There’s a big difference between observing reckless driving behaviour and reacting to it with rage. It’s perfectly normal to be alarmed at poor driving and hopefully to respond defensively. But some of us get furious at times. We honk our horns. We slow way down with them right on our tailgate to “teach them a lesson,” or we pull up beside them, roll down our windows, and yell.
A recent survey was conducted by a top global insurance company to find out what the main causes of road rage are.
The survey revealed that the two leading causes of road rage was being cut off in traffic by another motorist and drivers not using their indicators.
What causes this road rage and how can we as drivers control it?
Psychologists say that road rage, for some “is the need for control, to counter other drivers who they feel violate their space, or their need for possession of their lane or their part of the road.”
The main causes of road rage from the survey were:
- 67%- Being cut off by other drivers
- 65%- Other road users not indicating
- 61% – General Rudeness
- 43%- Driving too slowly
- 30% – Driving too fast
All of the above are obviously acceptable reasons for people to get irritated but instead of turning it into aggression and anger we should just take a moment to calm down and not let other driver’s bad habits affect our own driving. Also, if you leave extra time for a journey you should need to get irritated if someone is driving too slowly.
Source: My Car Gossip