We all are
guilty of not paying attention 100% of the time while behind the wheel, however,
would you consider yourself an angry driver?
According to the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 66% of all annual traffic
fatalities are caused by aggressive driving actions, such as passing on the
right, tailgating and running red lights. There have also been an estimated 20 million injuries, of which, 12,610 were
caused by aggressive driving. A 51% increase
since 1990. Even worse, 37% of
these incidents involved the use of a firearm, 28% involved other
weapons, and 35% involved the use of THE CAR as a weapon. Really??
Only 3 driving actions
were noted above, but below are a few drivers I believe to be just as
dangerous...and please feel free to chime in.
- The driver who believes it’s ok to text because they are driving below the speed limit in the right lane – What scares me about this individual is you can’t tell whether they have been drinking or texting until you have the guts to pass them and see their face is aglow from the phone their looking at.
- The driver who cuts you off to get one car ahead in traffic
- The person who is clueless they are driving 5 miles below the speed limit in the fast lane, therefore, creating a line of tailgaters behind them
- The driver who doesn’t even yield at the stop sign and just cruises on through
- The neighborhood speeder – this person figures there are no police around so it’s ok to drive 10 miles over the speed limit in a residential neighborhood. This person has no regard for anybody so beware!
We could go
on and on. What’s interesting is Dr. John A. Larson, author of Steering
Clear of Highway Madness, groups aggressive drivers into five categories: The speeders,
the passive aggressors, the narcissists, the vigilantes, and the competitors. I
think he needs to add a category…The Idiots! He also believes the following
characteristics are related to the most typical aggressive driver: being under
35, being single, having no education and earning a mid-level income…intriguing.
Would you categorize yourself as being a member of one of
those groups? If not, how do you react to the
drivers mentioned above? Does their aggressive
driving trigger a reaction from you? Until all vehicles come equipped with 'a black box', here is a simple test suggested by Dr. Larson, and I can’t wait to do
this (to my husband). When you get in the car, tape record yourself then play
it back later. We all have cell phones
so this would be an easy test and it could make for some interesting YouTube
content.
We live in an age of high
stress levels, our schedules are overloaded and we need things done
yesterday. But the bottom line is, we
all have to be aware and courteous. We have little control over many things, so
let’s try to control what we can. Don’t
be the instigator, and perhaps even harder… don’t be the reactor. Behind the wheel, we are responsible for not
only the lives of those in our car, but those sharing the road with us.
References:
Aggressive Driving & Road Rage
AAA’s 2012
Traffic Safety Culture Index
Speeding is the main underlying cause for virtually all traffic issues from tailgating to running stop signs and red lights. Crack down on the speeders and most everything else will fall in line. On the other hand, people traveling substantially below the speed limit are nearly as dangerous. However, to a speeder, everyone is traveling too slow...even if you are exceeding the posted speed limit.
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