Bumper Sticker = Bad Driver?

ZBicyclist

Drivers who personalize their cars take it personally. Beware of the
bumper
sticker..

That's the unexpected conclusion of a recent study by William
Szlemko of
Colorado State University in the Journal of Applied Psychology,
reported in
the Washington Post June 16, 2008.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...ST2008061502199
or http://tinyurl.com/5w8uwy

"Drivers of cars with bumper stickers,
window decals, personalized license plates and other "territorial
markers"
not only get mad when someone cuts in their lane or is slow to
respond to a
changed traffic light, but they are far more likely than those who
do not
personalize their cars to use their vehicles to express rage -- by
honking,
tailgating and other aggressive behavior."

It does not seem to matter whether the messages on the stickers are
about
peace and love -- "Visualize World Peace," "My Kid Is an Honor
Student" --
or angry and in your face -- "Don't Mess With Texas," "My Kid Beat
Up Your
Honor Student." The personalizing of the vehicle might be seen as
territory
markers.

"The more markers a car has, the more aggressively the person tends
to drive
when provoked," Szlemko said. "Just the presence of territory
markers
predicts the tendency to be an aggressive driver."

The implications for bicyclists are obvious -- aggressive drivers
are bad
news. The problems are equally obvious -- very seldom do we get a
look at a
vehicle's bumper until it has passed us.

Zoot Katz

On Mon, 16 Jun 2008 20:54:52 -0500, "ZBicyclist"
<ZBicyclist@excite.com> commented on:
\
> http://tinyurl.com/5w8uwy
\
>The implications for bicyclists are obvious -- aggressive drivers
>are bad
>news. The problems are equally obvious -- very seldom do we get a
>look at a
>vehicle's bumper until it has passed us.

hmmmm, I have stickers on some of my bikes.

The "cars suck!", "fukenkarz" and "any idiot can drive" stickers are
quite clearly right back in those drivers' faces.

If my sticker is more aggressive than theirs are they more or less
likely to attack me?

I'm not worried about the trixter-hipster-fixters who take offense at
the "one less fixed gear" sticker on my Xtracycle.
--
zk

Zoot Katz

On Mon, 16 Jun 2008 20:54:52 -0500, "ZBicyclist"
<ZBicyclist@excite.com> wrote:

>aggressive drivers
>are bad
>news. The problems are equally obvious -- very seldom do we get a
>look at a
>vehicle's bumper until it has passed us.

uhh, uhhh, I just remembered my friend Luke yesterday relating a
bumper sticker he saw once while hitch hiking.

It was on the front bumper and read "Think Fast Hippy"
--
zk

Tom Keats

In article <48ae54t1kr4dtcsl5v3van58i7c7duk8im@4ax.com>,
Zoot Katz <zootkatz@operamail.com> writes:
> On Mon, 16 Jun 2008 20:54:52 -0500, "ZBicyclist"
> <ZBicyclist@excite.com> wrote:
>
>>aggressive drivers
>>are bad
>>news. The problems are equally obvious -- very seldom do we get a
>>look at a
>>vehicle's bumper until it has passed us.
>
> uhh, uhhh, I just remembered my friend Luke yesterday relating a
> bumper sticker he saw once while hitch hiking.
>
> It was on the front bumper and read "Think Fast Hippy"

The guy I get rides to work with has a bumper sticker
on his '97 Mazda 323, that says I {heart} Jesus.

One day while going to work we encountered a car ahead of us
with a bumper sticker that said: "Honk If You Hate Scientology."

My driver guy practically made love to his horn button over
that one.

I might have encouraged him.

<shrug>

A little.


cheers,
Tom

--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca

Chico Cyclist

On Jun 16, 6:54*pm, "ZBicyclist" <ZBicycl...@excite.com> wrote:
> Drivers who personalize their cars take it personally. Beware of the
> bumper
> sticker..
>
> That's the unexpected conclusion of a recent study by William
> Szlemko of
> Colorado State University in the Journal of Applied Psychology,
> reported in
> the Washington Post June 16, 2008.
>
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...008/06/15/AR200...
> or *http://tinyurl.com/5w8uwy
>
> "Drivers of cars with bumper stickers,
> window decals, personalized license plates and other "territorial
> markers"
> not only get mad when someone cuts in their lane or is slow to
> respond to a
> changed traffic light, but they are far more likely than those who
> do not
> personalize their cars to use their vehicles to express rage -- by
> honking,
> tailgating and other aggressive behavior."
>
> It does not seem to matter whether the messages on the stickers are
> about
> peace and love -- "Visualize World Peace," "My Kid Is an Honor
> Student" --
> or angry and in your face -- "Don't Mess With Texas," "My Kid Beat
> Up Your
> Honor Student." *The personalizing of the vehicle might be seen as
> territory
> markers.
>
> "The more markers a car has, the more aggressively the person tends
> to drive
> when provoked," Szlemko said. "Just the presence of territory
> markers
> predicts the tendency to be an aggressive driver."
>
> The implications for bicyclists are obvious -- aggressive drivers
> are bad
> news. *The problems are equally obvious -- very seldom do we get a
> look at a
> vehicle's bumper until it has passed us.

This is interesting - I have a small car i don't use much, but it does
have tons of bumper stickers on it. The only thing is, all of the
stickers have something to do with bicycling(brand names, Share The
Road, etc.).

