9 Tips to tame the road rage beast
Road rage is on the radar again with a heated altercation taking place on the M13 toward Hillcrest last week, where a motorist ended up being shot in the hand.
While there are no hard and fast statistics on road rage incidents in South Africa, crimes committed as a result are becoming increasingly violent. Road rage is more often than not demonstrated by drivers who take their anger, stress and frustration with them behind the wheel, leading to minor incidents such as being cut off escalating rapidly out of control.
An aggressive state of mind has a direct impact on your driving behaviour and threatens your safety and the safety of others.
When you find yourself in a stressful driving environment or when your mood makes you irritable and impatient, make a conscious decision to calm down, take a deep breath and force yourself to relax. The simplest solution to avoiding road rage is to adopt courteous driving practices, here’s how:
1. Don’t take things personally. Whether you’re having a bad day, or the motorist aggravating you is having an even worse one, how you respond to provocation could defuse the situation immediately.
2. When you merge, make sure you have plenty of room. Always use your turn signal to show your intentions before making a move. If someone cuts you off, slow down and give them room to merge into your lane.
3. If you are in the right lane and someone wants to pass, move over and let them by. You may be in the right by traveling at the speed limit, but you may also be putting yourself in danger by angering drivers behind you.
4. Allow at least a two-second space between your car and the car ahead. Drivers may get irate when they are followed too closely. If you feel you are being followed too closely, signal and pull over when safe to do so, allowing the other driver to pass.
5. Use your horn rarely, if ever.
6. Keep your hands on the wheel and avoid making any gestures that might provoke another driver. That includes “harmless” expressions of irritation like shaking your head.
7. If another driver is acting aggressively, don’t make eye contact.
8. Give angry motorists lots of room. If another driver tries to pick a fight, put as much distance between you and them as possible. A hostile person cannot start a fight if another is unwilling to join in.
9. Pay attention to the way you think. Thoughts of injustice, your rights on the road, vindictiveness toward other road user’s abilities can add fuel to the fire as it focuses your mind on whatever is making your blood boil. Let these thoughts go and you will find it easier to calm down.
Do you suffer from road rage, or have been a victim thereof? How do you deal with these charged situations?
Sources:
Arrive Alive
Road Accident Fund
Wheels24