Road Rage - Why?

A recent news item in the Atlanta area told of a tragic death. A death that could have happened in any populated area, any city or country. Another death that happens in our society whether from illness, murder, drugs among all of the deaths that happen.

This type of death though tends to mystify me, road rage. A strange event that seems to develop from our inability to control our emotions or attitude while driving. Matthew Joint says, "in its broadest sense it can refer to any display of aggression by a driver. However, the term is often used to refer to the more extreme acts of aggression, such as a physical assault, that occur as a direct result of a disagreement between drivers."

A young father driving with his wife and young child is involved in a road rage incident with another man - he ends up dead of stab wounds. I'm not passing judgement on either person for that is the job of the court system. I do know from all accounts that 'road rage' involves two people. In most cases, each person has a part they played in a situation escalating.

Each of us have been involved most likely in some form of driving 'lapse of mental control'. It is some sense of 'territorial' behavior when we get within a car that causes us to loose a certain amount of reason. We are a better driver then everyone else, or we take offense at another's driving habits. Most incidents never grow beyond your own thoughts. Many times the other driver is unaware of your irritation.

Once the other driver is made aware though, by either a look or gesture from you. It may even be you becoming aggressive by deciding to 'retaliate' in some form with your own driving skill. It is this point which you have crossed and now the chances of this escalating into road rage have increased.

This increase can result in possible car damage, yelling at each other or possibly physical altercations. The ultimate ending being someone dead from the senseless actions. Stop and think for a minute, does it really make sense to let it get this far? If someone cut you off in traffic, tailgated too much...whatever the case may be, is it worth the potential pain. A young wife and daughter living in pain, another person now changing their own life forever.

To read more about this and what you can do to change your habits and avoid these types of incidents, see the following article Aggressive Driving: Three Studies. Stay alive, stay stress free and change your way of driving...there's a lot more to life.