Road Rage has become a part of our daily driving lives, whether we are the aggressors or whether we are the recipients of those who outwardly express their frustration. According to a survey conducted by the AAA Traffic Safety Foundation, "nearly 80 percent of U.S. drivers say they committed at least one antisocial act on the road in the past year." Christine Wickens, a University of Toronto psychologist, uses the terms driver violence and driver aggression. She states that men are much more likely to be involved in driver violence than women; three times more likely, according to the AAA study. Men are not, however, much more likely to be involved in driver aggression than women. When asked about tailgating, "46.1 percent of the women [and 55.5 percent of men] admitted to the practice."
There were multiple reasons given in the article as underlying causes to driver violence and driver aggression. The one that I found to be the most convincing was the contrast between social cues in public both inside and outside our car. Jerry Deffenbacher, a psychologist at Colorado State University, explains that when we are in public, or outside our car for the sake of the contrast, there are social cues we follow. However, when we are "sitting in our car, listening to our music or talking with a member of our family," we tend to disregard the fact that we are still in public, along with the corresponding social cues, due to everything around us that is ours.
The article continues on by giving solutions in order to "Stop the Madness." Jeff Flynn, a spokesperson for the New Jersey State Police, says that the best way to improve is to "not engage with a road rage driver. Don't provoke them, don't feed the anger." Some external solutions that were given in the article were "identifying and modifying poorly designed intersections, [and] badly coordinated traffic signals."
There is nothing more frustrating for me, especially if I'm rushing to get somewhere, than getting to an intersection and not making it through, even when every other car seems to make it through. And I'm not talking about pulling up to a light while it's turning yellow, I'm talking about that one light that everyone turns at, but there is no turn light, so the line gets backed up forever. Or the intersection where the green light is three seconds long, and the red light is twenty minutes long. Can you tell I display characteristics of this driver aggression that Wickens explained?
I found this article very interesting because I am one of the millions of people that have displayed signs of road rage. I can actually look back on today and see a couple of instances where I was not only the one who was in the line of some else's road rage (this seems to happen a lot here in Utah), but I also was the one who participated in road rage.
Wow! I really would like to read this article, especially around the social contrast of sitting in our car. I have noticed when I'm a pedestrian, I am horrified when drivers come close to me. Its like they have no idea how intimidating it is for a big car to come close, but when you're in your car, pedestrians can walk by within arms reach and you wouldn't even flinch!
ReplyDelete-A. Wardell
I think there are many people can relate to this article, including myself. I can't stand when everyone is driving full speed down the highway and then its like bam, you are at a complete stop seconds later! -D.B.
ReplyDeleteThis article caught me attention I think cause it relates to my everyday life more than any other article here. Who doesn't get in their car at least once a day and not get impatient or frustrated while driving to their destination? One point caught my attention is the social cues. Those were interesting, the fact that people think they are within closed doors, or their private space, inside the car and act totally different then how they would in front of people. I do remember seeing different sides of my friends or someone I was dating when I drove with them. I believe the fact that slow drivers and not making lights can build someone's anger if they let it and they could take it out on other driver but I also wonder if pride or competitiveness can factor into it. So people just like being in front of others. Gives them a sense of superiority.
ReplyDeleteJoshua B.
I found it interesting when you brought up the point that people exert more aggression while inside verses outside their cars. I was mind opening as I realized that some very happy and kind people in my life have revealed their shortest tempers while driving. Maybe its the fact that we are surrounded by metal and tinted glass that leads to us justifying these behaviors.
ReplyDelete-SLH
I think the article makes a good point of the idea that we ignore the social cues of the public when we think we are in our own car with our own things. I do think that people forget that we are still interacting with each other, despite being in vehicles. Almost like what you do with your car presents a body language of sorts that can really tick someone off, even if that was not your intention. I also think that the differences between being in the car and going near a pedestrian and being a pedestrian approached by a vehicle are vastly different and again, go back to that "being in my car with my stuff". Drivers do not realize how that might affect the pedestrian or even other drivers as they have to react to them.
ReplyDelete-Alex G.
Ya I (like most other people that commented) was interested in this article because I struggle with this sometimes. And by sometimes, I mean every day. One of my biggest weaknesses is being impatient while driving. I too (like most other people that commented) liked where it said that when we are confined in a car and everything is "our own" we tend to act differently. I find that to be true. When i'm on a hike and the person in front of me on the trail is walking slow i just go past them and say excuse me, sorry, have a nice hike. There's no way I would yell or gesture or anything like that. So why is it different in a car? This is something i am going to work on. -Chad B
ReplyDeleteI think this is interesting, because I know all of us can relate so well to this concept. We have all experienced anger while driving, and some of us react to this more than others. I have seen videos of people who literally get out of their cars and begin to punch each other because of something that happened while driving. I don't understand how someone can get so upset over something so little.
ReplyDeleteMy question would be, what is it about driving that makes us so upset? Really if we think about it, most of the time, if someone cuts us off, or does something stupid while driving, we lose maybe 5 or ten seconds of our time, and yet we treat it like its the end of the world. Is there some connection between this anger and the fact that we are driving?
ReplyDeleteReferring to the comment just above this one, I have the same question. Why do we get so upset when we miss a light? In the long run we are getting to our destination just a couple minutes later than planned. Maybe if we would leave earlier for things we would be able to be more patient on the road. I however am one of the many road ragers out there. The light that is literally the worse is the one going north to UVU. 5 second green light with 20 student cars trying to make it to school.
ReplyDelete