Keep Your Cool by Managing Common Causes of Road Rage
Road rage — aggressive driving, yelling at other drivers, or using rude gestures — is more common than you might realize or want to admit to yourself.
Over a five-year period, aggressive driving was involved with 56.3 percent of fatal crashes, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Similarly, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety learned that almost 80 percent of drivers had aggression or road rage in the past year, according to The Carlson Law Firm.
As the saying goes, you cannot control others' behavior, but you can control your own. So, The Carlson Law Firm has some tips for managing road rage:
1) Recognize the early signs so you can try to avoid it. You might experience physical symptoms like increased heart rate, tense muscles, or feeling hot in your face or chest. Or you might be inclined to start yelling, speed up to block another driver, or honk incessantly. When your anger starts to simmer like this, make an effort to control it before it explodes.
2) Plan for traffic and give yourself extra time. To a certain extent, the unexpected should be expected to happen sometimes, right? Traffic has a number of causes, and if you expect that you could experience traffic, you'll be less likely to react aggressively to it.
3) Push yourself to respond with empathy and understanding. Perhaps the driver who cut you off is having a bad day. Maybe he indeed should have known better, but everyone makes mistakes sometimes. Try to give other drivers the benefit of the doubt, just as you probably would like others to cut you some slack from time to time.
4) Remind yourself that not everything deserves a response. It can be hard to do when tension and anger are bubbling but coach yourself into declining to respond to annoyances. You can literally force your mind to stop thinking about the annoyance or picture a stop sign, if it helps your thoughts from escalating.
Of course, if road rage is a persistent problem or you're unable to manage your anger, you should seek professional assistance, such as therapy or anger management courses. If you think some of your tension might result from a fear of a crash, a defensive driving course might give you the confidence you need to release that worry.
On the other hand, if you were injured because of someone else's road rage or aggressive driving, don't hesitate to schedule a free consultation with The Carlson Law Firm. They care, and they can help you get the compensation you deserve at no up-front cost to you. Click here or call 254-526-5688 to learn more.