Road rage is pervasive on highways and streets across the county. Approximately 80 percent of all drivers have had road rage at least one time while operating a vehicle. It is also the cause of approximately 56 percent of all accidents on the road.
How Road Rage Affects Your Driving Skills & Judgment
When you become angry and start to experience road rage, it can have a significant impact on your ability to drive responsibly and safely. Road rage can affect your ability to make good decisions and leads to becoming impaired.
It can cause you to take more risks, avoid judging your speed, and react slowly to any hazards that are present. You may also have difficulty judging other people’s speed.
You can also have a lack of patience, which leads to tailgating or cutting off other people. It’s important to immediately pull over to a safe spot where you can control your emotions and become more composed before getting back on the road.
What is Road Rage?
Road rage is defined as aggressive or angry behavior while operating a vehicle. The behavior can vary and include verbal insults, dangerous driving methods, and physical threats. It can also include dangerous behavior like speeding or tailgating in an attempt to scare or intimidate another driver on the highway. It can also include weaving in and out of cars and putting other people’s safety at risk.
What are the 3 Types of Road Rage?
The three types of road rage are:
Passive Aggressive Road Rage
Passive aggressive road rage occurs when the driver wants to maintain control of the road by honking their horn or flashing their lights.
Competitive Road Rage
Competitive road rage occurs when the driver is competitive and wants to drive faster.
Impatient Road Rage
Impatient road rage occurs when the motorist needs to cut through everyone to reach their destination. The behavior can manifest into personal contact and using a weapon.
What is Road Rage a Symptom of?
Road rage often occurs when the driver has underlying anger issues and can’t control their emotions. This can cause their behavior to become unpredictable, whether they’re at home or are sitting behind the wheel.
What is the Main Cause of Road Rage?
The main cause of road rage is traffic delays. Many drivers become stressed and anxious when they encounter delays and are going to be late when arriving at their destination. This can increase their anger levels and trigger them to lash out if someone cuts them off.
Anonymity also contributed to road rage because drivers can hide in their cars and have a distance from another vehicle instead of interacting face-to-face. Many people feel they can act aggressively because they don’t think it’s likely they’ll see the other driver again. Over time, it can even become habitual and normal for someone to react aggressively when they become upset because they’re used to experiencing road rage.
Texting and using the phone while driving also contributes to road rage because motorists fail to drive well when they’re distracted. When they serve or cut off other people, it can cause drivers to become upset and attempt to retaliate. However, it’s important to avoid taking action and pull over or contact the police to report the driving to avoid road rage.
Can You Get a Ticket for Road Rage?
Road rage is a criminal offense. Road rage is when one person is intending to harm another person and can lead to paying up to $200 in fines or 30 days in jail. Road rage describes various types of incidents and is punishable when threats are made or there’s physical violence against other types of motorists.
Some states will even suspend the driver’s license and prevent them from having the ability to drive after paying the fines or spending time in jail. The legal repercussions depend on the
How You Can Avoid Road Rage
If you’re prone to road rage, you can employ the below 3 tactics to help avoid road rage in the first place.
Avoid Driving
Avoid getting behind the wheel if you’ve recently dealt with an emotional crisis, whether you’re suffering from financial issues or have gone through a break-up.
Be Patient With Others
Remind yourself that other drivers will make mistakes on the road and prepare for how you’ll respond if someone cuts you off or tailgates your vehicle to ensure you have a plan in place.
Time Management
Leaving a few minutes early for work or to the grocery store will give you more time to reach the destination without feeling rushed. If you aren’t afraid of being late, you’re less likely to have heightened emotions, anxiety, and frustration while driving.
If you encounter upset or angry motorists on the road, do everything possible to take another route and avoid them. Don’t react or retaliate and understand the risks involved and how they can threaten your safety.
Organizations Currently Working To Solve Road Rage
The AAA Foundation is one of the main organizations that research and collects road rage data. They work hard to educate drivers about aggressive driving and statistics to make drivers more aware of their actions and the dangers of retaliating against other motorists.
How to Report Road Rage
If you encounter aggressive drivers, you can report road rage by staying calm and collected. If you’re being tailgated by another driver, change lanes and let them pass by maintaining a safe distance of at least five car lengths.
Never look directly at them or make any obscene gestures. If they are angry at you, do not return any of the gestures to prevent the situation from escalating.
You have the option of dialing 911 or #77 if you feel your safety is threatened. If you’re followed by another driver, immediately drive to a police station or law enforcement office. You can also drive to a crowded location where other people are present.
You can also document or report the behavior through various apps for added convenience. This can make it easy to have accountability if you encounter dangerous behaviors on the highway. A
Some of the top apps include Drive Me Crazy, Fail Driver, Nexar, Bad Driver Database, and Sherlock. The apps allow you submit a serious road rage incident anonymously when you’re pulled over in a safe spot and are not operating your motor vehicle. This can offer extra traffic safety to another driver.
