Road rage is an extreme form of aggressive driving. Almost all drivers have angry feelings behind the wheel--most of the time for some drivers, some of the time for others. Anger is a natural emotion found in all societies, and yet, when people wait in a bank line or at the entrance of a theater, or at airports, etc., they don't suddenly start fights. Rather, they seem orderly, meek, and neutral if not friendly. But it seems to be different in traffic. What is it about getting behind the wheel that brings out hostility and rage?
Researching the area reveals that anger is a common, typical, and regular emotion drivers feel in routine traffic situations.
In some areas State legislatures, and city councils are involved in creating new laws and new enforcement initiatives to fight the epidemic of aggressive driving. Court cases on "reckless driving" are multiplying across the nation. Citizen groups have become active on this front.
Step 1: Understanding the Cultural Nature of Road Rage and Aggressive Driving
Recognize that aggressive driving is a cultural norm we acquire as children as passengers in our parents' vehicles and is further reinforced by the way driving is portrayed in the media-- movies, cartoons, and car commercials. Thus, the solution will have to be social-cultural, not therapeutic-clinical.
In other words, aggressive driving is a habit we acquire as part of our culture and society, and is not an extreme form of pathology or psychosis. Rather than psychotherapy and anger-management clinics other techniques are required in order to teach people peaceful attitudes. These can work in conjunction with better driver education so that people are aware of unsafe driving practices that lead to road rage and greater enforcement of laws against these unsafe practices.
Step 2: Understanding the Psychology of Road Rage and Aggressive Driving
Given the social and cultural meaning of cars in our society, you can see that sitting behind the wheel is very different from standing in a line. The car is our castle and the highway is our territory. All day people feel the stress of modern urban life and are bobmbarded with the pressures of a schedule over which they feel great time-urgency and little control. When we enter the car and sit behind the wheel, we feel a sense of relief--O at last, I'm in control! I go where I want the way I please and Woe to those who interfere! This attitude is typical and sets you up for a big fall, emotionally speaking, when another car is in your way, thwarting your desperate desire for freedom and relief from coersion.
Anger is a general response to loss of freedom and anger against another driver is easily triggered by any perceived interference. Now comes the big moment of decision: venting your anger or calming it. It's a pure choice, pure freedom. You can pick one or the other. Alas, we pick venting because this response feels good and a sense of relief from feeling helpless and scared. Venting your anger means to talk yourself into feeling self-righteous indignation against the offending driver, pedestrian, or even passenger. Now you're good and mad! You feel power in retaliating. Anything is better than just taking it like a spineless wimp. Vengeance is sweet, and for a brief moment, we feel powerful and free again.
This is when we get into trouble, deep trouble, more trouble than we bargained for. We flip the bird, we yell and cuss, we threaten and roar the engine, we tailgate and cut off, pursue and chase. Rationality has turned into insanity, a momentary loss of control that we may regret forever.
Step 3: Recovering from a Bout of Road Rage
When you're aware that you're angry you need to take immediate evasive action. During the first few seconds, while adrenalin is pumping through the blood, an emergency procedure is to interrupt your anger breathing and focus: start singing, start making funny animal sounds (I like to be a bear...), start counting, relaxation exercises, turn on music, etc. Give yourself something to do which distracts you for a few seconds. After that the battle is won. Once the adrenalin has been dissipated you have the chance of giving yourself pep talks--you have to be ready with what to say to yourself, how to talk to your 'inner child' and sooth it. To be ready means to practice using your inner strength for positive motives: your deisre to be a nice person, your desire to avoid trouble and injury, your desire to be a member in good standing of your community, the desire to maintain a respectable reputation, the desire to do the right and noble thing. Every person has these human feelings and potential behind the wheel.
Step 4: Become Involved in Driving Personality Makeover Activities
There are exercises you can do to practice regaining control after getting angry. Here are some examples:
Shrink your emotional territoriality: ask yourself what you really care about, what's really worth fighting for. Make the list short, short.
Examine your driving philosophy: ask yourself how you contribute to highway madness and whether you want to continue or change and be an influence for good, for greater tolerance in the spirit of democracy, fairness, and human rights of all drivers.
Get to know yourself behind the wheel: observe yourself as you drive. What thoughts do you have? What emotions and fantasies? Speak your thoughts out loud so you can hear them. Be a witness to your own driving personality. Do you approve or disapprove?
CONCLUSION
Since aggressive and risky driving patterns are part of our societal norm and history, all the drivers in our nation have inherited a hostile attitude behind the wheel and a competitive style of driving. Drivers do not respect each other and there is a lack of community feeling on the road. Defensive driving turned offensive, more aggressive law enforcement initiatives, greater civic activism, the increased use of electronic surveillance on highways, and vigilante drivers taking the law into their hands, are societal reactions to the lawlesslessness of drivers that has transformed "the pleasure drive" into "the killing highways!"
As we start our second century of car society, we need to realize that the existing model of licensing drivers after a few hours of instruction is no longer workable. It needs to be replaced with the New Driver's Ed model that supports formal driver's education.
Additionally, we need to modify our attitude towards the indiscriminate and repeated portrayal of drivers behaving badly in movies, cartoons, and car commercials by realizing that these virtual experiences of negative driving attitudes can make it more difficult for current and future drivers to be supportive and emotionally intelligent behind the wheel.