglary, assault, drug use and firearms offences were prone to being easily angry on the road.
According to research, she said, males under 30 are likely to be offenders and victims of aggressive driving as they are relatively inexperienced drivers.
Dr Nor Hayati also drew comparisons to incidents of “road rage” which were usually given better coverage by the media than those of “aggressive driving.”
She also suggested that a hand signal be developed to recognise when someone wants to say “it’s my fault and I’m sorry.”