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.
323). The only acknowledgment of aggressive driving incidents was those that resulted in injury or death or were such sensational stories that they were newsworthy strictly because of their content. With the introduction of social media, specifically YouTube and Facebook, individual postings have illustrated how road rage has permeated society. A keyword search of “road rage” on YouTube yields over six million videos on the topic, both educational and incidents caught on video. This demonstrates the documented number of incidents. It stands to reason that this is just a small number compared to what is actually occurring in society. According to the American Automobile Association, Aggressive Driving is a behavior that is growing in frequency on roads. (Jovanovic, et al. (2011). Researchers have begun to contemplate the seriousness of “aggressive driving”, consider the sources and causative factors of aggressive drivers and define “aggressive driving”. Researchers have come to acknowledge that individuals exhibit their frustrations through their driving behavior. Behaviors range from aggressive driving to yelling, honking or other milder forms of aggression. (Britt & Garrity, (2006). As evolved animals, humans have learned to adapt and control their emotional responses to various stimuli; however, this does not deny the human nature that can periodically erupt in anger and this includes anger as a response to the behavior of another human especially during social interaction, like driving. Britt and Garrity note that “virtually everyone can remember a time when they experienced anger or fear in response to a provocation when driving.” (Britt, W. & Garrity, M. (2006). p. 127). If a driver has ever exhibited any kind of negative emotion or behavior towards another, they have road raged. While mild events, considered just “aggressive driving” (Mann, et al. (2007). p. 384)., might not result in catastrophe and would, therefore, not be reported, more aggressive forms of road rage are being considered as causative factors in collisions. Reliable data is difficult to compile; because, drivers never consider themselves to be “road ragers”; however, scientific studies have listed a few factors which contribute to a driver with the potential for road rage including: alcohol, illicit drug use, anxiety, stress, and depression. (Mann, et al. (2007). Another reason reliable data on vehicle violence is difficult to obtain is explained in Linda J. Carroll and J. Peter Rothe’s 2014 article Viewing Vehicular Violence Through a Wide Angle Lens: Contributing Factors and a Proposed Framework “it is typically recorded as a violent act, without reference to the use of the vehicle, or as an “accident” or traffic violation.”(Carroll, J. & Rothe, J. (2014). p. 149). This lack of identifying the actual cause of the “accident,” keeps the actual number of number of injury and deaths on the roadways due to road rage, unknown. Additionally, social competition is evident in everyday driving. Drivers compete to get ahead or for a position just a little further along in the traffic congestion. This constant competition on the road can lead to active conflicts of anger and rage and a reason to strike back to a perceived injustice, like being cut off in traffic, or being followed too closely by another vehicle. The constant stress of daily life is compounded when a commute to and from work is involved. The dreaded “rush hour” is considered to be the time of the day that is the most stressful. (Carroll, J. & Rothe, J. 2014). Carloads of frustrated, stressed, irritated commuters, all bunched together, vying for the same space at the same time, creates a hostile environment every day on the roadways. Some drivers who face that situation every day, day in and day out, eventually vent their frustrations in different types of road rage, some honk the horn, or use their fingers in rude gestures. Others yell and scream or use their car as a tool for vengeance. Emotional turmoil is a reason why some drivers choose to engage in road rage. Alcohol exacerbates these occurrences. The correlation between heavy drinking and road rage is evident. The heavier the drinking the more likely road rage will increase. (Carroll, J. & Rothe, J. 2014).
Incidents involving vehicles, no matter how destructive, have traditionally been viewed as less severe as violent behaviors that utilize a gun or knife.
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
behavior.”(Brewer, A. (2000). p. 50). This displayed an unwillingness to disregard the concept of road rage any longer,
Law enforcement departments have joined law makers in their effort to address road rage. Specifically, they have increased the officers specializing in traffic enforcement and departments have increased their efforts in training officers to recognize and address aggressive driving behaviors. (Dukes, et al. (2001).
Road rage is an issue that affects roadways internationally.
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
roadways.