Stephen Harding

Zoot Katz wrote:

> hmmmm, I have stickers on some of my bikes.
>
> The "cars suck!", "fukenkarz" and "any idiot can drive" stickers are
> quite clearly right back in those drivers' faces.
>
> If my sticker is more aggressive than theirs are they more or less
> likely to attack me?
>
> I'm not worried about the trixter-hipster-fixters who take offense at
> the "one less fixed gear" sticker on my Xtracycle.

I really think Zoot needs some fake machine gun mounts on his
ride to get the attention of motorists so they know this cyclist
has "'tude"!

A twin 50 "stinger" mount off a rear rack and perhaps "package
guns" off a front rack. Some simple PVC piping wrapped with
larger diameter piping with holes cut in it to simulate the
cooling shields and painted black would do the trick.

Of course a reflex sight mounted on the handlebars would
result in no "cagers" giving him any grief!!!


SMH

Zoot Katz

On Tue, 17 Jun 2008 12:04:45 GMT, Stephen Harding
<smharding16@msn.com> wrote:

>I really think Zoot needs some fake machine gun mounts on his
>ride to get the attention of motorists so they know this cyclist
>has "'tude"!
>
>A twin 50 "stinger" mount off a rear rack and perhaps "package
>guns" off a front rack. Some simple PVC piping wrapped with
>larger diameter piping with holes cut in it to simulate the
>cooling shields and painted black would do the trick.
>
>Of course a reflex sight mounted on the handlebars would
>result in no "cagers" giving him any grief!!!

Tom and I have discussed a tail-gunner set up for the Xtracycle.

Putting a rear facing tractor seat on the deck and moving the
passenger pegs backwould be easy. The bags hold the belt-fed ammo.

To create some plausible deniability the "gun" would have to serve
some higher purpose. Perhaps it could be called a decorative video
camera housing. It could also conceal an mp3 player and amplifier
blasting Flight of the Valkyries. Maybe a little synthesiser so you
could make helicopter and machine gun sound effects.
--
zk

Alex Colvin

>I really think Zoot needs some fake machine gun mounts on his
>ride to get the attention of motorists so they know this cyclist
>has "'tude"!

You know, waving a fake gun is generally a really bad idea.

Take a tip from Hiro Protagonist, and carry a katana.

--
mac the naïf

It's Chris

From: zootkatz@operamail.com (Zoot*Katz):

>Tom and I have discussed a tail-gunner
>set up for the Xtracycle.

>Putting a rear facing tractor seat on the
>deck and moving the passenger pegs
>backwould be easy. The bags hold the
>belt-fed ammo.

>To create some plausible deniability the
>"gun" would have to serve some higher
>purpose. Perhaps it could be called a
>decorative video camera housing. It
>could also conceal an mp3 player and
>amplifier blasting Flight of the Valkyries.

>Maybe a little synthesiser so you could
>make helicopter and machine gun sound
>effects.
>--

>zk

Hmmm, I wonder hou much thrust a Mini-Gun would develope..?

- -
Compliments of:
"Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

If you want to E-mail me use:
ChrisZCorner "at" webtv "dot" net

My website:
http://geocities.com/czcorner

Tom Keats

In article <houf54dmhcvjmkcpamt84jdeldp378tf5u@4ax.com>,
Zoot Katz <zootkatz@operamail.com> writes:
> On Tue, 17 Jun 2008 12:04:45 GMT, Stephen Harding
> <smharding16@msn.com> wrote:
>
>>I really think Zoot needs some fake machine gun mounts on his
>>ride to get the attention of motorists so they know this cyclist
>>has "'tude"!
>>
>>A twin 50 "stinger" mount off a rear rack and perhaps "package
>>guns" off a front rack. Some simple PVC piping wrapped with
>>larger diameter piping with holes cut in it to simulate the
>>cooling shields and painted black would do the trick.
>>
>>Of course a reflex sight mounted on the handlebars would
>>result in no "cagers" giving him any grief!!!
>
> Tom and I have discussed a tail-gunner set up for the Xtracycle.

Ah, yes. A twist to the concept of "car hunting."

> Putting a rear facing tractor seat on the deck and moving the
> passenger pegs backwould be easy. The bags hold the belt-fed ammo.
>
> To create some plausible deniability the "gun" would have to serve
> some higher purpose. Perhaps it could be called a decorative video
> camera housing.

If it blasted Campinos or other wrapped candies, that could
be useful at bike events.

Then there's always SillyString or soap bubbles.

> It could also conceal an mp3 player and amplifier
> blasting Flight of the Valkyries. Maybe a little synthesiser so you
> could make helicopter and machine gun sound effects.

That could be interesting while gliding by Friday afternoon
rush-hour gridlock. But to tell ya the truth, anything Wagner
goes against my grain, like fingernails scraping across a
blackboard, or accidentally chewing on tinfoil, or stepping on
spilt sugar on the floor. If there was an ASCII skull-&-crossbones
character, I'd use it as an emoticon to describe my antipathy
toward Wagner's tunes, e.g: I <skull-&-crossbones> Wagner.

Some Chopin as played by Brailowsky or Gould would probably be
more soothing to those poor, car-bondaged folx.

Putting smiles on people's faces are little victories.
Ya can't shoot smiles onto people with a gun. Well, you
could, but it would be so fake, and so artless. Better to
gently tickle joy out o' them. If there was a way to do
that by pointing a threatening object at them, I'd be all
for it.


cheers, & I wanna return to 1965,
Tom

--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca