Road Rage--How to Prevent or Avoid It

What is road rage? People often confuse road rage with aggressive driving; however, the two offenses are very different. It is the latter that usually causes the former to occur in varying extremes. A simple definition of road rage is when a traffic incident escalates into a far more serious situation. A more poignant description of road rage is when drivers of vehicles become enraged to the point or degree of potentially causing a traffic incident or literally causing a tragic accident involving the offensive driver, the enraged driver, and sometimes innocent third party drivers. The subject of this article is how to prevent or avoid road rage if you can.

Ø Aggressive Driving: In my thirty-something years of driving, I have observed that the number one cause of most road rage incidents results from the maneuvers or actions of aggressive drivers. Aggressive drivingis a combination of traffic offenses such as, speeding, riding someone's bumper, weaving in and out of lanes, not signaling to change lanes, unsafe lane changes, and other forms of inconsiderate or negligent driving. To the non-aggressive or more cautious driver, to avoid road rage with an aggressive driver, I say maintain your current speed and your cool head, and let the aggressive driver weave around you.

Ø Speeding: It has also been my experience that speeding is often triggered by the offensive driver having to be somewhere at a designated time and gets on the road and finds that he or she is slowed down due to traffic congestion. The old adage or cliché that says, "The more hurried you are the more behind you will be," is alive and well. I know this first-hand as I can be considered an aggressive driver and often do drive aggressively; I abashedly admit. So, to avoid road rage with the speedster, maintain your current speed and avoid any sudden lane changes as that may trigger some other mishap, and let speedster whiz pass you. Just say or think to yourself, "what an idiot," and keep on driving. Life is too short for such trivialities.

Ø Driving while talking on a cell phone: While I acknowledge my fault as an aggressive driver, and I have curtailed and reduced my actions in this regard, this offense is one that I vehemently take offense with. I find these people imperil the lives of themselves and others even more than the aggressive drivers at times. I have noticed that when driving on the roads and expressways, these individuals are absent-mindedly driving while engaged in their phone conversation, and they typically fail to use the proper turning signals because they have the use of only one hand. These offenses can and do cause traffic incidents to happen. To avoid going road rage on these individuals, find a tune on the radio that you like, sing along, and simply drive right pass them.

Ø Changing lanes too closely in front of another vehicle: In this scenario the offensive driver cuts in front of another vehicle causing the defensive driver to react quickly, either slamming on the brakes or swerving to another lane or the side of the road to avoid a potential rear-end collision. If the offensive driver realizes his wrong-doing and apologizes, that should be the end of it. However, if they just blow you off, the offended driver has to be the bigger person and not let it escalate into a car chase.

Ø Weaving in and out of lanes: This is when a driver is seemingly trying to get around slower traffic. He will alternate from one lane to the next or on a four or five lane expressway, move from far left to far right to go around slower traffic. This is dangerous and causes people to get upset. You can't let the actions of strangers affect you personally. Do as I do, think out loud saying, "what an idiot," and keep on driving.

Ø Blowing or Sounding your horn: This is said to cause road rage for some. Why, I'm not sure. If someone blows their horn at me for being slow to make a turn or to go through a green light, I usually just say something out loud to myself such as "Oh, alright already," and keep driving without making any gestures. However, if they lay on their horn as if I committed some crime, I'll blow my horn right back for a few seconds and drive on without any further gestures.

Ø Flashing Bright lights: When I was in Europe during my stint in the Army, I acquired my aggressive driving from driving through Germany, Belgium and Stuttgart. Those Europeans wrote the book on aggressive driving, riding your ass (bumper) and weaving and bobbing through traffic. When they get behind you and flash you with their bright lights asking you to move over to your right, I kindly and patiently waited for the right time and moved over. Some people are just better drivers than others.

Ø Making rude gestures: If someone gives me the finger for some erroneous infraction they feel I've committed, I just give them the finger right back. I'm not going to pull my car over and get into a brawl. Never will I pull over to settle some score over a driving offense. It's just not that serious for me.

Ø Shouting verbal abuse: Here again, the infraction or offense is not that serious for me to take the risk of having some meaningless traffic encounter escalate into something greater. I'd shoot them a birdie and keep on truckin.

Ø Driving too slowly: Believe it or not, driving too slowly can also cause some people to become enraged. They start shouting abusive epithets like, "Let's move it grandpa!" or, "Where did you get your license from, the morgue?" If the individual is elderly, shouting abusive comments at him or her could startle or excite them and thereby cause an accident. Younger drivers need to be more respectful and patient with elderly drivers.

sources:
www.drivers.com/article/462