John North Editor & Publisher

A recent study by Colorado State social psychologist William Szlemko bears out my long-held theory that people who plaster their cars with bumper-stickers have certain, shall we say, “issues.”

Szlemko’s study found that drivers of cars with “territorial markers”  — bumper stickers, window decals, personalized license plates and so on —  get just as angry as everyone else when someone cuts them off, or sits too long when a traffic light turns green.

But, instead of merely muttering curses and moving on, they are much more likely than those who do not clutter up their bumpers with gratuitous messages to use their vehicles to express rage — by honking, tailgating and other aggressive behavior.

Surprisingly, what’s on the stickers doesn’t matter, the study found. Those who blissfully proclaim “Visualize World Peace” or “Easy Does It” prove to be just as aggressive drivers as those whose message growls “Kill Your Television” or “My Kid Beat Up Your Honor Student.”

The more markers a driver has, however, the more likely that indidivual is to act out the rage.

Road-ragers tend to view public roadways as “my street” and “my lane,” according to Szlemko.

He and other social scientists agree that people tend to carry around — in their heads — three kinds of territorialities, including:
• Personal territory, such as a home or a bedroom.

• Temporarily personal territory, such as an office cubicle or gym locker.

• Public territory, such as park benches, walking trails or roads.

Bumper-sticker-promo.jpg

From my own experience in Asheville, a city that seems all too eager to display its opinions on its tailgates, Szlemko’s findings ring true.

Drivers with lots of stickers seem to be the ones who drive slow in the fast lane, speed past on the right or emit jet-black smoke out their tailpipes and into my lungs — in other words, people who tend to act as if they are the only ones on the road, and that everyone and everything is a mere object to be ignored or dodged.

Moreover, in a world cluttered with advertising on any available blank surface, the bumper-sticker overload just adds to the white noise of propaganda.

Opinions have their place, especially when they are well thought-out, but it’s for good reason that simplistic thinking is derided as “bumper-sticker philosophy.”

And as for bumper-sticker excess: “Less Is More.”

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John North, publisher and editor of the Daily Planet, may be contact at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .