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Traffic Congestion Leads to Stress, Bad Work Performance
Aired September 30, 2003 - 13:45 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: New study of the nation's highways is confirming what we know from our daily driving, traffic congestion is bad.
It's getting worse. Take a look at these numbers. Worse traffic in the top ten cities. This is the amount of time wasted every day, each and every day of your life. Well, I was going to read that to you but it changed screens. So you read it for yourself.
It adds up to 51 hours per year in, I think, in California, just a waste of time. Los Angeles. All of that frustration and waste of time is creating plenty o' stress. For more we turn to CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.
Elizabeth, how long is your commute?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's not bad, 25 minutes. If there is an accident it can be over an hour and I want to tear my hair out. Totally, completely. But I don't do bad things like shoot other people or anything like that on the highway.
O'BRIEN: We can get you a gun if you like.
COHEN: I prefer not to have one. I'm afraid I might use it sometimes. Just kidding.
But we all know how terrible it is when you're stuck in traffic and you can't move. What studies have shown is that it can actually influence things like job performance. It can influence your health. It can influence your relationship with your spouse and other family members. It can be bad.
And it can have affects you don't necessarily think about. Here are some. It increases your blood pressure, lowers your job satisfaction. People who have a lot of stress on the road have higher illness rates, higher rates of absenteeism at work and poor performance.
So if you think it's all in your head when you're feeling like you're going crazy and you feel your blood pressure go up, it's not just in your head. It really does create stress and bad health.
O'BRIEN: All right. So I was thinking one way to avoid it would be to install a TV with a satellite dish and you could be watching TV the whole way, right?
COHEN: And you could also get in an accident that way. Fabulous idea, Miles. Next?
O'BRIEN: Cell phone conversations, makeup application? No. What is the best way to avoid all this?
COHEN: Right. And all of those things Miles mentioned, cell phones, certainly it's much more pleasant if you're having a conversation with someone. But of course, you need to realize that at some point hopefully you will move and you might not want to be talking to anybody.
Here we go. Listening to music and radio. That doesn't take your attention quite as much. Carpool, public transportation. Obvious things that you can do. Use alternate routes. Try to see alternate ways of getting there would help.
One study actually found that when people chose a route that was more scenic, where they went by golf course or some woods or something like that, they were less stressed out than if they were driving by strip malls.
Alter your commute time, by just 15 minutes. Leave 15 minutes earlier or leave just 15 minutes later, you may find that traffic could be very different.
O'BRIEN: Or just stay home. Telecommute.
COHEN: Hey, don't quit your job.
O'BRIEN: What about books on tape?
COHEN: That could work, too.
O'BRIEN: Now, let me ask you this. Now, see, I have four miles. I don't really have a commute. When I get in traffic, I go nuts. Is that common? In other words, are people that do this every day, do they sort of build up a tolerance?
COHEN: It is common for people like you who don't have bad commutes. When they do run into a bad commute, it actually can be worse than if they were used to it.
Studies have shown when people have terrible commutes day after day, year after year they are better at handling it. They are used to it. However, people not used to bad commutes and occasionally run into a traffic jam or two, they actually can get more stressed out. It's sort of the opposite of what you might think.
O'BRIEN: All right. Elizabeth Cohen, thank you for those helpful hints. Appreciate that.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 30, 2003 - 13:45 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: New study of the nation's highways is confirming what we know from our daily driving, traffic congestion is bad.
It's getting worse. Take a look at these numbers. Worse traffic in the top ten cities. This is the amount of time wasted every day, each and every day of your life. Well, I was going to read that to you but it changed screens. So you read it for yourself.
It adds up to 51 hours per year in, I think, in California, just a waste of time. Los Angeles. All of that frustration and waste of time is creating plenty o' stress. For more we turn to CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.
Elizabeth, how long is your commute?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's not bad, 25 minutes. If there is an accident it can be over an hour and I want to tear my hair out. Totally, completely. But I don't do bad things like shoot other people or anything like that on the highway.
O'BRIEN: We can get you a gun if you like.
COHEN: I prefer not to have one. I'm afraid I might use it sometimes. Just kidding.
But we all know how terrible it is when you're stuck in traffic and you can't move. What studies have shown is that it can actually influence things like job performance. It can influence your health. It can influence your relationship with your spouse and other family members. It can be bad.
And it can have affects you don't necessarily think about. Here are some. It increases your blood pressure, lowers your job satisfaction. People who have a lot of stress on the road have higher illness rates, higher rates of absenteeism at work and poor performance.
So if you think it's all in your head when you're feeling like you're going crazy and you feel your blood pressure go up, it's not just in your head. It really does create stress and bad health.
O'BRIEN: All right. So I was thinking one way to avoid it would be to install a TV with a satellite dish and you could be watching TV the whole way, right?
COHEN: And you could also get in an accident that way. Fabulous idea, Miles. Next?
O'BRIEN: Cell phone conversations, makeup application? No. What is the best way to avoid all this?
COHEN: Right. And all of those things Miles mentioned, cell phones, certainly it's much more pleasant if you're having a conversation with someone. But of course, you need to realize that at some point hopefully you will move and you might not want to be talking to anybody.
Here we go. Listening to music and radio. That doesn't take your attention quite as much. Carpool, public transportation. Obvious things that you can do. Use alternate routes. Try to see alternate ways of getting there would help.
One study actually found that when people chose a route that was more scenic, where they went by golf course or some woods or something like that, they were less stressed out than if they were driving by strip malls.
Alter your commute time, by just 15 minutes. Leave 15 minutes earlier or leave just 15 minutes later, you may find that traffic could be very different.
O'BRIEN: Or just stay home. Telecommute.
COHEN: Hey, don't quit your job.
O'BRIEN: What about books on tape?
COHEN: That could work, too.
O'BRIEN: Now, let me ask you this. Now, see, I have four miles. I don't really have a commute. When I get in traffic, I go nuts. Is that common? In other words, are people that do this every day, do they sort of build up a tolerance?
COHEN: It is common for people like you who don't have bad commutes. When they do run into a bad commute, it actually can be worse than if they were used to it.
Studies have shown when people have terrible commutes day after day, year after year they are better at handling it. They are used to it. However, people not used to bad commutes and occasionally run into a traffic jam or two, they actually can get more stressed out. It's sort of the opposite of what you might think.
O'BRIEN: All right. Elizabeth Cohen, thank you for those helpful hints. Appreciate that.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
