Road Rage Road rage is becoming a more popular behavior each day. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration defines road rage as when a driver "commits moving traffic offenses so as to endanger other persons or property; an assault with a motor vehicle or other dangerous weapon by the operator or passenger of one motor vehicle on the operator or passengers of another motor vehicle". (Motorists) The AAA Foundation defines road rage as “violent anger caused by the stress and frustration involved in driving a motor vehicle – a motorist’s uncontrolled anger that is usually provoked by another motorist’s irritating act is expressed in aggressive or violent behaviors with an intention to cause physical harm.” The two definitions …show more content…
(Distraction) ADD or ADHD is a common disorder having the inability to pay attention. It is likely to be caused by a relative who was diagnosed, therefore having hereditary appearances. (Martin) Having a very little attention span can cause problems while in traffic. The statistics show 66% of traffic fatalities are caused by aggressive driving. The most likely group to exhibit aggressive driving are males under the age of nineteen. Out of the male side of the survey, 14.7% are distracted by eating or drinking something. 10.9% are from checking out other drivers. Only 9.5% are from conversations with a passenger. The women’s group had different distractions. The top distraction of 26.3% were kids. 16.6% was caused by putting on makeup. Combining both groups the biggest distraction was due to texting on the phone. Tailgating was the second most popular distraction with 60%. Multitasking was deemed to be a distraction by 54% of drivers. The lowest distraction was navigational issues with 9.5%. (Distracted Drivers) Stress is another factor believed to cause road rage. …show more content…
It is a term that is based upon the actions and thoughts of others that are clearly expressed. It is good to express your opinion, though sometimes it isn’t very convenient in certain circumstances. Road rage could be caused by multiple factors. I believe it has to do with something siding more with psychological terms. Your temper is a psychologic factor and has a great deal in these situations. Patience is also a factor that should be just as equal. However temper and patience test each other in these outbursts of emotion. This could be caused by distractions, stress, or even an illness. You should always be aware of your surroundings and use your words, gestures, and actions cautiously when approaching someone else. A car isn’t invincible so don’t think it will protect you through everything. They may be having a bad day, or they could be understanding. If we could come together and help each other with these “distractions”, maybe just a simple nod of the head, or a wave to let you by. It would most definitely ease the tensions between the drivers that are sharing a road or parking lot. So next time you want to tailgate someone, think about it. Think about the consequences that you will face. It could be violent, it could injure someone else. It all comes down to your actions and the way you think the situation through. It is after all a psychological
After reading “Driving While Stupid,” by Dave Barry, he tells us about some of his experience with seeing bad drivers. Barry uses many old experiences while being in Miami, China, Boston, and Argentina. I agree with this statement because in almost every city I been in the driving was terrible. Everyone, in some way or another, has witnessed people drive very stupid and reckless. Barry indicated that some drivers use insane driving techniques. These include driving very fast, failure of the utilization of headlights at night, and having distractions for the view of the drivers. He says that the drivers do not have a sequence for navigation since some are involved in phone calls, eating, reading, changing CDs, crowd surface makeup, etc. This is a common thing for teens and even adults to be distracted behind the wheel. He drove through various cities where the traffic laws are constantly being violated. For example, has only one traffic law, which is “No driver may ever be behind any other driver.” In his opinion, Miami drivers are the worst drivers that he has ever witness because of the guy who was driving on 1-95. He was watching videos on his phone and was clearly not paying attention to the road or any other drivers. This does not only affect him but also the other people around him. He was not be cautious of the road and putting his and others lives in danger.
Staying calm is very important. Aggressive drivers tend to make rude gestures and yell obscenities, but do not let this bother you. Paying attention to them will only divert your attention away from the road. Also, do not become frantic if something unexpected happens. Remaining calm will help you think more clearly and
Distracted driving is the leading cause of car accidents in America, followed by speeding, then drunk driving. A study performed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTAS) found that 80% of car crashes were a direct result of distracted driving. There are three types of distractions for drivers: visual, cognitive, and manual. Cell phone usage whilst driving meets all three criteria for a distracted driver. When a person is using a phone they will take their eyes away from the road to look at the device (visual), they will think about the content of what they are looking at and take their mind off of the road (cognitive), and they will also take their hands off of the wheel to use the device (manual). There are many other reasons that can be attributed to distracted driving, like applying make-up or loud passengers in the car, but cell phone usage is becoming a rapidly growing concern, especially with younger drivers. The NHTAS identified that drivers under the age of 20 make up the highest proportion of distracted drivers that were involved in fatal crashes.
