Driving Testing Essay, Research Paper

Since the mass production of the automobile during the industrial revolution each and every car owner/driver has tested the ability of his/her car in one form or another. Weather it be testing how fast it can go, how hard you can make a turn, or even how many bags of groceries you can get in the back. We live in a society in which we like to test our limits. The sociological question that I will be testing is what constitutes bad driving and what are the main characteristics of the people who we consider bad drivers. On the surface this study may look shallow, however if we can identify the main characteristics of these bad drivers than we can forward this information to insurance companies. From there they can ask a few simple non-incriminating questions such as what is your gender and from there the can decide what category you fall into. I know that there will be good drivers that fall into the bad driver category and the opposite however this is a sociological question and in sociology there is exceptions to the rule.

The dependent variable in this study will be classified as driving experiences. There will be approximately 10 experiences listed and by having 6 or more in common will constitute bad driving. The experiences I will be looking for are:

1. Tailgated someone because you felt the car in front of you was going too slow

2. Gave another driver an obscene gesture or yelled at another driver for a move he/she has made.

3. Weaved in and out of traffic in a highway or city setting.

4. Normally go over 10 MPH over speed limit.

5. Drove while under the influence of alcohol or any other illegal drug (not prescribed).

6. Normally run yellow lights when there is more than enough time to stop.

7. Normally jump red lights when you see the opposing traffic light turn yellow or red.

8. Cross the double yellow line to pass someone.

9. Passed someone or drove on the shoulder.

10. Race another driver at an intersection.

The independent variable I will be looking for will be:

1. Sex

2. Race

3. Gender

4. Age

5. Car type

6. Car color

7. Driving experience

8. Points on license

9. Past tickets

10. Past accidents

11. Criminal record

12. Prime driving location (city, suburban, rural)

13. After market upgrades (engine modifications, car stereo, visual upgrades)

14. GPA or occupation

15. Parents divorced

What I will be looking for will be trends in the above and see if it has any effect on the dependent variable. Bad drivers or people with higher insurance rates are usually males who drive red sports cars. In my study I hope to find that driving experience and persons job or GPA also has something to do with it.

To gather this information I plan to use a survey. I hope to get a diverse sample however I know that a majority of my sample will probably be college students. I also plan to use phone interviews with older people that I know from out of state in order to make my sample more broad.