Road Rage

Factors That Contribute to Road Rage

Driving an automobile is inherently hazardous because of the many variables that are always at play, such as weather, traffic patterns and accidents, and the actions of other drivers. Some of those actions may be unintentional, such as swerving into another lane due to a momentary distraction, but others are deliberately intended to cause anger or even to do harm. That is the case with perpetrators of road rage. They let anger build within themselves until they make irrational driving decisions designed to retaliate against a perceived vehicular-related wrongdoing by another driver or individual.

While many drivers consider the act of driving to represent individual freedom, they often overlook the fact that driving is actually a communal activity. Drivers are rarely on the road by themselves, and thus participate in a larger driving community made up of diverse drivers with varying agendas, skills, distractions, and experiences. That disassociation with others while driving plays a part in the evolution of road rage. Drivers who focus solely on themselves may perceive another driver's actions only in terms of how it affects them individually, rather than the driving community as a whole. Believing that an action is directed personally makes it much easier for emotions to evolve into anger.

Cultural views about aggressive driving do not help. In the United States, children learn early on that the regular rules regarding accepted behaviors do not always apply in an automobile. Almost everyone at one time or another has engaged in, and thus demonstrated to others, some form of aggressive driving behavior, such as speeding or changing lanes multiple times to outpace traffic. Some movies and television shows also portray aggressive driving as a norm, or even as a positive and exciting undertaking.

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