Aggressive driving is said to be the cause of
50 to 70% of car collisions.
Many people say aggressive driving has increased over the years. There is good reason to believe this is true. One of the major causes for annoyance while driving is crowded and congested roads.Here are some interesting facts from the 2001 National Household Travel Survey put out by the Federal Highway Administration:
Household vehicles 1969: 72,500
Household vehicles 2001: 202,586Household vehicle trips 1969: 87,284
Household vehicle trips 2001: 233,040Household vehicle miles traveled 1969: 775,940
Household vehicle miles traveled 2001: 2,874,797
As you can see above both the number of vehicles and vehicle trips per household more than doubled from 1969 to 2001, while the amount of miles traveled more than tripled over the same period.This means much more traffic on the roads with more congestion and crowded freeways and side streets. If it seems there is more aggressive drivers now there probably is because there are more drivers on the road to get aggravated. Also those drivers who wouldn't have aggressive driving habits in low volume traffic often will show aggression in driving with heavy volume traffic.
Below are three common definitions of many definitions
used to describe aggressive driving. 1."Operation of a motor vehicle in a manner that endangers or is likely to endanger persons or property" (NHTSA "Aggressive Driving And The Law") 2. "Driving actions that markedly exceed the norms of safe driving behavior and that directly affect other road users by placing them in unnecessary danger." (NHTSA "Countermeasures That Work") 3. Any driving that is: "deliberate, likely to increase the risk of collision, and is motivated by impatience, annoyance, hostility, and or an attempt to save time." (Leo Tasca "A Review of The Literature On Aggressive Driving Research")
Here are the top four aggressive driving offenses that were cited from a 2004 study in Marion county Indiana, funded by NHTSA:
1.Speeding- 916 citations
2.Following too close- 244 citations
3.Unsafe lane changes- 173 citations
4.Failure to yield the right of way- 22 citations
You don't have to be a habitual aggressive driver to engage in these aggressive driving practices. Every driver is guilty of the above offenses from time to time. And it only takes doing one of these at the wrong time to cause a collision.
Four collisions I witnessed caused by
aggressive maneuvers while driving: 1. On one lesson I had with a student in a downtown area, we approached a four way stop.
After stopping, my student proceeded into the intersection.
A cab driver on our right made a rolling stop and came into the intersection while she was there.
She slowed and swerved a little left to avoid him.
The driver behind crashed into the rear of our vehicle, probably expecting my student to be going faster. The cab driver was obviously not yielding the right of way (he drove on and wasn't hit).
The driver behind was either following too close or speeding, maybe both.
In any case the aggressiveness of these drivers ended up causing a collision.
2. Another time I was in a DMV parking lot with my student where she was stopped to pull into a parking stall.
Before she had a chance to pull into the stall we heard and felt a hard bump at the right back side of our vehicle.The lady got out of her car and admitted she was in a hurry to go home from the DMV and didn't look before backing out of the stall.
She obviously didn't yield to my student in the isle of the parking lot and was coming too fast out of her stall.
3. Once I was driving on a service road where the right lane was ending and I was in the left lane.
All of a sudden a van driver, who happened to be a distant neighbor of mine, came speeding up in the right lane trying to pass me.
I honked and picked up my speed because I had the right of way.
He continued to speed up and get passed me. About two months later I passed his house where he parked his van, The back end was badly dented.
It had recently happened because I passed his house many other times and there was no dents in his van. I have no doubts someplace else he engaged in those aggressive type of driving habits like he did with me and caused someone to hit the back of his vehicle.
I had to laugh when I saw it.
4. I was sitting in a store parking lot at night when a rough looking male driver was walking to his parked car.
When I looked at him passing me in my parked car, he looked back at me as though he was angry I was looking at him. He got into his car, started the engine, then as if to show off, he gunned the engine by pushing hard on his accelerator as he backed out of his stall.
He hadn't looked behind him and didn't see another driver waiting for his spot, and front-ended him. He was definitely speeding out of his parking stall!
It made me wish I never made eye contact with him to make him so irritated.
Some conclusions to be drawn about
aggressive driving from these collisions: 1. Speeding is the #1 aggressive maneuver drivers engage in and was
involved in all of the cited collisions above. 2. Every collision involved drivers impatient and in a hurry. 3. Every collision involved a driver that was careless or not watching what
was happening the direction they were going. 4. Two of the collisions happened in a parking lot.
(A crowded space with vehicles close by.) 5. At least two of the drivers didn't appear to have an aggressive
personality making for an aggressive style of driving, yet they were still
guilty of driving aggressively before the collisions.
Fifteen tips to avoid aggressive driving habits:
1. Be well rested when you drive.The more tired you are the more easily you will become irritated.
Also the more exhausted you are the more likely you are to be distracted and less observant which will tend to cause driving errors that appear aggressive. 2. Listen to traffic reports on the radio to avoid congested areas. You can do this on side streets before you reach the highway where congestion is more likely. 3. Know alternative routes to your destination.This would include back roads that have less traffic. Even if they are a few miles longer it is usually worth it to avoid long delays in traffic. 4. Avoid a lot of noise and loud music. It is well know that lots of noise puts more stress on a person. Preferably listen to soft music or talk radio. And remind passengers to keep the noise down. 5. Try driving at cooler times of day. Heat, especially when it can not be controlled makes people more irritable. It will also be easier on your engine to drive when it's cooler. 6. Give yourself plenty of time to get to your destination. Knowing you may be running late automatically puts you into "speed mode" where you are more tempted to get around other drivers to get where you are going. 7. If you are running late call the person and tell them you will be late even if you must pull over to do so. Knowing that the person/s you are going to, expect you will be late takes a load of stress off you and you don't have to rush to meet their expectations. 8. Avoid driving if you are already emotionally upset or excited. I was upset thinking about a call I got from a lawyer about a financial matter. While I was driving and thinking about the issue I ran a red light that I normally wouldn't have run. 9. Excercise patience while driving. Patience prevents a multitude of problems including car collisions. Mentally relax when unexpected delays happen. Just be glad you aren't alone. Everyone around you is delayed too. Courtesy and communication to other drivers:10. Signal early before braking. 11. Give plenty of room for the driver behind when changing lanes. 12. Keep at least 2 car lengths of space ahead and on the sides of
your vehicle. 13. Always signal when changing lanes. 14. Count two seconds before proceeding at a stop sign. 15. Don't step on your gas pedal to get through a yellow light.
How to react to an aggressive driver:
1.Don't challenge them.Your goal should not be to stay ahead of and race other drivers.
your goal should be safety.
When I picked up my speed as a van was speeding beside me, that was because the lane was soon ending. It was for a safety reason not to stay ahead of him. 2. Don't hinder the aggressive driver from what they are attempting to do. Whether it's trying to speed past you, make a lane change,go out of turn at a stop sign or red light, let them do it without trying to stop them or slow them down.
Trying to stop or hinder an aggressive driver could cause his anger to rise into road rage and retaliate against you. 3. Get out of their way and let them go on. You are going to be safer to let them get past you. If they do have a collision due to their driving, you don't want to be a part of it.4. Don't take their inconsiderate driving personally A person driving in an aggressive style is not thinking
about you as a person.
He is just thinking about getting around you and where he is going.
Unless they know you and you know they don't like you, it's not about you.5. Remember a driver might have a justified reason for his seemingly careless driving, such as going to a life threatening emergency. You will be better off to give the driver the benefit of the doubt than letting your frustration at them rise.top of page
Watch for more on aggressive driving
Return to Driving Tips Home page from Aggressive Driving
|
