Road Rage: Causes and Solutions

Road rage is a major problem in the United States, anger causes stress, fear , and accidents to our roadways everyday. In this essay we will define road rage, look at the causes and effects, and come up with solutions on how to avoid an altercation with an aggressive driver who has road rage. Road rage doesn’t always involve two drivers, sometimes it deals with a driver and a pedestrian. We need to learn to deal with the anger, and prevent violence toward others on the road.

Road rage affects every driver, whether you're involved directly or indirectly. Instead of getting angry because of things that are beyond the other drivers control, for example, their age, their driving ability, or the lack of general traffic knowledge. Patience is the key toward control. First, we need to control our own emotions at the wheel. Second, practice better driving habits ourselves. And finally, remember not to take what happens on the road personally.

I strongly believe the reason for road rage in our country is our poor coping ability to stress. Many of these people believe that releasing stress, which has escalated into anger, is a form of release. What many don’t realize is that the opposite happens, and this anger continues to build into rage. These stressed drivers often inflict their anger upon

mere strangers on the road, because it's much easier to cause strangers pain and suffering than it is with people closest to you. You could also be a victim of road rage, by

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completely random circumstances. Suppose you were at the wrong place at the wrong time. It seems as if their wall of stress is ready to explode at any given moment, if they pushed beyond their limit.

The face of road rage is not the typical...

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... taking into consideration their weakness on the road. Especially when it comes to the elderly drivers. Some of them fear driving at their age, but continue to do so out of need. Perhaps their spouse who was the better driver passed away. and they need to be on the road to get to their doctors appointment , which could be matter of life or death. Lets suppose that you were a passenger in your own grandmothers car, would you act insensitively? Probably not, so why is it ok that we don't show our elders or fellow drivers on the road compassion? Elders face more challenges than you are probably aware of.

Driving friendly is a contagious act and often times, thanks to karma, will go around and help you in your own time of need. We need to accept that driving is a privilege and not a right. And lastly, all drivers and pedestrians should feel entitled to the road.