Road Rage Confessions That Should Tame Your Next Tantrum
In 2014, a group of 2,705 American drivers aged 16 and up were surveyed by AAA.
These drivers had driven at least once in the 30 days before the survey and the group was weighted so as to reflect the overall American population.
The questions in this survey focused specifically on their reactions when feelings of anger were triggered, and the answers revealing the uglier side of driving: road rage.
The resulting statistics in lighter cases were as follows:
- 1/3rd of drivers admitted to have made an angry gesture at another driver
- 50% admitted to tailgating on purpose
- 46% said they had yelled at another driver
- 44.5% honked their horn in annoyance or anger
However, it didn’t end there–when it came to more aggressive behaviors:
- 25% said they have tried to block another driver from changing lanes
- 11.9% admitted to cutting off another vehicle
- 3.7% said they had exited their vehicle to confront other drivers
- 2.8% admitted to bumping or ramming another vehicle on purpose
Now, road rage may not be directly preventable by mobile DVRs, backup cameras and sensors, but these safety systems help you play defense–after all, you can’t control the behavior of others. All you can control is how you react when the proximity alerts go off from an aggressive tailgater.
