The Sunday Tribune - Spectrum

"Road rage" itself is a relatively new term coined in 1988. But it has caught on in a big way. Now it commonly figures in newspaper headlines the world over. "Road rage: we’re driven to destruction," warns Newsweek. "An epidemic of aggressive driving," says USA Today. Some others challenge this as unduly alarmist. To one critic the term "road rage" is a "media coinage that rests more on the infectious appeal of alliteration than on the weight of evidence".

How rampant is road rage? A recent Automobile Association survey of 526 drivers in the UK revealed that 90 per cent of those interviewed had experienced road rage incidents during the past 12 months. The forms of intimidation complained against were tailgating (62 per cent), flashing lights (59 per cent), rude gestures (48 per cent) deliberate obstruction (21 per cent), and physical assault (1 per cent).

The road rage phenomenon is deemed so serious, the US Congress has begun hearings on it before the House Subcommittee on Surface Transport. There are now psychiatrists who dub themselves as "road rage therapists". They treat drivers given to road rage. Even accompany patients on the car and demonstrate the ugliness of this behaviour.

The unique thing about cars is that they extend our ability to take on the world, making us stronger and faster — in command of a ton of metal capable of hurtling at 100 kmph or more. This invites us to pit ourselves against other drivers and reinforce our macho image. The first generation drivers are particularly prone to it: most drivers in the developed world have had cars so long they no longer feel they have to prove themselves behind the wheel.

Being in a car creates a sense of inviolability, the feeling that one is protected from the outside world, and that people can’t get at you: One reason why people are likely to hurl insults from the security of the car. Pedestrians rarely treat each other like this.

Another factor that leads to aggression on the road is the virtual anonymity in driving. Everyone is a stranger around and so one’s misbehaviour doesn’t seem to matter. The problem exacerbates in a city like Delhi where a lot of people harbour the feeling of being "outsiders" — not assimilated into the civics of the city.

In addition, driving is essentially an anxiety-prone experience, especially in crowded urban areas. That often makes drivers impatient and bad tempered. An annoyance can turn into anger, and anger into rage. Ordinarily peaceful individuals can lose control. Older people can get as angry as younger ones, but they have to think if they’re physically capable of doing something about it. Matters possibly get worse with people who experience frustration at their workplace; they tend to misdirect their anger into driving.

Road rage is essentially a product of two factors: aggressive driving and vigilante behaviour.

An aggressive driver can be defined as one who, in his determination to achieve certain goals, engages in risky driving manoeuvres — speeding, competing, tailgating, weaving, injudicious overtaking. Younger people are more often the perpetrators because they’re the ones in a hurry.

Vigilante behaviour comes into play when such a driver encounters another vehicle that inadvertently impedes or thwarts his aggressive driving. He "punishes" the other driver by scornful looks, curses, and obscene gestures. The third step is when the vigilante, in response to some form of retaliation by the driver he has "punished", escalates his abuse of the other driver by harassing him with tailgating, bright lights or angry honking.

Road rage is the fourth step where the vigilante further escalates abuse and punishment of another combative driver by seeking to physically injure the other driver’s vehicle or person.

We each define rules of the road for our own and other drivers’ behaviour — rules that we believe in strongly. When other drivers challenge our rules, we get angry. For example, if you believe drivers should drive within the authorised speed limits, you’ll get angry if someone goes faster.

There are a few key beliefs that determine nearly all anger on the road. Making good time is one. The person holding this belief feels that he should drive to his destination as fast as possible within a certain prescribed amount of time. Anger results when the rate of speed or time schedule cannot be achieved. Whoever or whatever is deemed responsible for bringing about the delay becomes the object of rage — a stalled vehicle blocking the way, a slowcrossing pedestrian, a traffic jam.

Another belief holds that self-esteem is lost by giving in and allowing a demanding driver to have his way. Anger results when the other driver persists, escalates his efforts, or actually succeeds in achieving his objective. A few holding fast to this belief even go to the extent of speeding up when someone is overtaking. It may well make the other driver angrier and more determined to overtake. In desperation he may overtake blind or otherwise come in conflict with traffic coming from the opposite direction.

Some drivers believe that they have the right to punish other drivers (teach them a lesson) whose motoring threatens, annoys, or fails to measure to their self-created standards of say, the speed or lane changing or overtaking or parking.

Holding to stressful driving beliefs gives rise to aggressive driving, and in turn to road rage. Can drivers be persuaded to change or modify these attitudes? Dr John Larson in his book Road Rage to Road-Wise (Tom Doherty Associates, 1999) offers several remedial strategies. He himself runs a programme of re-educating aggressive drivers about road rage.

Larson’s first suggestion is to replace your rigid travel-time goal with a more flexible approach. When you allow yourself plenty of time to drive comfortably to your destination, all the anger created by the inevitable traffic circumstances that threaten tight schedules simply disappears. You could as well experience the joy of the journey — feel relaxed, engage in a meaningful conversation with companions, hear music or savour the passing surroundings.

Larson’s other suggestion is a gradual change in attitude that sheds combative behaviour towards other drivers. Give other drivers the benefit of doubt about their motives. An attitude of willingness to cooperate or accommodate other drivers’ desires is beneficial, says he, as long as you can do so safely, without delaying yourself significantly.

And he advises that you leave punishment to the police, replacing the vigilante attitude. It is rarely helpful to other drivers, yourself, or especially your passengers, for you to assume the role of police. If you stay wound up as a vigilante, the road you travel feels like a battlefield, when in reality it may be far more benign. Your stress level will be much lower if you remember that bad driving by others is not directed at you personally. Expect to see all degress of driving skill. That’s just our motoring world.

"Bad drivers are bad people." This is another belief that vigilantes hold dear. Actually most "bad" drivers are like anybody else. They may display poor judgement but it’s rarely malicious. Of course, small minority of bad drivers can be quite dangerous. Your best bet is to give them wide berth-flight, not fight.

Anyway "punishment" when it comes from someone other than a socially sanctioned punisher (parents or police), is not perceived as punishment at all, but as "sticking your nose in someone else’s business".

What about the situation where your spouse (mostly the husband) is an aggressive driver, given to road rage? There is no easy way out; he’s not going to change without a struggle. If you choose not to struggle, then you choose a life of enduring hostility whenever you ride with him.

To Larson, the time to talk to such a spouse about the problem is certainly not when he’s driving; it could make him angrier. The best time for it is during a time of peace and harmony between the two of you. Better talk about it sometime before going on a drive. This allows him time to reflect on the alternative you’ve presented. The third best time occurs just after a journey when your spouse has calmed down but still has fresh memories of the most recent road encounters.

Some recent studies in UK indicate that more and more of women drivers are engaging in road rage. Professor of sociology, Nancy Herman offers the explanation that women are "engaging in more road rage as they move up in the work force. The opposite is true of men; the higher they rise on the job, the less aggressive their highway behaviour". This she thinks, stems from women’s brand-new boost in self-perception and identity. "Women are achieving things and are less tolerant of other people".