{"id":132611,"date":"2016-08-06T14:00:29","date_gmt":"2016-08-06T12:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=132611"},"modified":"2016-08-05T11:31:53","modified_gmt":"2016-08-05T09:31:53","slug":"road-rage-im-a-great-driver-whats-wrong-with-everyone-else","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/132611\/road-rage-im-a-great-driver-whats-wrong-with-everyone-else\/","title":{"rendered":"Road rage: I\u2019m a great driver, what\u2019s wrong with everyone else?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"grid-ten large-grid-nine grid-last content-body content entry-content instapaper_body\">\n<p>Anger can be very quick, powerful, reactive, and can make us do things we typically wouldn\u2019t do. There is nothing inherently wrong with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.paulekman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Basic-Emotions.pdf\">anger as an emotion<\/a>, but nowhere is anger less helpful, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scopus.com\/record\/display.uri?eid=2-s2.0-0035432402&amp;origin=inward&amp;txGid=0\">more common,<\/a> and potentially more <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/26918282\">dangerous<\/a> than when we are behind the wheel of a car.<\/p>\n<p>Most of us are familiar with <a href=\"http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1111\/j.1559-1816.2001.tb02654.x\/abstract\">\u201croad rage\u201d<\/a>. There are, of course, extreme examples of violence and assaults on the roads that end up in the courts, hospitals, and the media. But every day, drivers get angry and aggressive, and the evidence is mounting that this can put themselves and others at great risk.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"my-4\">The science of road rage<\/h3>\n<p>Usually road rage is triggered by a specific event. These events will often involve the actions of another driver, such as a slow driver, a driver changing lanes without indicating, or other behaviours that we interpret as a threat or an obstacle.<\/p>\n<p>Our response to these specific triggers are influenced by a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0191886914002426\">range of factors<\/a>, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>person-related factors such as age, gender, beliefs, or mood<\/li>\n<li>contextual stressors such as heavy traffic, time pressures, road works, or hot temperatures<\/li>\n<li>our interpretations of the incident: for example, personalising (\u201cthey cut me off on purpose!\u201d), catastrophising (\u201cyou could have killed me!\u201d), overgeneralising (\u201cpeople are hopeless drivers!\u201d), and standard violations (\u201cpeople should watch where they\u2019re going\u201d)<\/li>\n<li>other factors such as the anonymity we feel in the car, or the inability to communicate in another way.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In fact, a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0001457513000626\">range of behaviours<\/a> stem from driving when angry, including everything from honking the horn, yelling abuse and demonstrating hostile gestures, through to tailgating or dangerous manoeuvres on the road, and ultimately getting out of the car to carry out verbal attacks or physical violence.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/26918282\">A recent study<\/a> confirmed the link between \u201cdriving anger\u201d and certain aggressive and risky behaviours when it found anger while driving significantly predicted aggressive driving, risky driving, driving errors, as well as number of accidents.<\/p>\n<p>And it\u2019s not a new phenomenon. The idea that generally decent people become full of anger and rage <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S1369847813000831\">when they hop into a car<\/a> has been with us since the advent of cars themselves. Remember the 1950 Disney cartoon, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=0ZgiVicpZGk\">\u201cMotor Mania!\u201d<\/a>, starring Goofy. At first a mild-mannered everyman, he turns into a monster the moment he gets behind the wheel.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"grid-ten large-grid-nine grid-last content-body content entry-content instapaper_body\">\n<h3 class=\"my-4\">I\u2019m a great driver, what\u2019s wrong with everyone else?<\/h3>\n<p>Worryingly, an <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0191886914002426\">Australian study of 220 licensed drivers<\/a> found that along with driving anger, the driver\u2019s bias towards their own illusion of control predicted aggressive behaviour. Drivers who believed (perhaps falsely) they were in greater control of their situation, due to superior driving ability or skill, were more likely to drive in risky and aggressive ways.<\/p>\n<p>Driving anger and the illusion of control are a dangerous combination. On the one hand, a person who is angry and holds the belief they are in control of the situation is more likely to drive in a risky and aggressive fashion. On the other, research has demonstrated our <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1080\/02699930903132496#.V2nmZVcrR24\">various cognitive functions<\/a>, such as attention, reasoning, judgement and decision-making, can be impaired by anger. The result is a perception of lower risk, a greater willingness to take risks, and cognitive effects that actually increase the risks.<\/p>\n<p>Road rage impacts everybody on the road. So there is a strong public health rationale for the development and promotion of interventions to reduce driving anger and incidents of road rage.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, there is emerging evidence that psychological interventions hold hope for angry drivers. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S1369847815001758\">A recent review found<\/a> evidence supporting cognitive and behavioural interventions to reduce and manage driving anger.<\/p>\n<p>This includes changing anger-evoking cognitive patterns or faulty thinking (such as those interpretations listed above), learning relaxation coping skills for when anger is aroused, and finding strategies to solve difficult situations on the road and de-escalating anger so our choices are less aggressive and more safe.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"my-4\">How to not be swept up in driving anger<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Watch out for the illusion of control. Remember the old saying, 80% of drivers believe their driving skills are above average \u2013 a statistical impossibility<\/li>\n<li>remember our common humanity \u2013 everyone on the road, ourselves included, are merely human beings with good bits and not so good bits trying to do the best they can. We are all in this traffic together and it can be frustrating for us all<\/li>\n<li>consider other drivers might not be malicious \u2013 we often jump to conclusions about other drivers and assume they do things on the road to affect us personally. Usually, the person\u2019s actions are caused by benign motivations<\/li>\n<li>avoid blame and punishment, and be forgiving \u2013 we can accept that negative events happen and that as human beings we all make mistakes. Maybe they were distracted in that moment, maybe they are in a hurry, maybe it was just a case of human error, which we\u2019re all guilty of<\/li>\n<li>let go of the struggle &#8211; red lights, traffic, delays, inconsiderate drivers \u2013 struggling with any of it will only make matters worse for you. We can accept and tolerate the inevitable frustration and provocation<\/li>\n<li>breathe \u2013 slow it down, find a way to breathe that soothes you such as finding a slow, controlled rhythm, and reduce the physiological arousal associated with anger<\/li>\n<li>speak to yourself in a friendly voice, with reassurance and validation. \u201cOh, that was a close call. You\u2019re safe and all is OK. That person made a mistake, and we all make mistakes.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>focus your attention on safe, calm driving, ensuring you get yourself to your destination safely and without incident.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>James Kirby, Research Fellow in Clinical Psychology, The University of Queensland<\/li>\n<li>Stan Steindl, Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychology, The University of Queensland<\/li>\n<li>This article was originally published on <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/electoral-tremors-are-shaking-south-africas-anc-how-will-it-respond-63344\" target=\"_blank\">The Conversation<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 class=\"my-4\">More on road rage<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/general\/111835\/watch-durban-road-rage-goes-horribly-wrong\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Watch: Durban road rage goes horribly wrong<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/128980\/one-road-statistic-that-should-shock-all-south-africans\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>One road statistic that should shock all South Africans<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There is nothing inherently wrong with anger as an emotion, but nowhere is anger less helpful, more common, and potentially more dangerous than when we are behind the wheel of a car.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":132615,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[26],"class_list":["post-132611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-headline"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132611"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132611\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":132617,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132611\/revisions\/132617"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}