I’m sure most of you have experienced the anger of drivers on the road. Sometimes it doesn’t take much to provoke someone. Recently, I allowed a car to merge in front of me near a lane closure, and the driver behind me blasted his horn and wouldn’t allow anyone in. Then, at the next area of merging, I let two cars in. When we both arrived at the stop light, he pulled up next to me, and I glanced over to see his glare, so I just smiled and waved. And he then made a similar gesture, but it only involved one finger of his hand.

Road rage is a type of aggressive driving and is a very serious problem. Three-fourths of all fatal traffic accidents occur within 25 miles of the driver’s home, and 30 percent occur at speeds less than 40 mph. Unfortunately, many fatalities are caused by road rage. You most likely don’t think that you could be guilty of aggressive driving. But ask yourself: have you ever tailgated a slower driver, blasted your horn at another car, and sped up to keep another driver from passing or slowed down after passing. If you’ve done any of those things, watch out: an at-fault accident can jeopardize your auto insurance eligibility.

To avoid being a victim of road rage, consciously avoid responding in kind. What appears to be harassment may simply be a mistake in driving. If action is intentional, avoid eye contact and get out of the way. Don’t allow driving to become a competition.

This is a growing problem on our highways. Included in possible reasons is the fact that the number of cars on the roads is increasing way out of proportion to the number of new road miles, and people have less time and too many things to do, causing very high stress levels. Stress creates anxiety, which leads to short tempers, which can lead to road rage.

If you’re susceptible to road rage, the key is to discharge your emotion in a healthy way—like talking on your cell phone while driving. At least the hand gestures would be a bit more difficult to do. TPW