Most Drivers are Too Angry

Road rage is too common among drivers.

(Mirror Daily, United States) – A team of scientists from the American Automobile Association (AAA) has conducted a study to establish how often drivers are getting angry during traffic.

Based on the results, 80 percent of participants confessed that they resorted to road rage, aggression, or anger in 2014.

In other words, eight out of ten million United States drivers became angry or displayed an aggressive behavior during traffic including indecent hand gesture, yelling, tailgating, cutting off other cars, ramming, and even getting out of the vehicle to confront another driver.

According to Martha Mitchell Meade, AAA spokeswoman, too many people succumb to road rage and this behavior is dangerous and can be even deadly.

This behavior originates from daily stress, bad traffic, or inconsiderate driving and it might lead to road rage that can become dangerous not only for the driver but also for other people involved in traffic, according to Jurek Grabowski, AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety Director of Research.

During last year, scientists established that 104 United States drivers are purposely tailgating. This number makes up for 51 percent of U.S. drivers. Also, 47 percent of them (95 million) resort to yelling at another driver.

The series of angry behavior displays continue with 24 percent of drivers trying to block another vehicle from changing lanes, whereas 33 percent of them and another 45 percent make indecent hand-gestures and honk to show the fact that they are angry.

The rates are lower when it comes to cutting off another vehicle on purpose, as around 12 percent (24 million) resort to this kind of behavior. Ramming on purpose another car and getting out of the vehicle for a physical confrontation occupy the last positions on the top with 3 and 4 percent of drivers who succumb to these gestures.

When they were asked, around 2 out of 3 drivers confessed that they believe aggressive driving has become a more concerning issue now compared with 2013. The statistics have shown that nine out of ten drivers are of the opinion that angry drivers represent a grave risk to their safety.

The most hostile ones are generally men, and they vary between ages of 19 and 39 years old. Scientists found that men are three times more likely than women to display an aggressive behavior in traffic consisting of getting out of the car to confront someone else or ramming a vehicle deliberately.

AAA officials recommend drivers to be forgiving and tolerant. People should not take things personal as the other driver might have had just a bad day. Also, you should refrain yourself from making indecent gestures and call 911 in the case of an emergency.

It is worth mentioning that another good thing would be to avoid forcing the other drivers to change their direction or speed.

Image Source:The Conversation

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Matthew Slotkin

Matthew Slotkin has graduated from Rice University with a degree in History and English. He worked as an assistant professor before joining The Mirror Daily as a full time writer.