Speed. CSDD Campaign to Reduce Driving Speed

Recently, at the invitation of the CSDD (Road Traffic Safety Directorate), I participated in a traffic safety campaign aimed at reducing the number of violations related to excessive speeding. As part of the collaboration, my role was to comment on the psychological factors that lead drivers to choose to drive faster than permitted. To provide my commentary, I spoke at a press conference, gave several interviews, and prepared a few articles. Here is one of them, published on the Delfi.lv portal on November 23.

Speeding and Psychology.

Do the wild capitalism days still reign on Latvia’s roads?

Psychotherapist Ansis Jurgis Stabingis shares his reflections on the psychological aspects of speed. Why do drivers drive faster than permitted? There is no single reason why people drive fast. It is a combination of many different reasons. Both men and women exceed the speed limit, both young and old, regardless of what brand or year of car they drive. Therefore, we cannot speak of a single speeder profile, and consequently there is no single method for reducing the number of speed violators. But what methods would work more effectively? How effective are fines? Nobody likes paying fines, no matter how much money they have. The potential trouble and time spent in conversations with police officers is unpleasant for everyone too. But the question is how inevitable the punishment is — does the driver always face a penalty when driving faster than allowed? If not, if punishment is not inevitable but rather a lottery — then fines serve little purpose. And what about scare tactics? Unfortunately, intimidation is also not the best method. Yes, it works, but there are several problems — first, different drivers require different doses of fear to achieve the desired effect. Perhaps one will laugh it off while another will be so frightened that they will not get behind the wheel at all. It is hard to calibrate. Moreover, if a person drives near the edge of their fear threshold, they are tense, not free, and do not drive as well as they could. Therefore, the best approach is not to coerce or intimidate, but to make people think, reconsider their attitude, and ultimately convince themselves that it is not worth exceeding the permitted driving speed. The most effective deterrent of all is drivers’ own awareness that excessive speeding does not pay off and ultimately causes more harm than benefit. One very recent example — yesterday on Ulmanis Avenue, the car behind me first rapidly approached, then flashed its lights urging me to drive faster or let them pass, and finally, seizing the first opportunity to overtake, flew past me at a speed that must have been 100-110 km/h in a zone where 70 is permitted. A kilometer later, at the intersection with Liepaja Street, we met again. I was standing right behind them. And I thought: “Well, you didn’t get very far after all!” In the city, there is no point in “racing” — you will not reach your destination much faster anyway. So why risk a whole series of potential problems? What are the most common psychological reasons for speeding? They are also very diverse. It may be a desire to show off, to blow off steam, or a person simply does not care about the law or other road users. Perhaps it is anger, fatigue, or inattention. Perhaps it is simply stress or genuinely being in a hurry. From the outside, we see one car driving fast, but we do not know who is behind the wheel or why the driver has chosen to drive faster than allowed. And what about showing off? Is that also one of the reasons? Yes — absolutely, especially for young people, teenagers, or those who are stuck in adolescence, showing off is very important. For these people, it matters much more what others think of them than what they think of themselves. Consequently, one way to reduce the number of speed violations is to change society’s attitude toward those who drive fast. For example, a young man may think he will gain greater approval from a girl if he drives fast, aggressively, takes risks, and shows his power. Some girls may like that. However, if a girl has serious intentions, she might interpret this bravado not as a positive trait but as recklessness, shortsightedness, irresponsibility — and will not want to be involved with such a person. In many countries, societal disapproval deters drivers from speeding. Does it play a sufficiently significant role in Latvia? Unfortunately, societal disapproval in Latvia has not developed strongly enough. We — the drivers — see someone speeding every day; perhaps we even do it ourselves. Yet we do not see drivers being punished just as frequently. We clearly see the benefits for speed violators — look, they got first in line! Meanwhile, I am sitting here honestly, waiting through a second green light. Regularly seeing violations go unpunished creates the awareness that punishment is actually avoidable, nothing bad happens, and benefits are gained instead. Against this backdrop, there is no basis for societal disapproval to form. I, as the honest driver, end up looking like the fool. It is an absurd situation that creates absurd thinking. If the passenger next to you adds their contribution by noting, “look what a skilled driver that is” — then this positive attitude takes shape. Conversely, if passengers were to say — “that one is driving like a maniac,” and especially — if they said it to the driver themselves, for example: “I will not ride with you because I find it unacceptable that you take unnecessary risks and ignore the speed limit” — then the driver’s habits would change too. Why does society hold the perception that BMW drivers are typical speeders? The foundation of human psychological functioning is something called associations. Their mechanism is not only psychological but also physiological. Therefore, when a specific stimulus acts on our nervous system, a certain familiar association is triggered. The advertising industry works directly on this — on forming associations. So we can say that an association between fast driving and BMW has formed in the public consciousness. Moreover, this association works equally well in both directions. Is there a basis for this association? At a recent press conference, a CSDD representative showed statistics in which BMW was the unequivocal leader among car brands whose drivers were fined for speeding, so we can say this association has its foundation. For a person hearing this presentation, the existing association is only reinforced. The same happens when we see a BMW fly past us on the highway at tremendous speed. The more information about BMW owners as speed violators is repeated, the more firmly this association becomes established in us. However, of course, it would be irresponsible to claim that all BMW drivers are speeders. There are also plenty of drivers who drive BMWs and do not exceed the speed limit. How would you assess the mutual relationships between drivers on Latvia’s roads? The situation has improved considerably recently — drivers are more courteous toward one another. It is possible that the economic crisis has helped too, as the number of cars has decreased. On the other hand, it can be said that on Latvia’s roads, the laws of wild capitalism still prevail, with very pronounced competition among drivers — who will be first, who will be more agile, who will beat whom? In countries where the road situation would be characterized more as developed capitalism, drivers have understood that by cooperating they can achieve more. As an individual, one person may gain a little less, but as a society — more. Energy is not spent on mutual competition but on the common good, so that everyone is guaranteed a safe arrival home. In our society, everyone tries to do everything to reach their destination first, without regard for other drivers. However, the situation is changing. You can see both good examples of cooperation and blatant disregard for others. The reasons for this include the economic and social situation in the country, characterized by the desperation of individual people trying to squeeze out some benefit with their last strength, as well as the cooperation of residents and drivers in the name of the common good.