Daily Times

Aggressive driving has been a problem on our roadways for a while especially by the public transport and motorcyclists, and it seems to only be getting worse. Incidents of wrong parking, wrong-side overtaking, screaming, rude gestures, and sometimes even violence are seen frequently on our roadways to the point where it has earned its own name: road rage. This term was coined in Los Angeles where drivers commits moving traffic offenses by endangering other persons or property. The authority declared a clear distinction between road rage and aggressive driving by declaring road rage as a criminal offence and aggressive driving as a traffic offense.

It is important to understand what causes road rage. You may believe that road rage is something that only happens to other people, but the truth is many of us are guilty of aggressive behavior on the road. We can judge ourselves by posing few questions whether we regularly drive over speed limit, or try to beat red lights because we are in a hurry, do we tailgate or flash our headlights at a driver in front of us and believe he is driving too slowly, do we honk the horn often, do we use obscene gestures or otherwise communicate angrily at other drivers. If the answer is yes to anyone of the above, you are definitely susceptible to road rage.

Anyhow, if you answer no to the questions above, even then you could be guilty to cause others to lash out with road rage. Again you have to ask few more questions to yourself including, do you frequently use your phone while driving, do you keep your high beams on, do you switch lanes or make turns without using your turn signal, do fail to check your blind spot before switching lanes to make sure you are not cutting someone off. If you answer yes to any of these questions you may be contributing to causing road rage in others. While a violent reaction to switching lanes without a turn signal is not warranted, it is best to not put yourself in that situation to begin with by always being aware of other drivers and driving cautiously.

If you find that you have agitated another driver, whether the fault is truly yours or not, do not retaliate to the other driver on the road. If you could not control your emotions this will cause the situation to escalate only. Remind yourself that the driver is just bad at handling stress, avoid eye contact and continue to practice safe driving habits. Think twice before you honk the horn or flip that finger, because you never know what may set off the person in the cars around you. Getting home safely is more important than teaching someone a dangerous lesson. With road rage, you are basically driving under the influence of impaired emotions.

Generally, young men initiate most road-rage incidents, but anyone can feel rage behind the wheel. That’s because anyone can take offense at what they think another driver is doing as our emotions are triggered by mental assumptions. Other factors that trigger road rage include preexisting stress and an innate feeling of intense territoriality that is suddenly threatened by another driver.

Congested roads, busy schedules, and idiots on the road are a fact of life. But road rage can escalate, to fatal extremes, very quickly. Urban planners and neuroscientists alike have studied the external and internal factors that contribute to aggressive, reckless and vengeful driving. They have shown just how complicated and contagious it is, and how there is no easy answer to such a persistent problem. According to Emil Coccaro of University of Chicago a specialist in Intermittent Explosive Disorder, observed people suffering from the disorder repeatedly respond with violent or verbally aggressive outbursts disproportionate to any given situation. Not all road-raggers have IED, but road rage can be a symptom of it. Aggression, like depression, has biological roots as well as psychological ones.

The Serotonin or dopamine levels that are off-balance have been linked to impulsive and aggressive behavior in human and animals. Coccaro explains the unique psychological effect of being in the driver’s seat of a car, which can be akin to a state of denial, combined with a heightened sense of power. “You are in a car, and it’s kind of a weapon, and you are in a protected environment, and you think no one’s going to be able to get to you.”Coccaro says, if you get cut off by another driver, you might feel that you can give them a finger without any direct consequences. But the problem is, you don’t have any idea how the other person will respond to that provocation.

If someone cuts you off while you are driving on the highway or steals the parking space you have been patiently waiting for, is your first instinct to,(a) take a deep breath and move on,(b) honk and then move on, or (c) repeatedly honk, yell out and pound your fists against your steering wheel, wondering how the other person even got a driver’s license in the first place? Even typically calm, reasonable people can sometimes turn into warriors behind the wheel when provoked, they yell obscenities, wildly gesture, honk and swerve in and out of traffic, and may endanger their lives and others. Surely, we can reduce it and modify this behavior somewhat to make people feel better on the road.

A driver can prevent his rage by taking few steps while on the road, by putting on soothing music, by getting into the mentality that everyone is sharing the road and nobody is perfect, by keeping a good amount of space behind the other drivers and by refraining prolonged eye contact or obscene gestures at other drivers. If someone is upset due to bad driving best way is to show remorse by waving to the other driver, mouthing like a sorry person and allowing a plenty of room for others to pass. However, if someone upset you, don’t make the situation more difficult that is to be. Instead of, taking matter into your own hands, pull over to a safe location, out of the way of traffic, take deep breaths and remember that you have full control over your own actions and thoughts. Getting over road rage entails a lifelong program of self-improvement, plus a driver personality makeover.

Furthermore, we have to look into the role of traffic wardens and have to improve their capacity as a traffic manager as they are completely out of the picture in the above mentioned scenarios. They have to be more efficient while performing their duties, instead of, sitting on their bikes or chatting in groups at intersections. If they lack independent training centers, it would be a good choice to send them to Military Police training centers where they can learn discipline, techniques regarding traffic management including signaling at inter-sections, and might be a sense of wearing uniform.

The writer can be reached at malikmasud@hotmail.com