Developing road rage? How to avoid taking it to the next level
Here are some tips you can use to avoid road rage. Don’t be one of those people who take it to the next level and act out through criminal offenses.
Have you ever seen a violent road rage incident on the road? If not, you will have no problem finding videos of it on the internet. While some people are easily ticked off on the road, the best idea is to just take a deep breath and let it go. However, road rage is proving to pose a huge problem in South Africa and some people unfortunately take it to the next level and act out through criminal offenses. This also naturally poses a big problem for road-safety issues.
While there are no hard facts that deal with road rage directly, as it is yet to be classified as a crime, anecdotal evidence suggests that the incidence of road rage is on the increase in South Africa. What’s more is that crimes committed as a result of road rage are becoming increasingly violent.
In one of our previous articles on road rage, we told you about a road rage victim that got attacked in Cape Town:
Susan Knight, a 23-year-old Cape Town computer programmer, was a lucky survivor. ‘I don’t know what provoked it all,’ she says. ‘I stopped at a traffic light in Claremont and this guy behind me jumped out of his car, opened my door and hauled me out of my car. He was screaming and hitting me; I thought I was going to die!’
Road rage is more often the result of external factors where minor incidents such as being cut off or throwing a zap sign have the potential to escalate rapidly into a situation that lacks all sense of proportion and can end in violence. Here are four important tips to keep in mind on the road:
1. Don’t show a physical reaction to an aggressive driver’s behavior. In particular, you should avoid eye contact, as this is often seen as a sign of mutual aggression.
2. It’s very important to keep control of your own temper when someone is driving aggressively. Remember that many people don’t view their own actions as aggressive. Surveys have shown that drivers often think of their own actions as assertive, but not aggressive.
3. Try not to match another driver’s behavior.
4. Don’t use your car hooter to express displeasure at other drivers as doing so might make them more aggressive. Try to keep in mind that there are more important factors than your displeasure. Remember that your safety, the safety of your vehicle and the safety of everyone around you is far more important than your sense of indignation.