Road rage: causes, consequences, and prevention strategies

Road rage is common on American highways; you can see it just about every day you drive. Driver cut each other off, speed, run red lights, tailgate, or talk on their cell phones while driving. This intimidates some drivers, and enrages others, leading to much more aggressive behavior on the nation's streets and roads. Road rage can be controlled, and there are ways to deal with aggressive drivers without becoming aggressive yourself.

First, of all, many people do not understand that road rage and aggressive driving are not the same thing, although most people refer to them both as "road rage." Aggressive driving is really what we associate with road rage - activities like speeding, tailgating, and intimidating other drivers, while road rage is aggressive driving with criminal intent or criminal violence (like shooting someone who cuts you off in traffic) (Root, 2008). Road rage, or aggressive driving, is becoming much more prevalent on the nation's highways, too. Another study notes, "According to a recently released national survey, when a driver gets the finger, is cut off or tailgated, 50% of the victims respond with horn honking, yelling, cutting-off, and obscene gestures of their own" ("Rage on the road," 2008). Road rage can be caused by a variety of factors, from stress to the environment, response to another driver, and defending what many believe is their own, singular territory ("What is road rage?," 2008). Thus, just about any aggressive behavior on the road can bring out the worst in a person, and can trigger a chain reaction of reactions that can lead to deadly situations. Road rage can be controlled, and in fact, some people who suffer from road rage behavior can attend anger management classes to help learn to control the behavior. If you are confronted with road rage, stay as far away from the aggressive driver as you can, and apologize if the situation was your fault. If you think you are in danger, call the police, and try to get the license number of the aggressive vehicle ("Rage on the road," 2008). Always try to stay courteous on the road, so you will not become a victim of road rage.