Eye-opening facts about driving

Americans are always moving on, and usually they're doing it incars across the highways of this country. How much do you know aboutthe psychology that operates when cars and drivers get in motion?Here's a chance to test your views with some experts. Answer true orfalse to each question.

1. Drivers who say they fell asleep at the wheel usually arelying, as this problem is relatively rare.

2. High-speed drivers are apt to be less aggressive than thosewho drive slowly.

3. The person who's aggressive in a car is apt to be controlledand non-aggressive in other areas.

4. Because men are more familiar with motors and mechanics,they're usually better drivers than women.

5. The risk of dying on the highway is no greater in thedaytime than at night.

6. Depression may be a significant factor in highway accidentsand fatalities.

7. The color of your car tells something about yourpersonality.

8. Sound plays a part in highway safety. ANSWERS:

1. False. They're probably telling the truth. The Instituteof Transportation and Traffic Engineering reported 22 percent of allautomobile accidents and 48 percent of all highway fatalities in thelast decade may be attributed to drivers who fell asleep.

2. False. About 60 percent of high-speed drivers areaggressive and antisocial, a team of Baltimore researchers reported.The get-out-of-my-way-now driver tends to be much less controlledthan the slower drivers.

3. False. The person who's aggressive behind the wheel alsotends to be aggressive and combative in other areas of life. L.Rowell Huesmann and Leonard Eron of the University of Illinois alsofound that aggressiveness exhibits itself early in life. It seemsaggressive 8-year-olds grow into aggressive 30- and 40-year-olds iftheir aggressive behavior doesn't kill them sooner.

4. False. Women are generally better drivers than men, andinsurance companies are aware of this. Women tend to be lessaggressive and take fewer risks at all times, hence, make fewermistakes. At night, women drivers react immediately and are lesslikely than men to doze or fall asleep.

5. False. Highway death risk after dark is 2 1/2 times greaterthan during the day. Drowsiness and inattention are the biggestcauses of night accidents. Night drivers also are more apt to beunder the influence of drugs.

6. True. Studies show that as many as one in seven road deathsmay actually be a suicide.

7. True. Those who choose black or white cars tend to beconservative, but those who select black tend to be a bit cool, whilethose in the white cars are apt to be more friendly. Those who buyred cars, said New Jersey psychiatrist Dr. Berthold Schwarz, tend tobe flamboyant self-starters; yellow-car owners are optimistic andcreative, and those who choose brown are solid citizens. Theblue-car people are tranquil and loyal, and those who choose greenare warm and well-balanced.

8. True. Low-frequency sounds and vibration, such as the whirrof vehicles going at high speeds, may produce symptoms similar tothose caused by heavy drinking. Noise from tape decks and radios canalso produce euphoria dangerous to some drivers.

If you answered six questions correctly, you're better informedthan most on this subject.