ALT-4 Road Rage
We have all witnessed road rage and most of us have been guilty of it on occasion, even if we did not act on our wishes. Why is it such a widespread problem? I remember driving on the highways and in the cities in the 1960s but I do not recall such an abundance of bad attitudes deliberately malicious actions as are prevalent today. Certainly one reason is that there a lot more of us. Our highways are overcrowded before we finish building them. There are more vehicles and more congestion everywhere. The pressures of taking care of business in the modern world seem to make everybody feel like they are running behind. There are always three things we think we have to do right now. We choose one and plan to get the next two in a little while. By the time we have done the first chore, two more "critical" items have popped up, so now we have four things on our list. We have the idea that if we can get from here to there just a little faster we will be able to do all we want to do in the time available. We are all in a hurry all the time. We drive fast and try to find ways to maneuver in traffic that will get us there sooner. Or is that really what aggressive driving is all about? Is it really just that we are pressed for time and need to shave some minutes (or seconds) off our trip? Actually, the root of aggressive driving and the road rage that results from this practice is something far different. Sure, we are in a hurry (sometimes) and we feel a need to reach our goal as soon as possible. We get frustrated when something or somebody delays us. But are the consequences for a delay of a minute or two really so dire that we are justifiably enraged when someone is getting in the way by driving slower than we want to go? Is that the reason we refuse to allow traffic in a lane that is closing to merge into our lane? The reason we get so riled up is that most people view driving in traffic as a competition. If we can race past somebody and pull into their lane just before the light turns red, it means we are ahead when it is time to stop and we win. Because we believe ourselves to be competing we not only do what we can to stay ahead of other vehicles, we actively search for ways to impede everybody else. When traffic is crawling and the car in the next lane wants to move into our lane we cannot allow that to happen. At least he must not be allowed to pull into our lane in front of us. If the other driver misunderstands our own importance and tries to squeeze in we blow the horn (and our top!). Driving in traffic is not a competition. It is simply a means to get from here to there and arrive intact. If you are primed to find other drivers who are willfully trying to impede your progress you will succeed in finding them. There are lots of them out there. So if you view driving as a competition you have decided that you will get angry when you are not winning. Your attitude should not be controlled by what other drivers do. That is out of your hands. Some of them are going to be aggressive and even belligerent. If you choose to let them upset you and make you lose your cool, that is your choice, not theirs. There are going to be delays when you drive in traffic. Accept it and live with it. Road rage is not caused by what other people do. It comes from you. If you want to get angry you will. It is not healthy nor does it help you get to where you are going in a timely fashion. But if that is what you want, go for it.
