Defusing Road Rage

One man cuts another off on an interstate in Virginia, and a deadly vehicular duel begins on the roadway. This particular July evening it ends in the death of one man and the arrest of the other—and another incident of road rage captures national headlines. Is there a berserk maniac behind every steering wheel?

Death Stats Is there a berserk maniac behind every steering wheel?
Vehicular warriors are still in the minority, but the level of frustration and aggressive driving behavior on American roadways is rising. A study on road rage produced by the AAA in 1997 found 218 deaths directly related to road rage. The AAA study drew on reports from 30 newspapers and utilized insurance claims and police reports from 16 cities. To put that statistic in perspective, 250,000 Americans were killed in traffic accidents between 1990 and 1999. Only two states—Arizona and Virginia—have passed laws aimed specifically at road rage since the term appeared in the auto lexicon in the 1990s.


Traffic deaths have actually been declining. The term "freeway" is becoming more of a modern oxymoron as congestion puts the brakes on traffic flow. At the same time, motoring stress and road rudeness are soaring. The average urban motorist spends 50 hours a year in clogged rush-hour traffic, according to the Texas Transportation Institute. Since 1987, the number of drivers on the road has increased 35 percent, but the number of roadways has increased only one percent. As the commute lengthens, workers must leave earlier for work and get home later. As a result, the number of tired, frustrated drivers on the road is increasing.


Congestion and sleep-deprivation are killing motoring civility, and the rules of the road—don't tailgate, don't cut others off, drive in the left lane only to pass, etc.—are largely forgotten. The drivers around you are not necessarily maniacs ready to use their vehicles as weapons should you get in their way. But they are stressed out, tired and frustrated. This leads to the aggressive driving traits—tailgating, weaving wildly through traffic, honking, rude hand signs—that are the early stages of road rage.

Remedies
According to the AAA, the best way to avoid being the target of an aggressive driver is to practice basic traffic courtesy.