While the study is the first American attempt to quantify aggressive driving, it is not rigorously scientific. Moreover, the overall trendlines for car accidents have continued downward for several decades, thanks in part to increases in the drinking age and improvements in car technology like high-mounted brake lights. In focus groups set up by her organization, two thirds of drivers said they reacted to frustrating situations aggressively. Almost half admitted to deliberately braking suddenly, pulling close to the other car, or taking some other potentially dangerous step. Another third said they retaliated with a hostile gesture.
Drivers show great creativity in devising hostile responses.
If someone tailgates, he turns on the wipers, sending fluid over his roof onto the car behind him. In reality, there's a confluence of emotional and demographic factors that changes the average citizen from mere motorist to Mad Max. First, it isn't just your imagination that traffic is getting worse. Since 1987, the number of miles of roads has increased just 1 percent while the miles driven have shot up by 35 percent. The study notes that congestion is likely to spread to currently unspoiled locations.