Roadrage is a Problem
Every year, thousands of people are injured or killed in car wrecks caused by road rage/ aggressive driving. Despite this fact many people still are impatient and become angry on the road. Driving is a curious display of public and private acts. A car isolates the driver from the world. The personal sensation of power over a couple thousand pound car is intoxicating. Road rage/aggressive driving starts from things such as illegal or improper lane changes, failing to yield the right of way, and excessive speeding just to name a few. Everyday we deal with this type of driving. Everyone runs a great risk just driving around the corner to the local convenience store or just to the local church. According to U.S. News and World Report, the United States Department of Transportation estimates that two-thirds of fatalities are at least partially caused by road rage/ aggressive driving. This essay will look at some of the arguments for and against road rage/aggressive driving.
The major cause of aggressive driving is the discourteous or inattentive driver. Driving behaviors include changing lanes to closely, tailgating and "the number one cause is the left lane hog." (Larson 1) These seemingly small errors infuriate the potentially aggressive driver and cause a transformation indescribable to man kind. Reduced law enforcement, highway traffic, the growing congestion is cities, and personal issues play a large role in the disposition of the aggressive driver. Then the angry driver may demonstrate his or her displeasure by speeding around the other vehicle, cutting the other car off, and or with a number of verbal and non-verbal messages. Though the driver may feel justified in his or her action, but the display in most times is very dangerous and often will result in damage to one or both cars involved.
As mentioned above, two thirds of the fifty eight thousand highway deaths last year, 2004 were related to aggressive driving. In a recent survey by roadrage.com reported that six out of ten people reported that they were followed by a driver displeased with their driving. Another survey reported that out of those six people, four reported a chase of more than ten miles and out of the four, three reported being followed to their house. A questionnaire posted by roadragers.com surveyed 600,000 thousand people and out of those 600,000 thousand 216,000 people reported that they know someone who was killed or injured by an aggressive driver.
In this essay I will explain only one of them and that is Road rage. This rage is a hostile or crazy action by a driver of a car or truck or other automobile on the road and this includes oral malign, intentionally driving in a dangerous way, or making warnings to hurt other drivers. Road rage can lead to fights, assaults, and collisions that result in trauma to other divers and even death to those drivers. It can be conceived of as an extreme instance of aggressive driving. I agree with Dianne Hales that this case of rage can be called “mad driver disease” and that this type of rage do increase per year because I see it happen. For an example, I was with my family in our car and my dad was driving. It was a rainy day and people were driving really slow compared to sunny days. We were driving along the turnpike and out of know where there was traffic. There was a motor vehicle collision ahead of us and that caused the traffic. The car behind us started to honk the horn after minutes, sitting there waiting for the traffic to move. Then out of know where the driver got out the car and started to scream to move the car. It was a scary moment. Lucky for us a state police trooper seen him and told
The essay Road Warrior, written by Dave Berry expresses the road rages that everyone, or most people, face on a daily basis as well as a few other rages. He justifies how unnecessary these can be sometimes, and how they just lead to bad things (e.g. violence). The title is quite fitted for what the essay is about, additionally making you want to read the essay, as the title pulls you in.
Aggressive driving can also result from drunk or drug driving and distracted driving. It is hence densely woven into multiple road dangers.
Dangers on roadways is an issue that describes the discrepancy between perception and reality of road rage. The media, for some odd reason, tends to make road rage a huge controversial issue. As seen on talk shows from Oprah Winfrey to CNN, they reveal to people that road rage could happen at any time and to always be looking over your shoulder. These talk shows and news programs also put fear into our minds by explaining that most roadragers often use guns to kill or injure their victims. Glassner contradicts the media's speculations by stating that out of approximately 250,000 people killed on roadways between 1990-1997, AAA attributed that one in one thousand was an act of road rage (pg.5).
Eppley, George. "Confessing to Road Rage." Human Development 26.3 (2005): 48. Acedemic Search Complete. Muntz Lib., Tyler, TX. 25 Mar. 2009.
No one can deny that driving drink has caused traffic deaths and injuries. Drunk driving is one of the most frequently committed crimes in the United States, killing someone approximately every 48 minutes. Drunk driving is “A time when humans willingly enter cages of glass and steel that move in such great numbers at such terrific speed, that subtle turn of the steering wheel can easily result in death” (Thomas). What possesses a person to get ...
