Reducing road rage
The road rage phenomenon is an interesting topic. What’s amazing and somewhat unbelievable to me is how full-blown fracases can escalate from essentially innocuous events.
Bicyclists are regularly victims of driver rage simply for exercising their rights to the roadway. Sure, bicycles are slower than cars and their inability to keep up with traffic often impedes drivers, but regardless of an angry driver’s opinion, the law currently allows the non-motorized two wheelers a spot adjacent to the shoulder of a roadway. Like it or not, that means automobile operators must legally accommodate them. Please don’t be the driver or rider who is automatically at odds with the other.
Besides bicycles, there are endless triggers to road rage. As examples, someone may pull out in front of you, fail to signal, stay in the left lane without cause, talk on their phone, or hold you up so you miss the green light. Those are all irritating events, but do they warrant riding the offender’s bumper, screaming, gesturing, or even pulling a gun? I think not.
Since there are more drivers on the road than ever, maybe overcrowding is the issue. You know, like the studies showing the behavior of crowded rats? Everything is okay until there is one too many rats in the enclosure and then they all turn on one another.
Road rage may be similar to “anonymous” criticism that shows up on internet forums and social media. People seem to objectify those who they attack as if they are not dealing with real people. With road rage, I suspect that perpetrators don’t consider their victims as fathers, mothers, brothers or sisters, but simply as generic “drivers.” This contrived attitude seems to embolden those prone to rage.
Reader S.L. had an interesting take on the anger by writing, “Yesterday I was witness to an apparent road rage incident. Honking, a middle finger, yelling threats, side by side driving, eventually they drove separate ways...although I think the victim followed the perpetrator. So, self-driving cars, in theory, should stop this silly/dangerous type of behavior. I wonder why sooo many folks are in a hurry and angry....I look at the faces behind the wheel and they are frowning or jaw locked, hands white knuckle grip on the wheel, then there are the folks making their own lanes at stop signs, zig zagging through traffic to beat everyone to the next stop light, playing a game of Pole Position.....very strange to me.”
S.L. makes worthy points. Even though a self-driving car’s “driver” is the ultimate in “anonymous,” hopefully the day will come when angry drivers find there is no one to get mad at. Actually, even today, such anger is misplaced, and many displayers of rage likely feel that they exhibited much ado about nothing after they have calmed down and analyzed things.
As S.L. implied, time issues often seem to be an impetus for road rage. The answer to that is to try to plan auto excursions so they are not so hurried. A driver in a hurry is an aggressive driver, and an aggressive driver is easily enraged.
Whether it’s a bike, car or truck that gets in your way, think of the drivers as real people. Until autonomous cars arrive, every driver is a person — possibly one who is having a particularly bad day and could use some consideration.
Readers may contact Bill Love via e-mail at precisiondriving@spokesman.com.
