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**Road Rage: Put the Brakes On!**

In North Carolina, a driving school instructor ordered his student to chase a vehicle that cut them off in traffic. When they caught up to the bad driver, the instructor jumped out and punched him. In Massachusetts, a 54-year-old bookkeeper got into a heated traffic dispute with another driver. After driving for several miles, the motorists stopped and got out of their vehicles. The bookkeeper pulled a crossbow from his trunk and killed the other driver with a hunting arrow.

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**A Growing Problem**

In the late 1980s, the term “Road Rage” was coined to describe acts of aggression and violence on streets and highways. Today the American Automobile Association defines the frightening phenomenon as “an incident in which an angry or impatient motorist or passenger intentionally injures or kills another motorist, passenger or pedestrian, or attempts or threatens to injure or kill another motorist, passenger or pedestrian.”

Safety experts, social scientists and law enforcement officials stress that aggressive driving and road rage aren’t necessarily synonymous. Aggressive driving includes tailgating, abrupt lane changes, speeding and other dangerous behind-the-wheel behaviors that are traffic offenses. Road rage, on the other hand, is uncontrolled anger that often results in violence or, at least, threatened violence.

However, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration points out that aggressive driving can sometimes escalate to angry gesturing, yelling, cursing, confrontation, physical assault and even murder. The more extreme acts of aggression are criminal offenses.

Starting in the 1990s, the media have reported more and more accounts of road rage. What was once considered essentially rude and occasionally bizarre behavior is seen now by many experts as a national problem.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, many of America’s 44,000 annual highway fatalities are at least partially caused by these two aberrant behaviors. AAA estimates the figure at 1,800 needless deaths a year.


 * **Avoid Being a Victim of Road Rage** · Be a safe and courteous drive : Avoid behaviors that may enrage others, such as cutting people off, not using turn signals, driving slowly in the left lane, tailgating, blowing the horn too much, keeping high beams on at night, and not observing parking lot rules. Also, avoid using your cell phone, fiddling with the radio, or otherwise taking your attention away from driving.· Don’t engage angry motorists: Keep away from drivers who behave erratically; avoid eye contact; don’t make any gestures that might anger another driver, including irked expressions or even shaking your head; never pull off to the side of the road and get out of your car; if followed, don’t drive home.· Get help as soon as possible: Use your cell phone to call the police; drive to a place where there are people around, such as a police or fire station, convenience store or gas station, and blow your horn to get someone’s attention; stay in your vehicle.· If you do make eye contact: Apologize verbally or with an “I’m-sorry” gesture for your mistake. ||

**"Cultivate Patience"**

“I’ve been driving in Southern California for over 60 years, and it’s definitely gotten worse. I find a great deal of hostility on the road, and just rudeness. People are in such a hurry. There’s no patience left. If you take more than a half a second to start up at a green light, right away someone honks or they come right up behind you.

“I try to cultivate patience, and that stems from raising so many kids. I think being patient is a key to Christian living, on and off the road. If you wish that driver peace as they rush by you, you will find that it makes you more peaceful. So I often pray for them: ‘Peace be with you and do no harm.’ I pray that they won’t get in an accident and hurt themselves and others.”

-- Hermine Lees, Alhambra, California

**No Single Profile, But...**

A major study by the Foundation for Traffic Safety said there’s “no one profile” of the aggressive road rage driver. Still, most were males between 18 and 26. They were poorly educated, and many had criminal records along with histories of violence and alcohol or drug problems. Moreover, a significant number had suffered recent emotional or professional setbacks, such as losing a job or going through a divorce.

“But hundreds of aggressive drivers—motorists who have snapped and committed incredible violence—are successful men and women with no known histories of crime, violence or alcohol and drug abuse,” the Aggressive Driving study reported. “When the media interview the friends and neighbors of these individuals, they hear that ‘he is the nicest man,’ ‘a wonderful father’ or ‘he must have been provoked.’”

Still, the report found that mood was a vital factor influencing driver behavior. Unsafe safe drivers were more affected by mood swings than safe ones. Having a bad day had an adverse effect on their driving behavior. The investigation also discovered that the actions of other drivers on the road had a profound impact on unsafe drivers.

