Road rage

Road rage is a term used to refer to violent behavior by a driver of an automobile, which thus causes accidents or incidents on roadways. It can be thought of as an extreme case of aggressive driving.

Manifestation

The following are common manifestations of road rage:

• Generally aggressive driving, including sudden acceleration, braking, and close tailgating.
• Cutting others off in a lane, or deliberately preventing someone from merging.
• Sounding the vehicle's horn or flashing lights excessively.
• Rude gestures (such as the finger).
• Shouting verbal abuse or threats.
• Intentionally causing a collision between vehicles.
• Getting out of the car to attempt to start a confrontation, including striking someone else's vehicle with an object.
• Threatening to use or using a firearm or other deadly weapon.
• Throwing objects from a moving vehicle with the intent of damaging other vehicles.
• Playing intimidating music, such as the Sex Pistols at full volume with the windows down.

In the U.S., more than 300 cases of road rage annually have ended with serious injuries or even fatalities – 1200 incidents per year, according to the AAA Foundation study, and rising yearly throughout the six years of the study that examined police records nationally.

Legal status

In some jurisdictions there may be a legal difference between "road rage" and "aggressive driving." In the U.S., only a few states have enacted special aggressive driving laws, where road rage cases — about 1,200 a year — are normally processed as assault and battery (with or without a vehicle), or "vehicular homicide" (if someone is killed).

Road rage as a medical condition

As early as 1997, therapists in the United States were working to certify road rage as a medical condition. It is already an official mental disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. According to an article published by the Associated Press in June 2006, the behaviors typically associated with road rage are the result of intermittent explosive disorder. This conclusion was drawn from surveys of some 9,200 adults in the United States between 2001 and 2003 and was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health.

The cause of intermittent explosive disorder has not been described to date. There are many different views on whether "road rage" is a mental issue or not.

Penalties

Road rage is a relatively serious act: It may be seen as an endangerment of public safety. It is, however, not possible to judge intent by external observation, so "road ragers" who are stopped by police may be charged only with relatively minor offences such as careless or reckless driving.

It is likely that those causing serious injury or death during "road rage" incidents will suffer more serious penalties than those applicable to similar outcomes from simple negligence. In April 2007, a Colorado driver was convicted of first-degree murder for causing the deaths of two motorists in November 2005. He will serve a mandatory sentence of two consecutive life terms.

A few U.S. states have passed laws against aggressive driving. Only one state, California, has turned "road rage" into a legal term of art by giving it a particular meaning.

Road rage on the Web

In 1999, the original Road Rage @ RoadRagers.com began. Originally created by a Canadian, Mark Nelson from Winnipeg, Manitoba, this was the first significant website on the subject and is still referenced in the mainstream media. It continues to provide resources on driving style analysis, a road rage quiz, polls, and advice. It also has provided bad driver and road rage reports allowing visitors to vent and contribute to the database of bad drivers by entering their license plate number and other information. RoadRagers.com remains a complementary foundation to the other sites that followed.

In 2000, AboveAverageDriver.com was started as a place to report bad driving by their license plate and vent online. This site allows registered users and unregistered users to report on unsafe drivers around the world but mainly caters to drivers in the US. The site is in its 7th year now, providing a number of statistics to an ever growing community that host a number of reports and search capabilities on good drivers and bad drivers. Today, it has been a foundation for a number of newer websites targeting all types of audiences from teen drivers, parking problems, to even attempts to meet that special driver by leaving message.

In 2006, PlateWire.com was launched by a Washington D.C. programmer, Mark Buckman. This site offers a communication system for drivers to communicate using their license plate as an identifier. Users can "Flag" bad drivers, "Award" good drivers, warn drivers of vehicle hazards, or send a flirtatious "Wink" to make female drivers uncomfortable. PlateWire also offers a toll-free number for members to call in reports. PlateWire has also spawned PlateXchange which enables license plate reporting websites such as PlateWire to share and propagate license plates posted.

In 2007, PlateRage.com was launched. It is an online community that allows users from around the world to vent their road rage and report other license plates in a non-physical, non-violent way. Users can also call in their road rage on the go to a 1-800 number "rage line" that uploads to the site.

U.S. Rankings

A 2007 study of the largest U.S. metropolitan areas concluded that the cities with the least courteous drivers (most road rage) are Miami, Phoenix, New York, Los Angeles, and Boston. The cities with the most courteous drivers (least road rage) are Minneapolis, Nashville, St. Louis, Seattle, and Atlanta.[1]

See also

• air rage
• computer rage
• wrap rage

References

• Controlling Road Rage: A Literature Review and Pilot Study Prepared for the The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety By Daniel B. Rathbone, Ph.D. Jorg C. Huckabee, MSCE June 9, 1999 http://www.aaafoundation.org/resources/index.cfm?button=roadrage
• ROAD RAGE: CAUSES AND DANGERS OF AGGRESSIVE DRIVING (transcript of a portion of the official hearin record of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure – 1997): http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/Trans/hpw105-34.000/hpw105-34_0f.htm
• Summary Table on Aggressive Driving Laws http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/enforce/speedlaws501/summtable_aggressive.htm
• Redshaw, Sarah (2001) Safer driving through reflective thinking http://drivers.com/article/369/
• Survey of the States Speeding Laws http://www.statehighwaysafety.org/html/publications/pdf/surveystates2005/speeding_intro.pdf http://www.vcorps.army.mil/Safety/driving/AggressiveDriving.ppt#23
• Safe Senior Citizen Driving http://www.helpguide.org/life/senior_citizen_driving.htm
• Whitlock, F.A., 1971, Death on the Road: A Study in Social Violence, London: Tavistock.

External links

• Extensive data regarding road rage and driving behavior can be found at the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) website.