Some reasons people do stupid things

Network Rail has issued the video above, which shows the stupid things people do at railway level crossings: people who ignore flashing red lights, loud sirens and descending gates (or descended gates) and still cross the railway line. All the people in the video escaped death, but only just. In fact, level crossings are still the main location for fatalities on the British railway system. In 2013/4, there were eight deaths on level crossings, none of which were found to be ‘industry-caused’ according to the subsequent enquiries. There are many other kinds of hazardous stupidity on daily view in our city streets: cyclists on busy roads who wear earphones and are thereby unable to hear traffic behind them; people who start walking across a road junction just as the lights change; people who walk out into the road looking at their mobile phone and not at the traffic; and people who drive their car while on their mobile phone or even while reading a map.

There are many explanations for stupidity of this kind. One is alcohol, which magically robs us of the burden of thought. Drunks have been seen sitting on the railway tracks in the town of Poole, where there is a level crossing between the high street and the shopping centre. A second explanation is that some people (especially young men) enjoy the sensation of danger, while at the same time believe themselves to be immortal. A third explanation is the simple failure to appreciate danger. For instance, children may not understand why it is important to wear a seatbelt until they see a re-enactment of an accident. Many adults too respond more to visual than written information, and hence may not appreciate that their behaviour is dangerous until they experience its consequences, personally or vicariously.

But I think that the main reason people behave stupidly is because of they way in which they process information. More specifically, many people typically to respond to only one stimulus at a time. So the people who crosses the road even though the pedestrian light is on red do so because they have glanced ahead and seen stationary cars in front of them. They then react to that information and walk, ignoring other contrary information (such as the red light). At level crossings, the one dominating piece of information is a clear road ahead, which eliminates awareness of the red flashing lights and the descending gates. Mobile phones are an extreme example of a dominating piece of information because they emit an alarm signal (their ringtone). When hearing this, people are tempted to suspend all practical activity, such as driving a car in busy traffic or even speaking to another person in front of them.

For some people, the dominating piece of information is not what they see in the road or the level crossing, but what other people are doing. This means that they cross the road despite the warning signs because they see other people doing it. Indeed, some people live their entire lives as an act of imitation. This can be a successful life-plan, for people who are wrong with the crowd are usually more popular than those who are right by themselves. But crowds can err, can panic, can even carry out acts of violence and cruelty. Saying “I did it because everyone else did” is no defence in law. Nor will it protect you from getting run over by a train.

See also: Not staying focussed