Road rage still affecting millions

Do you find yourself getting annoyed at the wheel? Or find others shouting at you? You may have fallen victim to road rage, along with over four-fifths of UK motorists.

A new poll has revealed as many as one in 20 have suffered a physical attack, while one in 25 state that their vehicle has been attacked. Almost 50% of road rage victims said they have been driven at in an aggressive manner, which is a worrying result.

Road safety charity Brake stated: “things like traffic jams, tailgating and inconsiderate behaviour from other drivers can cause stress, which leads to road rage. They’re more likely to take risks as a result, such as rapidly changing lanes and speeding which, in turn, angers others.”

Nearly three-quarters of drivers stated that road rage is caused by someone else’s bad driving, as well as one fifth of 1000 adults polled said they have physically left their vehicle to confront another driver.

Professor Stephen Glaister, RAC Foundation Director, stated: “comparing the seriousness of incidents to other nations, I am not sure road rage is a significant problem in this country”

“We occasionally hear about something, but at least we don’t go around shooting other people when we get cross.”

The US, however, has seen an increase of well-publicised road rage incidents, with several of them resulting in death. Georgia state officials have released a campaign to encourage people not to commit road rage, as they never know the type of person they may be antagonising.

With an on-the-spot fine of £100 being given to aggressive motorists following recent government legislation, steps in the right direction are being made to reduce road rage and to make the roads a safer place to drive.

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