A distracted driver is anyone who diverts their attention from driving by either talking or texting, talking or performing any other multitasking activity on a mobile device while driving. on a mobile device eitherRegardless if the device is a hand-held hands on or hand-freeoff or multitasking while driving. All distractions are dangerous, but text messaging is the most hazardous because it requires visual, manual, and cognitive attention from the driver (Distraction.govDistracted Driving, 2013). Regardless of the ageage, sex, or expertise of a driver; a distracted driver is a danger to society. When we drive distractedFor the distracted driver, the result is the same, and it is just an accident waiting to happen. The fact is that, and the growing number of life changing accidents is inis on the rise. This practice does not only affect the driver but “all distractions endanger driver, passenger, and bystander safety” (Distracted Driving, 2013).
The author of this academic journal explains a survey that was conducted for the second year in a row about the topic on road rage. It discusses various demographic, geographic and economic of people that were taken from the U.S Census Bureau of 25 largest metro areas. Only a few significant variables such as percentage of Hispanics, percentage of high school graduates, foreigners, homeowners, average travel time to work, and population density all were considered valuable
Distracted driving is the most common reason for road rage. People spend a good amount of time behind the wheel of their
Most people you know and love drive a car. Most people you know and love get distracted from time to time. While over “424,000 people a year are injured from distracted driving, 3,000 people a year are killed from an incident” (Snyder 1). This could be those people you know and love. It could very well be yourself. Since distraction is a huge problem while driving, people blame cell phones, but there are other causes of distraction, so a solution would be to focus on manual (controllable) distractions. To understand distracted driving, the first step is to know what is included in that term.
When it comes to the topic of distracted driving most of us will readily agree that distracted driving isn’t violence. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of whether or not distracted driving is violence. Where some are convinced that they are, other maintain that they are not. Technology is the most distracting item out on the streets, highway, parkway, etc. The Florida state made a law saying while texting and driving you will get a ticket, because they consider that as dangerous, or talking on the phone. Your eyes should be on the road at all times so you wouldn’t hurt anybody. Read more to figure out if distracted driving is violent or not.
Most of the time it is hard to recognize what to do in those situations. A large portion of us experience the anger that comes out of us called road rage (ie: swearing, often very angry because of something the other driver did) until the point that the driver is out of sight.
Distracted driving is any activity that could divert a person’s attention away from the primary task of driving. All distractions endanger the driver’s, passenger/s and bystander/s’ safety (NHTSA).
Just imagine driving down the road and a car swerves onto the opposite side and crashes into an oncoming car. Many things could have caused that driver to lose control of his car and create a dangerous situation. The driver could have been messing on different types of technology, trying to eat the croissants that was buy one get a coffee free at McDonald’s that morning or could have easily spilled the hot coffee all over the work outfit for the day. The driver could have had a late night and is now dozing off into the other lane and causing the dangerous crash. Many of the word’s drivers today have developed dangerous habits that could potentially put other people on the road in danger also.
Distracting driving is a common occurrence with modern day drivers. Due to technological advances making electronics so easy to use on the go, many find themselves spending more time looking at their cell phone or navigation system than they do looking at the road. According to the NHTSA, distracted driving claimed the lives of 3,477 people in 2015 alone. Texting and driving is a common distraction, especially when it comes to the younger generation of drivers. Young drivers are oblivious to the dangers of what seems like such a harmless act. Studies have shown that one 1 in 4 accidents are caused by texting and driving. The number of people injured from distracted drivers in 2015 was 391,000. Over half of the nation’s car accidents are a result of texting and driving. Whereas drinking and driving may kill more people, the leading cause of car accidents is in fact texting and driving.
If you’ve had any driving experience then you know that on the road you will come across many different characters behind the wheel. For better or for worse you try not to judge these people while driving, but sometimes their foolish or horrid driving skills can’t be overlooked. Having to share the road with other people not only gives you an idea on what kind of person they are based by how they drive, but it also gives you a reason whether to be kind or a middle-finger waving driver. The most common personalities you will encounter on the road are the overly cautious “grandma” drivers, the angry drivers with “road rage”, and the clueless distracted drivers.
According to the results from the 2009 AAA Foundation’s Traffic Safety Culture Index published on April 2009 and accessed on May 16, 2016, “78 percent of respondents rated aggressive drivers as a serious or extremely serious traffic safety problem. However, many of the same people reported driving in ways that could be classified as aggressive.”
In 2016, if you throw food out the window and it hits another car, that car will absolutely leave you with no back bumper. They will hit 0-60 as fast as they can or have to in order to catch you to absolutely wreck your car just because of what you did. Another problem in 2016 with road rage is that even the simplest thing like giving the person in front of you a glimpse of headlights in their rearview mirror will cause them to stop short “extremely short” or “on accident.” Road rage is so prevalent in 2016 because of people's inability to possess patience and tolerance. In conclusion, road rage is seen so often in 2016 because of people’s quick “have to have it now” attitudes.