THE ROAD™ Road Rage and Aggressive Driving

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THE ROAD™
Road Rage and Aggressive Driving

Road rage incidents where actual physical assaults take place are only the tip of the problem. Lesser forms of assault including ugly, threatening gestures, verbal attacks and using one‘s vehicle to harass other drivers are also common.

Anger is a direct consequence of aggressive driving. Anger while driving and road rage would not occur without aggressive driving. But, what exactly is aggressive driving and how does it result in anger and road rage?

An aggressive driver is a driver who, in his or her determination to achieve certain goals, engages in risky driving behaviour - speeding, competing, following too closely, cutting in, refusing to give way, weaving and lane changing without signalling, running red lights, making illegal turns - and is inconsiderate of other drivers and of passengers.

There is a sequence of escalating abuse of one driver by another:

The first step is a single gesture, curse or grimace delivered as retaliation.

The second step is vigilante behaviour. When the aggressive driver encounters another vehicle that impedes his or her aggressive driving, he or she punishes the other driver with scornful, hateful looks, curses and obscene gestures.

The third step is when the vigilante, in response to some form of retaliation by the driver he or she has punished, escalates his or her abuse of the other driver by harassing him or her by following even more closely behind, using bright lights, braking suddenly while travelling in front or driving exceedingly slowly etc.

Road rage is the fourth step where the vigilante further escalates abuse and punishment of another combative driver by seeking to physically damage the other driver’s vehicle or injure the other driver or passengers.

Feelings of intense anger and rage triggered by either another driver‘s behaviour or road conditions can lead to periods of irrational thoughts, feelings and behaviour that last from seconds to hours. During this period a driver:

Experiences exaggerated anger, irritation, aggravation and impatience, focusing on the most trivial occurrences.

Becomes preoccupied with thoughts about what happened and distracted from concentrating on driving, thus becoming vulnerable to new danger.

Forms irrational convictions about the personality and motivation of the other driver, based on flimsy evidence.

Experiences impaired judgement, saying or doing things that he or she later regrets, including engaging in risky driving behaviour while attempting to punish or retaliate against the offending driver.

Suffers from diminished sensitivity, i.e. the physical abilities to hear, see, feel, touch, smell and taste are dulled.

Loses cognitive ability - the power of abstract thinking, empathy, humour, appreciation of beauty and the ability to feel love.

If we understand the mental processes involved in the chain of events leading to hostile driving behaviour, prevention of many road incidents, including collisions, becomes possible.

Every driver has the ability to change his or her attitudes without any negative effect on driving or arrival time.

With the change in perception that develops from these new driving attitudes comes a new joy from driving; a sense of freedom and satisfaction the driver may have thought not possible. Not only will driving be more relaxed, enjoyable and free of hostility, but the chance of collisions will be significantly reduced.

Acknowledgement: The content of this training is based on Road Rage to Road Wise by John Larson, MD (Tom Doherty, 1999 paperback)