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Interview with Leon James and Diane Nahl:
How do you define "road rage"?
Road rage is the inability to let go of the desire to punish or retaliate. It is an emotionally impaired state of anger leading to aggressive behavior in words, gestures, assault, or battery.
How do you define "aggressive driving"?
We define aggressive driving as forcing on others one's preferred level of risk while driving. For example, switching lanes without signaling or failing to yield properly are aggressive because these acts raise the level of risk or danger on the road for everyone. This is a hostile act.
What we call the "aggressive driver syndrome" is made up of the following driver behaviors:
Feeling more stress
Swearing more often
Acting more frequently in a hostile manner
Speeding on a regular basis
Yelling more at other drivers
Honking more at other drivers
Making more insulting gestures
Tailgating more often
Cutting off more often
Expressing road rage behavior more often
Feeling enraged more often
More often indulging in violent fantasies
Feeling more competitive with other drivers
Rushing more of the time
More often feeling the desire to drive dangerously
Feeling less calm and levelheaded behind the wheel
Is aggressive driving on the increase?
The answer is probably "yes," but not everybody agrees. If you look at surveys that ask people, "Do you think that aggressive driving is worse now?" as many as 2 out of 3 drivers say "yes." We think, but we have no proof, that this is higher than what people would have said 10 years ago. There is also evidence that road rage violence reported to police has been on the increase. But accurate figures are not available.
However, we do believe that every generation of drivers passes on the aggressive driving mentality to the children riding with the adults and picking up their mentality and hostility. The next generation of road ragers will be more aggressive than ours, and we're breeding this next generation right now. We can call the back seat of the car road rage nursery.
Road rage is ubiquitous in America today. Evidently the average commute in our cities, towns villages and on our highways across the country is filled with anxiety, stress, antagonism, discontent, and fear that encourages such incidents. Most of the victims recognize a dramatic increase in road rage. See our collection of road rage news stories.
What states have the biggest problems with aggressive driving?
These are the states with the highest "aggressive-driving death rates"
(deaths per 100,000 people), according to the Surface Transportation Policy
Project:
1. South Carolina 15.1
2. Wyoming 13.9
3. Alabama 13.7
4. Kansas 13.7
5. Oklahoma 13.6
6. New Mexico 12.9
7. North Carolina 12.4
8. Arkansas 12.4
9. Idaho 11.9
10. Florida 11.7
Why is aggressive driving so widespread?
The reason that aggressive driving is now the norm in society is that we as toddlers in the back seat, absorbed our parents' driving emotions and attitudes, including how fast they usually drive, what they say out loud to or about other drivers, how they handle distractions inside the car, who they blame after an incident, and their ongoing feelings in the vehicle. Also, aggressive driving is reinforced by repeated media portrayals of drivers behaving badly.
What kind of actions by another driver most often triggers someone to drive aggressively?
The top complaints by drivers are:
1. Tailgating
2. Cutting off or cutting in too soon
3. Not signaling lane changes or turns
4. Running red lights
5. Hogging or driving slow in the passing lane
6. Making an obscene gesture
I try not to be aggressive, but people who don't follow road signs and cut me off do make me really angry. Any tips for coping with all the idiots out there?
Slowly count to ten.
While you force yourself to count slowly,
your adrenaline goes down to normal levels. Take deep breaths as you do this. Forgive and
forget. Think about the people who are waiting for you to arrive and how you don't want to
disappoint them. Tell yourself it's just not worth the hassle.
Make funny noises.
Laughter not only interrupts your negative
thinking, it unloads the stress. Try animal sounds or any nonsense noise -- really get
into it.
Give "courtesy waves" to other drivers, and put on a
pleasant face.
The way you drive is contagious. You're influencing others' behavior, not
by retaliating, but by peacemaking.
Develop an "attitude of latitude."
Think of positive
reasons why drivers do things that annoy you. Perhaps they're sick or confused. Maybe
they're rushing to the bathroom. Maybe they just got some bad news. Maybe... Come out
swinging positive. Don't be rude to the rude. Seize control by defusing anger. Apologize,
don't argue, be sympathetic. Don't challenge anything. Go out of your way to appear
friendly and peaceful.
Drive with emotional intelligence.
It's intelligent to choose
positive explanations, rather than negative, because they are less disturbing, more
community oriented, less alienating, and ultimately more satisfying than the "you
stupid clown" approach.
Use the Castanza Technique.
When you're in a bad
mood, act the opposite of what you feel like. It worked for the George Costanza character
on Seinfeld -- remember that episode? When your first reaction to an incident is negative
and hostile, show the opposite of what you feel. For instance, if you swear and feel like
giving the other driver a piece of your mind, pretend you're happy with that driver: put
on a happy face, yield, make room, try to be helpful and polite. The way you drive is
contagious! If you drive in a hostile manner, you invite aggressiveness in return. If you
maintain civility and helpfulness, you invite such behavior from others.
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