Aggressive Driving Can Lead To Road Rage

It starts with just a moment of tailgating, or maybe the guy in front of you cut you off or wouldn’t let you into the fast lane. In some cases it appears that incidents of road rage are caused by simple misunderstandings between drivers. A driver may make a momentary error of judgment but the perception of another driver is that he or she is driving aggressively. Then suddenly it turns into World War III on the highway. It matters little what causes it; a bad day at the office, a love affair going bad, credit cards maxed to the credit limit. All it takes is a sudden movement of someone else’s wheels, and within seconds a normally mild mannered motorist is consumed with a red-eyed, mouth-foaming surge of anger that grabs more of us every day. Road Rage, something that has always simmered on the back burner of motoring America, is now going off like fireworks.

Motorists who have snapped and committed incredible violence are mostly men and women with no known histories of crime, violence, or alcohol and drug abuse. They are the people typically described by neighbors “the nicest woman or man” or “a wonderful mother or father.”

Father, mother, son, daughter, they all have their own ways of getting mad. Some slam on the brakes, jump out of their cars, open the trunks and grab anything that they get their hands on. Others use baseball bats, knives, mace, pepper spray, fists, or some simply pull out a pistol and start firing away. Why are these drivers turning their anger and frustrations into road rage and what solutions can we propose to stop this road rage?

Some say that one of the main causes of aggressive driving which usually leads to road rage is highway congestion. The road construction on the major interstates adds to

lane closures and distractions to motorists. A motorist is driving the speed limit and then immediately has to slam on their brakes because another motorist sees the lane closures and decides to cut in front of them. This type of driving makes motorists mad because they know tha...

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We can attack and reduce the dangers of aggressive driving. Each of us should take a look at our own driving habits and those of our friends and loved ones. The government can help with road improvements and law enforcement, but solving this problem will require people to change their behavior. Working together, we can make our roads safer and prevent deaths and injuries.

Works Cited

Bowles, Scott and Overberg, Paul. “Aggressive driving: A road well-traveled.” USA

TODAY 12 July 1999. USA TODAY on America Online. America Online.

27 September 2000.

Ledford, Joey. “Women taking their rage to the road.” Post-Dispatch 19 Sept. 2000.

Post-Dispatch on America Online. America Online. 21 Sept. 2000.

Leiser, Ken. “ROAD RAGE: COMMUTER COMBAT IN AMERICA.” Post-Dispatch

19 June 2000. Post-Dispatch on America Online. America Online.

19 September 2000.