Road Rage

Introduction
Road rage is increasingly recognized as one of the major roadway causative factors in incidents that end in violence such as motor vehicle crashes, assaults, and vehicle related deaths. While it is becoming recognized, research regarding causes and characteristics are in its infancy. What is road rage and what causes it? What are characteristics of road rage and what are ways to control it? Labeled as “aggressive driving”, road rage was not always the ubiquitous term that it has become. According to their 2001 article entitled Effects of aggressive driving and driver characteristics on road rage, Dukes et al stated that there is a “growing trend of vigilante driving” which “has been termed road rage.” (Dukes, et al. (2001). p.
Because accidents are considered to be just that, accidents, vehicular violence is often considered a “subset of violent acts, seldom discussed in public health, traffic safety or criminology,” (Carroll, J. & Rothe, J. (2014). p. 150).While many factors could create a road rage incident, lawmakers have increasingly come to understand the negative effects of road rage on society. Based on a 2001 study published in The Science Journal, retaliation became the original strategy to combat aggressive driving because drivers held the belief that “the law cannot (or will not) do anything about” road rage or aggressive driving incidents. (Dukes, et al. (2001). p. 328). This created the understanding that there was yet another aspect of traffic enforcement that needed to be dealt with. Because of the perceived impotence of law enforcement, law makers wrote and enacted various laws which were written in order to armor law enforcement officers and enable them to charge offenders with multiple criminal offenses like reckless driving, due care, and reckless endangerment. Legislators in New South Wales, Australia went so far as to introduce the “Traffic and Crimes Amendment Act.” Addressing the prior presumption of intent, this new legislation combats road rage and “refers to the intent to engage in menacing and predatory driving
The increase in handheld recording devices has allowed motorists to create a virtual database of alarming video evidence substantiating the existence of road rage. Whether caused by emotional instability or substance abuse, road rage affects all demographics. Law makers and law enforcement officers have begun to address the issue with the creation of laws and training to reduce incidents of vehicular violence resulting from road rage. The abundant reality of road rage is still developing; but, several factors can curb the rise in aggressive driving. Law enforcement, new legislation, and self-monitoring and awareness of drivers can reverse this growing dangerous scourge on our