Dave Barry’s “Road Warrior” is a humorous essay that discusses different types of “rages” that exists on a daily basis in American life. Barry begins by discussing road rage then goes into parking lot rage, and shopping cart rage. He explains that these rages are unnecessary, and how they just create violence in the world today. While Barry was writing this article he was living in Miami, Florida discussing the problems of road rage in the city. If anyone has ever felt road rage, or any kind of rage this is for you.
With the introduction of the automobile in the early 1900s, laws have been instituted to protect drivers on the road. With these laws come lawbreakers who put their agenda in front of the well being of others. Tens of thousands of lives have been lost. billions of dollars have been spent, and pollution has grown exponentially because of this. drivers travelling at high speeds on roads (Hartman).
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) defines aggressive driving as "the operation of a motor vehicle in a manner that endangers or is likely to endanger persons or property"—a traffic and not a criminal offense like road rage. Examples include speeding or driving too fast for conditions, improper lane changing, tailgating and improper passing. Approximately 6,800,000 crashes occur in the United States each year; a substantial number are estimated to be caused by aggressive driving. 1997 statistics compiled by NHTSA and the American Automobile Association show that almost 13,000 people have been injured or killed since 1990 in crashes caused by aggressive driving. According to a NHTSA survey, more than 60 percent of drivers consider unsafe driving by others, including speeding, a major personal threat to themselves and their families. About 30 percent of respondents said they felt their safety was threatened in the last month, while 67 percent felt this threat during the last year. Weaving, tailgating, distracted drivers, and unsafe lane changes were some of the unsafe behaviors identified. Aggressive drivers are more likely to drink and drive or drive unbelted. Aggressive driving can easily escalate into an incident of road rage. Motorists in all 50 states have killed or injured other motorists for seemingly trivial reasons. Motorists should keep their cool in traffic, be patient and courteous to other drivers, and correct unsafe driving habits that are likely to endanger, antagonize or provoke other motorists. More than half of those surveyed by NHTSA admitted to driving aggressively on occasion. Only 14 percent felt it was "extremely dangerous" to drive 10 miles per hour over the speed limit. 62 percent of those who frequently drive in an unsafe and illegal manner said police for traffic reasons had not stopped them in the past year. The majority of those in the NHTSA survey (52 percent) said it was "very important" to do something about speeding. Ninety-eight percent of respondents thought it "important" that something be done to reduce speeding and unsafe driving. Those surveyed ranked the following countermeasures, in order, as most likely to reduce aggressive and unsafe driving behaviors: (1) more police assigned to traffic control, (2) more frequent ticketing of traffic violations, (3) higher fines, and (4) i...
Scott, Gini Graham. "Driverless Cars Could Eliminate Road Rage." Road Rage, edited by Amy Francis, Greenhaven Press, 2014. At Issue. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ3010911216/OVIC?u=pioneer&xid=dda28b2a. Accessed 6 Oct. 2017. Originally published as "The Driverless Car—and the End of Road Rage?" Huffington Post, 20 Feb.
Though in contrast, there are also those people who are completely reckless. Usually these people downshift a gear or two to make some noise, weave in and out of traffic, and sometimes get into collisions. This is true because most traffic related fatalities are are in relationship someone speeding. (Analysis of Speeding 1)
A Different Road opens with the narrator zoomed out, telling us about the Kitteradges, how they used to be and how they are now. Henry does not go out of his way to say hello when he is in town, nor does he linger and chat. Olive, although she had always been outspoken and unfriendly, has turned even more so now. Through constant flashbacks, we learn what happened to the Kitteradges. On their way home from dinner on a Saturday night, Henry stopped at the hospital because Olive needed to use the bathroom immediately.
We can attack and reduce the dangers of aggressive driving. Each of us should take a look at our own driving habits and those of our friends and loved ones. The government can help with road improvements and law enforcement, but solving this problem will require people to change their behavior. Working together, we can make our roads safer and prevent deaths and injuries.
“The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status, or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we all believe that we are above-average drivers” -Dave Barry, comedian. The number of accidents over the last ten years have drastically increased, drivers are paying less attention to the road itself. Many individuals behind the wheel of a car believe that their driving does not affect the road conditions, however it always will. The driving habits of today are catastrophic due to the reasoning that the driving will affect other lives through reckless or distracted driving, and disobeying traffic laws.
III. Connection: Everday we have to deal with these people on our roads. We run a great risk just driving around the corner to go to the store or a quiet trip to church. According to U.S. News and World Report, the U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that two-thirds of fatalities are at least partially caused by aggressive driving. Fortunately, there is something we can do about it.