Road Rage
You 're driving down the highway on your way to work, when all of a suddensuddenly you see a pickup truck flying down the road in your rearview mirror. You get over into the left handleft-hand lane so it can pass, but the driver in front of you doesn’t. The pickup truck flies by your car, cuts you off, then goes around the other driver. As the truck continues to swerve through traffic, it disappearesdisappears out of sight as fast as it had arrived. Chances are that everyone has witnessed road rage at some time throughout their life. Whether you were a passenger in a car, the driver in a car, or simply watching the road, you are bound to see road rage. Road rage is a habit that dates back todates to the invention of the car.
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Road rage can be caused by different thingsDifferent things can cause road rage. The most popular is drivers getting mad at other drivers. An example of this would be a driver getting upset at you for not using your turn signal. Another common form of road rage is driving angry. This means that you were angry before you got in the car and so you 're blowing off smoke. An example of this would be driving 100 mph down the expressway because you got in a fight with your wife. The last form of road rage is due to a lack of time. An example of this would be a student blowing a stop sign because he is late for school. Road rage can come in many different forms, and so the severity of it can vary. Examples of aggressive road rage include, “Purposefully tailgating, yelling at another driver, honking to show annoyance or anger, making angry gestures, trying to block another vehicle from changing lanes, cutting off another vehicle on purpose, getting out of the vehicle to confront another driver, and bumping or ramming another vehicle on purpose”(purpose” (PR Newswire). Most of these behaviors aren’t seen everydayevery day. The more aggressive road rage situations are not as common, though they do still happen. “State police say one of the largest sources of road rage on highways comes from motorists in the high-speed lane who do not move into lower-speed lanes when someone wants to pass” …show more content…
Road rage affects everyone, whether you are a victim or suspect. There are mild cases of road rage, like yelling at another driver, and more severe cases, such as getting out of a car and assaulting another driver. Road rage’s severest consequence is death, and many of these can be eliminated. There are three main ideas to keep in mind while driving to help stop road rage. Number one, don’t offend another driver. Number two, be forgiving of other mistakes or lack of knowledge while driving. Number three, do not respond if another driver is showing signs of aggression towards you. If you feel threatened don’t take matters into your own hands, call the police. It is there job to make the roads a safe place, not yours. Now you know what road rage is, who is affected by it, the consequences, and how to make an efforttry to end road rage. If we all work together we can save lives and make the roads a safer
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.
The first point I chose for the article is the four types of rage people have. The four types of rage, is Road rage or ‘’Mad driver disease”, Sky rage, Sideline rage, Line rage. In this essay I will explain just one of them and that is Road rage. Dianne Hales wrote in the article that American Automobile Association’s Foundation for Traffic Safety says that road rage or what they call “Mad diver disease” is getting more and more examples, as in the 1990’s the percentage increase 7 percent each year in that decade. Dianne Hales did not explain road rage in detail, so I wrote out the definition of it. This rage is a hostile or crazy action by a driver of a car or truck or other automobile on the road. This is when the driver does oral malign, intentionally driving dangerously and making warnings to hurt other drivers. Road rage can lead to assaults, and collisions that can guide to trauma to other divers and even death to those drivers. I agree with Dianne Hales that this case of rage is getting more common in drivers as I see it happen more often lately. I sometimes see people driving recklessly, like hooting the horn and diving people off the road. For example, I was with my family in
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).
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).
Eppley, George. "Confessing to Road Rage." Human Development 26.3 (2005): 48. Acedemic Search Complete. Muntz Lib., Tyler, TX. 25 Mar. 2009.
Drivers who speed often do not realize the enormous danger they are creating. When someone is speeding they have a higher braking time and are often going too fast to notice all of their surroundings, and fail to take all of the safety precautions a driver should use. Road conditions play a large role in the effects of speeding. Choosing to speed can also get a person’s license taken away, cost a fortune, or both.
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...
It starts with just a moment of tailgating, or maybe the guy in front of you cut you off or wouldn’t let you into the fast lane. In some cases it appears that incidents of road rage are caused by simple misunderstandings between drivers. A driver may make a momentary error of judgment but the perception of another driver is that he or she is driving aggressively. Then suddenly it turns into World War III on the highway. It matters little what causes it; a bad day at the office, a love affair going bad, credit cards maxed to the credit limit. All it takes is a sudden movement of someone else’s wheels, and within seconds a normally mild mannered motorist is consumed with a red-eyed, mouth-foaming surge of anger that grabs more of us every day. Road Rage, something that has always simmered on the back burner of motoring America, is now going off like fireworks.
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 main form of reckless driving that a large amount of people are aware of is drinking and driving. When an individual is under the influence while driving, it can become detrimental in regards to other lives, not just to the individual behind the wheel because it impairs the driver 's ability to make quick and smart decisions. Within the last year there was a 15 year old boy who had lost his life due to driving under the influence. Somehow the boy had managed to veer off the road and wrap his car around a pole and into a Whataburger, not only taking his own life but also risking the lives of anyone who was inside the restaurant. The fact that he was drinking impaired his ability to drive, thus resulting in not having control of his vehicle. Another major issue of reckless driving is speeding. Many times drivers will reach dangerous speeds on the road as the result of racing. Once reaching the high speeds, the individual is risking the amount of control they have over the car. When lacking control of the vehicle the said person is
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.
Road safety is one of the most important aspects of daily living. Our vehicle is our main transportation from one place to another. The number of car and motorcycle accidents seem to be increasing because of the many distractions, the lack of safety measures and judgment to road conditions and weather. Not being cautious increases the chances of not only injuring ourselves but hurting others as well. On the road, you see people talking on their cell phones or texting, eating, putting makeup on, changing the radio station, reading or using your GPS while driving. These are all distractions that endanger drivers, passengers and bystanders safety. Safe driving involves off-road precautionary measures such as making sure tires are properly inflated, testing windshield wipers, getting regular oil changes and tune-ups and adjusting the mirrors. All of these actions can help prevent an accident. Unfortunately, not all of us decide to wear our seat belts when driving or turn signal ligh...