Road rage experienced by majority of drivers

Nov 12, 2012 | News

By Melinda Warren

One  reason road rage incidents occur is the increasing amount of urban traffic. COURTESY FLICKR

Have you ever cut off another driver intentionally or yelled an obscenity at another car?

You are not alone. In a study by Kanetix insurance company, 79 per cent of all Canadian drivers admit to aggressive driving that could be called road rage.

Road rage can be defined as speeding, following too closely, inappropriate gestures at other drivers, cutting off another driver, leaving a vehicle to engage in a confrontation and profanity.

The study said most drivers who are involved in road rage incidents are set off by drivers who are not paying attention or distracted.

“I think it is fair to say that all of us, at some point in our daily travels, have encountered a form of road rage. Our goal with this study was to gain a better understanding of what triggers the most common types of road rage so we can raise awareness of the issue and offer advice that will hopefully keep people calmer behind the wheel,”Janine White, vice president of marketplace for Kanetix said in a statement.

Police are now making it easier for victims of road rage to report incidents with an online reporting system.

Const. Clinton Stibbe from Toronto Police told Humber News that road rage can happen at any time, it all depends on how the person reacts to the situation that they are presented with.

“Unfortunately a lot of those reactions are bad knee-jerk reactions with people getting put in danger.”

Listen here: more with Cont. Stibbe:

Stibbe told Humber News the best ways to avoid dangerous situations are to leave more time, call 911 or go into a police station if you witness an incident, go to a place of safety if you are a victim and to not make eye contact with the erratic driver.

The American Psychological Association found that people who indulge in dangerous driving engage in hostile, aggressive thinking, take more risks on the road, get angry faster and have more accidents.

According to the APA, drivers with road rage can reduce their outbursts by counseling and cognitive and relaxation therapy. These interventions have been proven to curb road rage but they do not take away a person’s anger altogether  — they can just reduces the frequency of the outbursts.