Road Rage, is it on the increase and if so Why?

Question

I think it is. I have never threatened anyone but i do seem to be getting more and more wound up when im driving. I think its because there are so many roadworks. What do you think?

Answer 1

There is too much road work. There are too many cars on the road. There is not enough public transportation options. The whole thing is chaos, and it all contributes to the feelings of road rage people experience while trying to do something as simple as drive back and forth to work.

Answer 2

Funny - I just wrote about road rage in an answer to a question. I am not one to get worked up while driving although it has happened. There are alot of idiot drivers out there. But I have noticed people with road rage more and more often. I think roadworks has alot to do with it but also the fact that there are so many drivers out there. Not to mention so many people are stressed out about everything. And then some people are just crazy. I think it is normal for you to get "wound up" every now and again but try to keep it under control because you never know who you are turning your road rage toward. They might just take out a gun and shoot you or pull you out of your car and beat the **** out of you or God knows what else.

Answer 3

I say yes and there are lots of reasons.

First, there are just a lot more cars on the road. No one gets upset on an empty highway.

Second, stress levels are higher these days. Everyone is working harder and more hours so when you get in the car you are either tired from not enough sleep or burned out from 14 hours at work.

Third, people move around a lot more these days. Different parts of the country have different driving customs which don't work in other places. I'm from Texas and recently visited New York City for the first time. I couldn't believe how much everyone blew their horns at each other, everyone seemed to be constantly upset. If a New Yorker came to Texas or vice versa, there would be a lot of stress involved.

Take it from someone who's been there, you have to make yourself calm down and take it slow. I was getting so bad that my wife was ready to refuse to ride with me. Luckily, a video on road rage I saw at a defensive driving class turned on the light. I'm glad I saw the light before someone got hurt.

Driving is not a competitive sport, if someone gets ahead of you, they are not the "winner" and more importantly, you are not the "loser". Courteous driving is something you have to practice every day. It's the little things, letting someone in instead of cutting them off, slowing down and stopping at a yellow light instead of speading up, avoiding sudden lane changes, etc. It's pretty simple but pretty hard at the same time.

Answer 4

I think road rage is created by: bad scheduling (running late), overburdened lifestyles, inconvenient roadworks (as if there are convenient roadworks), lack of stress management skills, too many people talking on the phones while they're driving.

I think as our lives demand more and we demand more from our lives, the general stress levels in our lives rise and it takes less and less to trigger a negative stress response. Twenty years ago, the finger was reserved for people cutting us off in a dangerous way. Now it's just given out for someone who speeds up when we try to pass them (trust me, it's not about you, it's about the natural human response to you getting too close and it feels like an invasion of privacy to be side by side with someone on the road.). Now we flip people off AND honk the horn AND yell at them all at the same time for driving 5 miles per hour under the speed limit.

I really think road rage can be minimized by managing stress levels in our lives clear across the board, getting adequate sleep, nutrition, exercise.

Answer 5

Road Rage is on the increase. Traffic conditions have increased the amount of cars on the road today, in addition homes in rural areas have increased due to the low amount of money for land, thereby contributing to the amount of time a person commutes to work.

When adding up the increase in the amount of traffic (More people driving), commuter time and the ineffectiveness of the local and state governments to keep up with the infrastructure of the roadways leads to a significant amount of frustration in the current drivers.

The local governments ineptness, selfish individuals (mass transit) all contribute to a bad experience in driving.

Answer 6

here is the deal people lose their connection to other people when driving, you would never have some one cut you off in line at the market thats rude, but you probably have it happen 3 or 4 times a day in your car. It's a social buble, and we lose or connection to our own politeness. Then there are the people who feel that if you make a mistake driving it was an intenional assult against them. When ever anyone flips me off which is often because I drive a vette and there a alot of haters out there who flip me off if I even look their way. I just stick my tounge out at them, they usually start laughing wich diffusses ther anger

Answer 7

OK, so this isn't an answer, just another observation. A freind was at WalMart the other day with his kids. His 5 yr old got separated from him (there was a man between the boy and his dad), so the kid sped up to catch back up with his dad. Just as he was passing the old geezer, the guy sticks his foot out and trips the boy! The dad, hearing his son whimper, turns to see what's going on, and the boy says "That guy tripped me!" Assuming it was probably an accident, he looked at the older man, and is just told "Well, he was trying to pass me!"
Road rage in WalMart!?!?!

Answer 8

It's because people are on their cell phones, and are oblivious to what's going on around them. These same people seem to find their way into the fast lane where they decide to go 55 and I want to go 100...Yes I really drive that fast...I'm just making up lost time.
That's what causes my road rage. Yes I know I'm one of those a**holes for speeding, but I am courteous when I'm passing you like a bat out of Hell, I use my blinkers!

Answer 9

To the speeders out there I do understand that you get wound up but isn't it better to get there 5mins late rather not get there at all.Ambulance paramedic we were always taught that fast driving was a product of safe driving if everyone stuck to that rule I would have my workrate cut by half(Thank God) of course it will never happen.

Answer 10

i was pulled out on twice yesterday neither of the people in these incidents even looked there so lucky i had enough time to break ,i can understand y theres so much road rage cos theres so many idiots on the road.