Traffic Psychology: The Psychological Effects of Heavy Traffic

to the Drivers and Commuters

1.0 Introduction
Traffic Congestion is the biggest problem here in the Philippines. It is considered as a social

problem because this is often the case faced by the commuters going to work or school passing

through the roads with heavy traffic. Drivers are also affected with the heavy traffic they are facing

every day. Their income everyday are affected, the time wasted of drivers and commuters, and the

different stressors that many people encountered every day. Therefore, this stress, anger, and

dominance that are often unconscious where people experienced in every traffic congestion lead

them to road accidents.

More than 90% of road accidents are caused by human error due to maladaptive behavior

in interaction with roadways or other vehicles. With the help of traffic psychologist which uses

scientific research, assessment, counseling and rehabilitation can fully understand and predict road

user behavior at specified levels and provide measures to modify and to minimize the harmful

effects of traffic participation.

Aside from road accidents, traffic violations can also be a factor that causes traffic.

Punishment is not sufficient to prevent traffic violations. Traffic-psychological programs for traffic

offenders have proven to reduce reoffending rates by about 50% compared to control groups.

Accordingly, traffic-psychological programs are the best way to reintegrate traffic violators into a

safety-oriented traffic-system. Traffic-psychology aims at making "unfit" drivers "fit" again.

Driver education can be completed by traffic psychology. In driver training we learn what

to decide in traffic. From traffic psychology we can learn to understand how we decide. The causes

of accidents are highlighted in the GDE matrix (Goals for Driver Education). The two highest
levels of the GDE matrix deal with attitudes and motives. The right-hand column of the GDE

matrix deals with the ability to self-evaluate. The results of scientific research and the methods of

traffic psychology are best-suited to dealing with the attitudes, motives and self-evaluation skills

of drivers.

According to the studies of Japan International Coordinating Agency (JICA), there are

approximately 2.4 billion pesos are wasted every day because of traffic and 800 billion pesos are

wasted every year. This big amount is wasted which has a big impact in our economy. Aside from

billions of money wasted every year, there is also affect in our health of the commuters and drivers,

example in the smoke emitted by the transportation vehicles that can be inhaled by the commuters

or drivers which can cause cardiovascular disease. Traffic noise can also be a factor affecting the

people which can lead to stress.

Traffic psychology is a relatively new sub-field of psychology that is closely related to human

factors. Traffic psychology focused on the psychological principles to increase the understanding

of behaviors that occur in the context of travel, transportation logistics, the nature and cause of

accidents, and road rage are common topics of investigation.

The aim of the study is to promote self-awareness in driving situations for us to be prepared

in kind of situation were not aware – with greater awareness about one’s driving behavior comes

improved driving skills and to reduce the risk of causing accidents. Also improving driver’s

reactions to roadway events. This includes facilitating self-reflection in order to prevent drivers

from overreacting to situations on the roadway.

2.0 Theoretical Framework

The volume of vehicles theory. According to this theory, the monumental traffic that

beleaguers Filipinos today is caused mainly by the fact that there are just too many vehicles on the

road. The proposed solution, therefore, is vehicle reduction—something that was naturally met by

a lot of caterwauling. There’s already a vehicle reduction scheme in place that grounds vehicles

on certain days based on their plate numbers so yet another scheme would be a cruel

imposition. Linked to the volume of vehicle theory is the complexity theory that is now being

peddled alongside a sub-theory on long-term solutions. According to proponents of this theory,

the traffic problem is a complex phenomenon that requires multiple and long-term solutions.