Even though interstate traffic congestion won’t go away, the congestion has negative effects because interstate traffic congestion is dangerous and people are not aware of the dangers that traffic congestion can cause. There are many negative effects of interstate traffic congestion or traffic jams. One of the negative effects of traffic congestion is stress. Road rage, a form of stress is at the extreme end of the aggressive-driving spectrum. Any type of deliberate, unsafe behavior is considered to be road rage. Tailgating, changing lanes erratically, illegally passing other drivers, and even gesturing and shouting.
These behaviors can quickly turn into physically assaulting another driver and other types of violence. “Road rage is driving under the influence of impaired emotions,” says Leon James, who teaches traffic psychology at the University of Hawaii. It’s triggered by mental assumptions we’re making about other drivers, like assuming someone is doing something on purpose to bother you, because they’re inconsiderate. Another negative effects of traffic congestion is air pollution. Some drivers who are exposed to air pollution will likely experience health risk. Air pollution is air that contains a high concentration of pollutants that has the potential to cause harm to humans, animal, plants. It is an important risk factor for the health of populations throughout the world. In fact, it has been estimated that outdoor air pollution caused 3.7 premature deaths on a global basis in 2012 alone. The damaging effect of air pollution on the lungs depends on the type and concentration of the air pollutant.
The most common types of air pollutants are: Particulate matter (PM) small particles that can irritate and cause damage to the airways, Nitrogen dioxide a gas that can irritate the airways and cause a flare up of asthma or COPD, Ozone a gas that can reduce lung capacity and irritate the airways and Sulfur dioxide a gas that can irritate the lining of the airways, particularly of individuals with asthma. Finally a study was conducted to investigate the relationship between congestion and accidents with a specific emphasis on the impact of traffic volume levels on accident frequency, rate, and severity. The accident data from five freeways (I-495, I-695, I-95, I-270, and US50) and five arterials (MD2, MD355, US1, MD410, and MD97) were analyzed with multivariate statistical methods to evaluate the widespread belief among traffic safety professionals that an increase in congestion levels often result in more but less severe accidents on freeways and/or local arterials. However, the impact of congestion on the accident rate tends to vary between freeways and arterials, and differs significantly across peak and off-peak periods.
The estimation results, based on the available sample data, reveal that accident rates on local arterials tend to decrease with an increase in traffic volume. In contrast, accident rates on freeway segments during peak hours indicate a positive correlation with traffic volume per lane. Drivers were interviewed over cellular telephones in high? and low?congestion conditions during a single commute. During each interview, state measures of driver stress and driver behaviors were obtained.
Behavior responses were subdivided into six categories: aggressive, information seeking, planning, minor self?destructive, distraction, and relaxation techniques. Both state driver stress and aggression were greater in high? than in low?congestion conditions. No other behavior category differed between low and high congestion. Multiple regressions were calculated to determine the predictors of state driver stress. In low congestion, time urgency predicted state driver stress, while aggression predicted driver stress in high congestion. In both conditions, trait susceptibility toward viewing driving as generally stressful was predictive of state driver stress levels. If you live in a large city or any area where there are lots of commuters on the road, then you are probably familiar with the effects of traffic congestion. What you may not realize is the extent of the effects heavy traffic congestion can have. This gridlock can have a tremendous impact on your personal life, career, your future and even your safety. If possible, adjust your schedule to avoid heavy rush hours.
You will save time if you arrive at work an hour before or after the rush hours and leave accordingly. Turn on the station that reports on live traffic updates, so you can adjust your route if necessary. Often traffic congestion starts while you’re driving, so it’s good to know some other routes that you could take in case an accident is a reason for the congestion Finding a solution to traffic congestion could mean a big improvement in the quality of life in your area. Some thing we can do that may help to reduce the negative effects of traffic congestion are: Maintaining a gap between cars, driving at a consistent speed, avoiding changing lanes too often, allowing other drivers to merge into your lane, paying attention to the road conditions, avoiding taking your eyes off the road and pulling over quickly and completely if you have a problem. Interstate traffic congestion won’t go away, but being aware of the negative effects of traffic congestion may help drivers to think about when, where and how they drive.
