City living is an undeniably tense experience in ways. Just the mere fact of being so close to so many people, many of whom you don’t know, is a recipe for anxiety and clashes. Nowhere is this more evident than on the roads. Some psychologists believe that it is a combination of the anonymity of the car and the fact that the vehicle becomes an extension of your ego that makes driving a situation fraught with emotional highs and lows. No wonder the phenomenon of “road rage†has become so common that it is has been given a name. Now researchers believe they have isolated the causes of road rage, and along with that comes recommendations as to how you can remediate your road rage.
To establish the things most likely to make a driver’s blood boil, the researchers evaluated more than 5000 entries from websites where drivers registered their complaints about other drivers’ driving. The activities most commonly complained about were: cutting and weaving (54 per cent), speeding (29 per cent), and hostile displays (25 per cent).
The analysis also showed that a reckless act by one driver often prompted retaliation, which could escalate into a hostile situation between several drivers.
A future focus for education could be to let drivers know how various actions make other drivers feel. Driving lessons in the future might also include strategies to avoid feeling road rage yourself. The researchers say this could include deep breathing to promote calm, and doing whatever it takes to avoid getting angry. After all, once you become angry in any situation you have “lost†anyway.
A little mindfulness on the road will help you transcend the transgressions and be present for your driving. So let that other driver speed and weave past you…you’ll see them at the next set of traffic lights anyway, but your journey there will have been much more pleasant.
