Like people who deal with aggressive driving now, he dealt then with many cross-cultural issues and, as a trainer of law enforcement, empathized with their task of having to maintain public safety while accepting the new paradigm of treatment over arrest. But, continued Mr. Benjamin, the issue is much more than one of law enforcement in that it affects the entire community. Understanding aggressive driving through a public health perspective. Mr. Benjamin reiterated behaviors identified by speakers the previous day as characteristic of aggressive drivers, namely their high-risk behavior, their often uncontrolled anger, and their propensity, when angered, toward violence. He identified violence as the leading cause of physical injury and emotional distress in the United States and identified aggressive driving as an aspect of violence.
Recognition leads to solutions.
Mr. Benjamin said that by recognizing violence and aggressive driving as a community problem amenable to public health solutions of prevention and intervention, strategies to combat them can begin to be implemented. These strategies would strive for the same kind of positive results and heightened public awareness attained in anti-smoking and seat belt wearing campaigns. The public health approach. The public health approach is multidisciplinary and invites many different strategies. Aggressive driving can be incorporated into driver education and anger management classes, for example.