What causes people to experience road rage?

(NEXSTAR) — Drive long enough, and you will likely witness — or experience — road rage.

A study published earlier this year found that 8 out of 10 drivers in the U.S. admitted to aggressive driving or having road rage, but what’s behind the dangerous phenomenon?

“When you’re in your car, you’re kind of anonymous, so there are fewer guardrails,” Dr. Pauline Wallin, a clinical psychologist who specializes in anger issues including road rage, told Nexstar.

That anonymity, Wallin says, is similar to what some online commenters feel when typing vile things they wouldn’t say under their true identities.

“We rarely lose our temper to the extent that we do in cars versus facing somebody in line at McDonald’s — you wouldn’t deliberately pull out a gun or anything,” Wallin added.

Psychologists have found that young males are the most likely drivers to experience road rage, and the source of the anger may come from the environment itself — crowded roadways, for example — or from psychological issues, such as displaced anger and high life stress.

Studies have also demonstrated a link between road rage and the misuse of drugs and alcohol, according to the American Psychological Association.

But what causes the rage?

While perceived anonymity might allow seething drivers to become less inhibited, Wallin says frustration is often the root cause of the aggression behind these incidents.

When we expect a driver to behave a certain way and it doesn’t happen, frustration can also start to feel personal.

“They cut in front of you, and you make yourself feel like a victim if you look at them as the other, the enemy,” Wallin said, adding that a common response is the desire to “teach them a lesson, that they’re not going to mess with me.”

When the other driver sees the person behind them tailgating, honking or angrily gesturing at them, they may slow down further or get mad themselves.

“So in turn it just escalates and within the anonymous vacuum of a car you might do things that you wouldn’t normally do.”

An assistant prosecutor in Ohio, for instance, lost his job and faces a a charge of felonious assault after allegedly biting off the finger of another motorist during a road rage incident. The bloody confrontation allegedly started when the victim honked at him for not moving after the traffic light turned green.

Road rage and aggressive driving

“We like to say that while not all aggressive driving is road rage, all road rage is aggressive driving,” American Automobile Association Public Relations Manager Andrew Gross told Nexstar.

While road rage is usually classified as a crime, aggressive driving is often a precursor, according to AAA.

Over 17% of drivers surveyed for AAA’s most recent Traffic Safety Culture Index report (2023) admitted to both risky and aggressive behaviors on the road.

Aggressive driving habits included speeding (15 mph over the limit on highways and 10 mph over on a residential street), driving through a red light, switching lanes quickly, weaving through traffic, blocking other cars from passing or changing lanes, and tailgating.

Such behaviors can lead to road rage incidents that may include any of the following examples, according to AAA:

• Cursing and rude or obscene gestures
• Throwing objects
• Ramming
• Sideswiping
• Forcing a driver off the road

In the past, AAA has estimated that nearly 80 percent of drivers have “expressed significant anger, aggression or road rage” behind the wheel at least once in the prior month.

“The problem with aggressive driving behaviors is that they can be initiated instantaneously and can be an unconscious response to emotional impulses,” Dr. Steven Love of the University of Sunshine Coast in Australia, and author of a 2023 study on road rage , told Psychology Today. “This means that the behaviors are difficult to intervene from both an enforcement and self-regulatory perspective.”

How to avoid a road rage incident

For drivers prone to road rage who are trying to make a change, Love says self regulation strategies are vital.

• Accept that there is a problem: Change can begin after an individual agrees that there is an issue and starts to take responsible for their own responses to situations.
• Practice self-regulation routinely: Be mindful of one’s own emotions and thought processes; learn to let things go by accepting that there is no need to worry about things outside of one’s control.

Reminding oneself that the roads are created for everyone and that it’s impossible to know what the other person is going through can also be helpful, experts say.

“So much of our emotional stress is self imposed because we’re too self-focused,” Dr. Wallin told Nexstar. “Maybe that person who just cut in front of you, maybe they’re having a medical emergency and are trying to get someplace fast. You know it isn’t because they woke up that morning to make your day miserable.”

For anyone who ends up the target of a raging driver, AAA offers the following tips for dealing with a confrontation:

• Avoid eye contact with angry drivers.
• Don’t respond to aggression with aggression.
• If you feel you are at risk, drive to a public place such as a police station, hospital or fire station.
• When you park, allow room so you can pull out safely if someone approaches you aggressively.
• Use your horn to attract attention but remain in your locked vehicle.
• If you are confronted, stay as calm and courteous as possible.
• If you feel threatened, call 911.

AAA reminds everyone to always remember three guiding principles: don’t offend, be tolerant and forgiving, and do not respond.

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