Road Rage: Are we driving ourselves to destruction?

12:00AM / Tuesday, March 30, 2004

Print | Email |

Simmer down behind the wheel, or you might be driving into trouble

(ARA) – After speeding down the interstate, weaving in and out of traffic, jamming on the breaks, cutting others off and throwing rude gestures at other drivers, you arrive (amazingly!) at your destination. Sure you may have antagonized other motorists in the process and maybe you didn’t obey every single law, but you had good reason, right? It’s a jungle out there, right? Wrong.

Hostility on the road not only affects drivers with feelings of road rage, but also every other driver on the road -- leaving everyone feeling emotionally frustrated and stressed out.

This trend, now referred to as road rage, has taken over the better judgment of many motorists on the highway today. The term "road rage" was officially adopted into the English language in 1997, when the phrase first debuted in the New Words edition of the Oxford English Dictionary.

Originally “road rage” meant one driver’s aggressive reaction to someone else’s driving. Not any longer. Now it includes such circumstances as the Washington, D.C. bicyclist who shot the driver of a car that ran into him, and a couple who threatened a driver with a knife after his BMW ran over their dog. Today the definition of “road rage” does not necessarily require the road or a car. In fact, the American Automobile Association’s Foundation for Traffic Safety reports that there has been a 51 percent increase in violent incidents involving drivers since 1990.

“A great deal of psychological stress comes from the hassles of dealing with other people on the road, and with driving, in general. Drivers get defensive when they are cut off, yelled at, honked at, or boxed in,” says Modesto Jesus Hevia, Psy.D., a professor of psychology at Argosy University/Phoenix.

Hevia adds that “Vigilante behavior on the roadways stems from a variety of sources. Frequently, hostile drivers will presume the personality and the motivations of other drivers on the road from the make or model of their car -- the notion being that aggressive drivers react to the ‘personality’ of a vehicle, and not necessarily the person who is driving it. SUVs, king-cab pickup trucks, sports cars and motorcycles may encourage the road rager who feels they’ve been wronged in some way.”

Outraged drivers have a hard time letting go of their feelings of aggravation, resentment, and revenge. They vent their emotions by complaining, cursing, blocking, or actually chasing fellow motorists. The emissions of anger seem appropriate responses to them at the time, but these actions usually leave the driver feeling emotionally unsatisfied.

Who hasn’t had thoughts that could lead to a road rage reaction? “Maybe I could pass that guy on the right and cut him off before the next exit?” Or, “They’re not going to pass me and, if they do, I will chase them down, get out of my car and show them who is king of the road!” How about “Nobody gives me the finger!”? According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, two-thirds of car accidents in the United States derive from aggressive driving.

Here are a few tips for preventing road rage:

* Don’t get too upset. Give drivers the benefit of the doubt -- that they made a mistake by cutting you off and let it go. Take a deep breath, and when it’s safe to pass, calmly indicate your acknowledgement of what they did. Nobody is perfect. Stay away from irresponsible drivers on the road instead of antagonizing them even more. If another driver’s aggressive behavior is intentional, the best thing to do is avoid eye contact and get out of the way.

* Stay on your guard. Road rage is usually precipitated by a glaring driving error which puts those around you in jeopardy. Simple practices like signaling appropriately when changing lanes or turning can help you avoid road ragers.

* Maintain Distances. It’s not a race. It’s not fun to have someone surgically attached to your bumper, so why attach yours to others? Don’t tailgate and get into the right hand lane if someone is moving at a faster rate of speed than you are.

* Please don’t speed. We’ve all heard the cliché, “Arrive Alive.” Driving fast provides you with no opportunity to react to the fatal flaws of others, to change lanes, make an exit or stop unexpectedly. Obeying the speed limit will more likely lead to less aggressive behavior because of the stress associated with driving at recklessly higher rates of speed.

The best way to avoid becoming a victim of such driving destruction, says Hevia, is to avoid responding in kind to bad behavior. He says the best survival strategy is to stay out of the way as there is no reasoning with someone who is behaving irrationally. It takes two people to initiate the problem of road rage and if there is only one participant in the act, it narrows the possibility of an even more dangerous situation. Don’t allow your driving to become a personal vendetta, or sporting competition that you MUST win at all costs. Because, nine times out of ten, the price will be extremely high. It may even cost you your life.

For more information on Argosy University, call (800) 377-0617 or visit Argosy University at www.argosyu.edu.

Here are some most common triggers for prompting an act of road rage:

* Not reacting soon enough after a light turns green.

* Weaving back and forth between lanes.

* Cutting other drivers off.

* Pulling out in front of someone and then slowing down after doing so.

* Tailgating to pressure other drivers to go faster or get out of the way.

* Trying to beat a yellow light turning red and obstructing a lane of traffic.

* Traveling in the passing lane at a slower rate of speed, making it impossible for others to pass you.

* Not paying attention because you’re on the phone and you’ve made an obscene gesture.