Safety Letter to Dangerous Drivers
What is Road Rage?
Aggressive driving can take many forms, like tailgating, weaving and speeding. It happens a lot. Insurance companies, through a survey, found that nearly 80 percent of drivers expressed significant anger or aggression behind the wheel at least once over the course of the prior year. The consequences can be serious.
Here’s what to know about road rage, including tips on staying calm and what to do when confronted with an aggressive driver.
Here are some common factors that often contribute to road rage incidents or aggressive driving behavior.
Most Common Forms Of Road Rage
- Tailgating
- Yelling
- Honking in 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
- Bumping or ramming another vehicle on purpose
How to Avoid Road Rage
- Plan ahead – give yourself plenty of time on the road
- Calm yourself – listen to music you enjoy; relax your grip
- Don’t engage – avoid eye contact with angry drivers and give them space
- Let them go – move over is someone is tailgating you
- Practice polite driving – lay off the horn
- It’s not you, it’s them – don’t take an angry driver’s aggression personally
- Be the grownup – ignore obscene gestures
- Don’t go home – if an aggressive driver is following you, drive to the nearest police station
A simple rule of thumb is to just be a courteous driver at all times. Now let’s all be cool, okay?
