Many times when a road rage incident occurs it is because the person was under stress in other areas of their life. The addition of congested traffic can add to stress, which then explodes when it is perceived someone else on the road has acted in an aggressive way, whether intentional or not. Even if you answered no to the questions above, are you sure you aren't causing others to lash out with road rage?
Ask yourself these questions as well:. If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may be contributing to causing road rage in others. While a violent reaction to switching lanes without a turn signal isn't warranted, it's best to not put yourself in that situation to begin with by always being aware of other drivers and driving cautiously. The following statistics compiled from the NHTSA and the Auto Vantage auto club show that aggressive driving and road rage are causing serious problems on our roads.
If you find that you have agitated another driver, whether the fault is truly yours or not, do not react or retaliate to the other driver on the road. This will only cause the situation to escalate. Remind yourself that the other driver is just bad at handling stress, avoid eye contact and continue to practice safe driving habits.
Unfortunately, it does not look like this problem is going away any time soon. All you can do is be a considerate, aware driver that follows the rules of the road.
While it may be difficult in the heat of the moment, do not give in to feelings of anger or rage on the road. Think twice before you honk the horn or flip that finger, because you never know what may set off the person in the cars around you. Perhaps someone cuts you off, runs a stop sign next to you, merges improperly, etc. But the line between irritation and road rage is whether or not retaliatory action is taken — something that endangers the lives of everyone around.
Road rage is explosive anger caused by inconveniences and incidents that occur while driving. It is most often wielded in a retaliatory fashion — the raging driver believes that they have been wronged in some way, anger gets the better of them, and they take revenge on the perceived wrongdoer.
While most instances of road rage result in shouting expletives and nothing more, this is not always the case. Road rage historically has, in some cases, led to violence. In fact, around 12, injuries and murders have been attributed to road rage in the past 7 years.
These statistics are not meant to be alarmist, but to illustrate the realities and possibilities of taking escalatory actions against strangers on the road. Road rage is the manifestation of underlying anger issues — the inability to control oneself and their emotions, making their behavior unpredictable. Some of the most common forms of road rage include:. We can be feeling upset over something that happened at work, or with a friend or a partner.
Oftentimes, road rage is no more than an initial reaction, triggered by the irresponsible behavior of others; it becomes more serious when you feel it necessary to enact revenge for said behavior. Top Driver has 40 locations throughout the Midwest that teach a variety of driving courses from teen driver education to adult refresher courses. Driving can be stressful, but feeling angry when behind the wheel could lead to aggressive driving, distracted driving or even an accident.
Aggressive driving can take many forms, like tailgating, weaving and speeding. It happens a lot: One survey found that nearly 80 percent of drivers expressed significant anger or aggression behind the wheel at least once over the course of the prior year.
The consequences can be serious: Aggressive driving played a role in 56 percent of fatal crashes over a five-year period, according to one analysis. Here are some common factors that often contribute to road rage incidents or aggressive driving behavior.
Make sure you have the right car insurance policy to protect yourself from aggressive drivers or if you find yourself the victim of a road rage incident. Taking a defensive driving course could help you stay safer on the road; it could also qualify you for a discount on car insurance. Search for a course near you at geico. Email Your email address will not be published. This is a really great article. I hurried and stopped, and waited for the car to pass.
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