Therapists have a clinical diagnosis for road rage. Since 1997, “intermittent explosive disorder” has been certified as an official mental condition in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. It’s characterized by lack of impulse control and as a “disproportionate reaction” to any provocation felt by the patient. **"Fight or Flight"**

“People are enduring a lot of stresses today, and a lot of times we can’t express that at the person who is the source of the stress, like our boss. So there’s ‘displacement’ when we’re stuck in traffic or somebody takes our parking space. It’s very easy for me to become angry at a person I don’t know, especially if I’m in a car.

“We have bred in us this ‘fight or flight’ response that’s left over from prehistoric times. It’s largely automatic: our heart beats faster, our muscles tense and we take quicker and shorter breaths. So deep breathing can really help because it slows everything down. It’s almost like meditation. From a religious standpoint, I can say, ‘I’m going to pray that that person who’s driving aggressively finds peace.’”

-- Robin Bishop, psychologist, Mt. St. Mary ’s College, Los Angeles

**What Causes Road Rage?**

The obvious answer, of course, is that traffic is simply getting worse. More vehicles are on the road today than ever before and more people are driving. Unfortunately, this hectic highway activity pervades our multi-tasking society that just wants to go on to something else as quickly as possible.

More congestion also means more driving encounters and that means more on-the-road blowups. Experts agree that bad driving is the number one cause of anger that touches off most road rage incidents. One national study heard some of the following reasons for violent disputes: “He cut me off.” “The old guy was driving too slowly.” “She wouldn’t turn off her high beams.”

The ironic thing, according to traffic authorities, is that most of these trivial incidents were actually unintended errors of judgment, but were perceived as intentional in-your-face threats.

Demographic changes are also cited. The rise in the number of immigrants with different driving habits, some experts say, has led to more highway conflicts. SUVs have also played a role in today’s road rage, according to some authorities. They claim that drivers, encased in these huge metal shells looming over ordinary cars, feel more powerful and invincible. A drop in the number of high school students taking driver’s education is also mentioned as a factor.

Psychologists point out that human beings are territorial. From our ancient ancestors, we’ve developed personal space as a defense mechanism, and anybody who invades this space is seen as a potential aggressor. Motorists consider their cars and the space around them as their territory.

But most authorities agree that while road rage is often sparked by trivial trigger events, the real cause lies a lot deeper. The underlying culprit is the cumulative effect of a long list of stressors we’ve accepted as the price of living in today’s super-fast-paced 21st century. **Being "Human" on the Highway**

Isn’t there a better way to drive?

Father Ed Dillon, chaplain at MarymountCollege in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, believes all drivers should foster a “human” approach on the highway.

“For one thing, don’t try to get there in 15 minutes,” he says. “Leave a little early and take time to relax when you arrive. Get out and stretch your legs; look at the flowers; talk to people before you go into your meeting. Why do we have to get more done, go faster every day? The car fits into that whole lifestyle of speed.”

Father Dillon says he tries to give people the benefit of the doubt. When he sees somebody changing lanes too suddenly or going 35 in a 50 mph zone, he reminds himself, “I’ve done that a hundred times.”

Conflict has its place in confronting power and cruelty, the priest notes, but not on the street. Father Dillon recalls a scary incident on a county road near his hometown in upstate New York. Two men in a pickup truck pulled up beside him at a crossroads ranting and raving because he didn’t know which way to turn. He finally turned left, wondering if they were going to follow and hurt him. Fortunately, the pickup went straight, but the incident still haunts him.

“I think something happens to us when we get in our cars,” Father Dillon muses. “It’s just me and my bubble. You’re anonymous. In traffic, you don’t exist. It’s the car. So the car has dehumanized us more than we realize.”


 * **Don't be a "Roadrager"** · Do not lose your cool: Don’t take what happened on the road personally; back off and calm down; breathe deeply; practice patience.· Put yourself in the other driver’s shoes: Give them the benefit of the doubt and don’t assume the mistake was intentional.· Don’t retaliate: or even think about “getting even.”· Reduce your stress: Listen to music or books on tape while driving; do not grip the wheel tightly or clench your teeth. Allow extra time for your trip· Seek help if you think you have a control problem: Read books on stress management; enroll in an anger management workshop; see a counselor or therapist. ||

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