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Behavior
Issue date:
September 5-7, 1997
ROAD RAGE
A few smart psychological steps to take when you get angry -- or the other driver does.
By Michele Pullia Turk
 OES YOUR BLOOD boil when you're cruising along the highway and some slowpoke is driving 65 or 70 miles an hour in the passing lane? Do you curse and honk your horn if a driver tries to cut you off, or slam your brakes to annoy someone who's tailgating? You're not alone. "Road rage" -- when furious motorists lose their temper over minor traffic disturbances -- has become a widespread hazard on the nation's congested, hurried roadways.
The official solution: punishment Awareness campaigns similar to the assault on drunken driving have been launched in communities nationwide to beef up law enforcement, demand better education of new drivers and make this type of behavior socially unacceptable. For example, police in the Washington, D.C., area have begun a campaign called Smooth Operator, which features, among other things, an emergency number motorists with cellular phones can call (#77) to report aggressive drivers. (But be sure to safely pull off to the side of the road before operating your mobile phone.)
The psychologists' solution: prevention But the root of the problem, according to Leon James, a psychology professor at the University of Hawaii, does not lie in other motorists' poor driving habits or even the traffic disturbance itself, but in your reaction to those things. "The trigger of your anger is your own self-righteous indignation," he says. "As soon as you remove that, you calm down."
To determine your aggression level Tape-record yourself. Psychologist James recommends trying an exercise he used to keep his cool in traffic: recording his thoughts and behavior on a tape recorder. What he heard coming out of his own mouth shocked him. "I began to realize I wasn't such a nice guy as a driver," says James, who teaches a course on traffic psychology and is known on the Internet as Dr. Driving (www.drdriving.org).Know your type. While even mild-mannered people can blow their top behind the wheel, those with a hostile personality type, which is characterized by cynicism, anger and aggression, are prone to get angry more quickly, says Redford Williams, M.D., director of the behavioral medicine research center at Duke University and co-author of Anger Kills (Harper Perennial, 1994). They are also four to seven times more likely to die of other health problems by age 50 than are even-tempered people, Williams says.If all else fails. Williams recommends creating a distraction such as turning on the radio, meditating or talking yourself through the situation to calm down. If you have passengers, start a conversation, tell jokes, play 20 Questions -- anything to defuse the budding anger.
If another driver is the aggressor
The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety recommends that innocent drivers: Follow the laws of the road.Don't show a reaction. Especially, avoid eye contact.Avoid other behavior that could antagonize other drivers. The four most common triggers of aggressive driving incidents are tailgating, cutting people off, traveling slowly in the left lane, and changing lanes without signaling.
What society can do Even if individual drivers learn to control their tempers, some experts argue, underlying social problems must be addressed to create a more civilized driving environment. "We have to change the culture and make people take the laws seriously," says Lisa Sheikh, the founder and executive director of Citizens Against Speeding and Aggressive Driving, a Washington, D.C.-based grass-roots group modeled after Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Sheikh says too many motorists behave as if driving were a God-given right. Rather, "it's a privilege that society provides as long as you follow laws. And if you can't follow laws, some people are going to lose that privilege."
The stats, 1990-9610,037 incidents of aggressive driving.218 deaths.More than 12,610 injuries.Bottom line: a 50 percent increase in deaths and injuries due to aggressive driving.
Source: Survey by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, conducted by reviewing newspaper accounts of accidents, insurance claims and police reports. "Aggressive driving" refers to an angry motorist attempting to intentionally injure or kill another driver because of a traffic dispute.
Test your anger Behavioralist Redford Williams recommends controlling your anger by simply asking yourself three yes/no questions: Is this situation important to me?Is my reaction justified by the facts?Is there anything I can do to fix the situation?"If you answered 'no' to all three questions -- which is usually the case -- don't do anything," says Williams. "It's hard to see how the anger causing you to engage in a driving duel will have any constructive end."
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