Road Rage Research Paper

Susan Berg
English 155
Mr. Campbell
10/20/2011
Cause and Effect Essay-Road Rage In today’s society, it seems that there is an increasing amount of vehicles on the nations road ways, therefore, increasing the chances of road rage. Many people are moving to areas that more inclusive to their jobs, their children’s schools, or areas where housing is more affordable. This is adding to the chances that more and more people will become aggressive and you will experience an episode of a driver that will address their anger or emotions by road rage. Other causes of road rage today may include the addition of our teenagers in a hurry to get their driver licenses so that they may drive back and forth to school and pick up their friends, and a lot of parents are okay with this because it takes a burden off of them and frees up their time schedules so that they don’t have to take time to and pick up their kids and chaperone them all over. This causes an additional fluctuation of vehicles on our roadways, and we can almost bet that at least once, there will be an altercation between a teenager and an unhappy driver on the roadway first thing in the morning, especially during rush hour
traffic. To me, the biggest cause of road rage that I witness today on or during my time on the road is someone talking or texting on their cell phone. When a driver is talking or texting, they are not really focused on the task at hand, which is driving. I witness these causes on a daily basis and wish that there was more police on the highways and roads in between to take advantage of the chance to write the ticket that is so deserving from my point of view. I am proactive to the fact that a blue tooth device is a life saver and it is not being enforced on our roadways today. When a driver is talking on their cell phone, they are distracted and it can cause them to swerve into other lanes and either cause an accident or really upset another driver which leads us back to the road rage issue, and then it can really be a bad situation for a lot of people during their commute or just a leisurely drive. I know if I were to drive and not use my hands free that there would be a police officer on every corner and I would for sure be getting a ticket. Another cause that may add to someone to get upset and maybe go into an episode of road rage is the added factor of age.
There are a lot of drivers on the road who are in possession of a drivers license who have not taken a written or a visual eye exam in years because they have such a clean driving record. But the factor not being considered is that they are elderly and not able to drive safely and therefore should not be able to drive a vehicle. They either drive too slow, or change lanes without looking; or leave their turn signals on and keep on driving. The Department of Motor Vehicles needs to be more proactive in monitoring these drivers based on age so that they can safely maneuver on the road and not add to the factor of road
rage. Many other factors also come into play in society as a whole that may or may come into play in road rage. I see women putting on makeup, drivers reading the newspaper, drivers turned around addressing issues with small children in the backseat of the vehicle, and motorcycles cutting in between lanes. Many of these incidents that I have witnessed is more than enough to cause road rage. I know I get mad when have to try to maneuver my car into a lane to get where I need to go and I have to deal with a driver who is not paying attention that I have to put my emotions into check and remember that I want to get to my destination safely and in order to do that, I need to step back and wait for an opening so that I can make a safe lane change. In conclusion, I believe many drivers today are in such a hurry to get to a certain place that they forget about the fact that they are not the only ones on the road and maybe need to get up a little earlier to put their make up on, or read their newspaper over a cup of coffee at home instead of in their cars. Drivers also need to maybe lay down their cell phone on the seat or put it into their purse and wait until they reach wherever it is they are going to return that all important phone call or text message so that everyone can have a safe commute to wherever it is they are going, making the roads and highways a safer place for everyone, including myself.