Ford are out to kill - or at least frighten you

[StuartG]

"Slim headlamps can make a vehicle’s exterior appear more determined and aggressive,” said Paul Wraith, Ford design manager. “They help give the appropriate sense of presence and purpose.”

Perhaps not news to the casual observer but a blatant admission that Ford is deliberately aiding and abetting the use of its vehicles for the intimidation of other road users for profit. I can't think how public policy in terms of legislation can address this exploitation of hatred of one road user by another. Instead how to shame Ford into submission?

Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/08/25/ford_mondeo_gains_led_headlights/

 

[Beebo]

That's a little OTT.
I'm sure I've seen bikes advertised as having "aggressive styling" it's just advertising speak, to get idiots to part with their money.
No one is saying any road user has a hatred of another! There is no suggestion that the car will be used as a battering ram to remove cyclists and pedestrians from the roads.

 

[cosmicbike]

Front end of my Honda looks aggressive, and given the first draw to any car is visual appeal then Ford are simply following the trend, and making their front end stand out from the crowd.

 

[GrasB]

Mondeo aggressive?.. it wouldn't know what aggressive is.

Having the front end of that bearing down on you... now that's aggressive!

 

[winjim]

Better?

 

[GrasB]

Friendly yes but that's an accident waiting to happen... people laughing so hard they can't keep control of their car & drive into something

 

[StuartG]

Oh dear @StuartG, talk about unintended consequences . Does kind of prove the point that we're all immune to this kind of stuff now though.

Not sure what you are referring too @User13710. Aggressive drivers do appear to choose aggressive cars. Are you discounting the possibility of positive feedback? I would mischievously confiscate the cars of those and be sentenced to driving that Nissan above. Might be more effective than fines or points

 

[Nigel-YZ1]

I thought driving with a fist at 12 o'clock on the wheel was the standard means of showing aggression these days.
It's certainly common among people who think they have the slightest control of the car as they nearly ram their nose up your arse.

 

[John the Monkey]

Is it the angle, or is that Alfa Romeo really that ridiculously chinny?

Cars eh? Cuh.

 

[raleighnut]

Mondeo aggressive?.. it wouldn't know what aggressive is.

Having the front end of that bearing down on you... now that's aggressive!

Especially if the brakes are up to the usual Alfa standard, mind you at least the fronts all plastic.

 

[glenn forger]

"The road is like a war zone," says Professor Leon James, an expert in road rage at the University of Hawaii. "Behind the wheel you assume another personality that is much more geared towards warfare."

Despite this clearly instinctual aspect, Prof James also believes that environment plays a part in the development of aggressive driving, even at an early age. He calls the back of the car the "road rage nursery" and believes that we learn our definition of attack and our subsequent reactions from our parents. In support of this is a social psychology experiment from the 1960s, which demonstrated that when a toddler witnesses its mother's aggression towards a toy it will mimic the same behaviour. It makes you wonder just how all those "babies on board" will develop as drivers.

According to Prof James, once the seeds of road rage have been sown, they are fed and watered by car adverts. "As drivers we have an emotional territoriality connected to cars," he says. "We are in our castle and we feel we are on the frontier. And if you look at car commercials they tend to encourage this 'we can go where no one else has gone' mentality".

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/road-safety/2743699/Road-rage-what-makes-us-do-it.html

I'm sure I've seen bikes advertised as having "aggressive styling" it's just advertising speak, to get idiots to part with their money.
.

A bike advert that refers to aggressive styling has nothing to do with behaviour on the road, it's about the frame geometry. Any head tube angle 73.5 degrees or more is considered to be aggressive on a midsized frame.

Car adverts are another matter. They talk about cars "demanding respect", the manufacturers give motor vehicles names like "Warrior" or "barbarian", the aggressive driving that causes so many accidents is encouraged by manufacturers and advertisers.

 

[Drago]

Park a Fucus next to my L200 (an Animal) on 33's with a 4" lift, and it suddenly doesn't look remotely "determined and aggressive." Car manufacturers talk utter s***e and I wouldn't give it much credence.

 

[theclaud]

Park a Fucus next to my L200 (an Animal) on 33's with a 4" lift

Could someone translate, pls?

 

[Drago]

Translation - a mild monster truck.

 

[theclaud]

Translation - a mild monster truck.

Is that like a wankpanzer?