Road rage, or aggressive driving . When I think of aggressive driving, I think of simple risk-taking, such as speeding, driving too slowly, tailgating, weaving recklessly through traffic, ignoring stop signs and red lights, and cutting off other drivers. However, these minor signs of aggression can progress to great extremes. Those who research aggressive driving described it as any unfriendly or threatening actions, including forcing another driver from the road, cursing another driver, or, in more extreme instances, shooting at the car of another driver. In most of the literature Road rage, or aggressive driving , usually refers to an angry or impatient motorist who attempts to kill or injure another driver because of a traffic dispute.
Road rage is more pervasive than one can imagine.
A ccording to one survey, about 89 percent of 1,020 drivers said they saw first-hand examples of road rage within the last month, and 42 percent admitted to driving aggressively themselves during this time period. Statistics show that 250,000 people have died in traffic since 1990. It is believed that two-thirds of these deaths are at least partially caused by aggressive driving, although only 218 were found to be a direct cause of angry drivers. These numbers show that there has been a 51 percent increase in aggressive driving incidents since 1990. Furthermore, although women are more likely to confess to angry driving, men are more likely to participate in true road rage , in which an angry driver intentionally harms another driver.