Statistics can be misleading, however. No agency has measured the incidents of road rage on San Francisco streets. The Police Department does not compile data on what percentage of traffic collisions are intentional, or how often those cases are prosecuted and drivers convicted. What is easily measured is the degree of hostility that cyclists experience when they take to the roadways. The reasons for driver hostility are not hard to find.
Streets are more congested, and travel times are slower, especially in the South of Market area.
According to the Congestion Management report filed biannually by the County Transportation Authority, travel speed dropped 40 percent on Mission Street near the Embarcadero between 1997, and 1999, the same location where Rittling first encountered the driver who spat on him, and later beat him in 1998. Impatience and the holiday season, according to a researcher of the road rage phenomenon, are two factors that can set off drivers. According to James, the holiday season increases stress on drivers, much as congestion, construction, and gridlock traffic do. More stress can raise the level of hostility and create additional opportunities for confrontations and violence. Civility as a civic response The city has done a good deal to raise awareness of pedestrian safety.