You’re running late for an appointment and hit a traffic jam. Or maybe someone cuts you off. How do you respond? Driving can be stressful, but feeling angry when behind the wheel could lead to aggressive driving, distracted driving or even an accident.
What Is Road Rage?
Aggressive driving can take many forms, like tailgating, weaving and speeding. It happens a lot: One survey found that nearly 80 percent of drivers expressed significant anger or aggression behind the wheel at least once over the course of the prior year. The consequences can be serious: Aggressive driving played a role in 56 percent of fatal crashes over a five-year period, according to one analysis.
Here’s what to know about road rage, including tips on staying calm and what to do when confronted with an aggressive driver.
Road Rage Factors
Here are some common factors that often contribute to road rage incidents or aggressive driving behavior.
- Traffic delays
- Heavy traffic, sitting at stoplights, looking for a parking space or even waiting for passengers can increase a driver’s anger level.
- Running late
- Running behind for a meeting or appointment can cause drivers to be impatient.
- Anonymity
- If drivers feel that they probably won’t see other drivers again, they may feel more comfortable engaging in risky driving behaviors like tailgating, cutting people off, excessive honking or making rude gestures.
- Disregard for others and the law
- Some drivers may think the rules don’t apply to them.
- Habitual or learned behavior
- For some drivers, aggressive driving may be the norm.
Most Common Forms Of Road Rage
- Tailgating
- Yelling
- Honking in anger
- Making angry gestures
- Trying to block another vehicle from changing lanes
- Cutting off another vehicle on purpose
- Getting out of the vehicle to confront another driver
- Bumping or ramming another vehicle on purpose
How to Avoid Road Rage
Make sure you have the right car insurance policy to protect yourself from aggressive drivers or if you find yourself the victim of a road rage incident.
Before You Get Behind The Wheel
- Don’t rush. Give yourself time to get where you’re going; you’re less likely to become impatient and take unnecessary risks.
- Cool off. If you’re upset, take time to calm down.
What To Remember When Driving
- Give other drivers a break. If someone is driving slowly, keep in mind they might be lost.
- Use hand gestures wisely. Keep gestures positive—say, waving to a driver who lets you in when merging.
- Don’t tailgate. Always keep a safe distance from the car in front, no matter how slowly they might be driving.
- Lay off the horn. Honking out of frustration won’t solve any problems; it will just increase the stress level for everyone on the road.
- Don’t stop to confront another driver. Stopping could lead to a dangerous situation for everyone.
If Another Driver Acts Aggressively
- Stay away. Safely change lanes, gradually slow down or even exit the highway to keep a safe distance from the aggressive driver.
- Don’t reciprocate. Ignore the temptation to respond to the other driver; it could cause the situation to escalate. Don’t make eye contact.
- Don’t stop. Stopping could lead to a person-to-person confrontation, which could be dangerous.
- Watch your back. If you’re worried that the other driver is following you, keep your doors locked and drive to the nearest police station.
Taking a defensive driving course could help you stay safer on the road; it could also qualify you for a discount on car insurance. Search for a course near you at geico.com.
Read more: Distracted Driving: Here’s Why You Should Pay Attention
Sources 1 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 2 AAA Foundation For Traffic Safety 3 Insurance Information Institute
Bob says,
How about staying off the durn cell phone while you are driving?
David G says,
Unfortunately, some people do not have any consideration for others. Put them behind the wheel of a car and it becomes a dangerous situation. Those of us who care about others must then be responsible and drive defensively. We must keep civilization civil, the alternative is grim.
tsavory says,
I will admit one thing does get me annoyed but i am over once i beep at you.
I drive a 75′ long truck and i turn on the left blinker of course i expect the first 2 car to my left to keep coming up no biggy but the third or forth either shoves the gas pedal though the floor or they hang back till just as the car passes my bumper then gives it all its got. Please if you see that big truck blinker come on if your more than a car behind my trailer ease up till we get over you can’t always see what we do it may just be trying to pass, a emergency vehicle, a broke down car on the shoulder or not even all the way off the road.
I try my best to move over for anything on the should as if it a broke down car on a jack the vortex fron my trailer can knock it off and hope like heck somebody was not changing a tire.
Some day i need to make a list and some training videos.
Safety is no accident.
Jean says,
Just a note about “mindless” drivers – the ones on the freeway who just follow the car in front of them without thinking about what’s going on. The biggest time this is a problem is when there is very slow or stopped traffic and then the front of the line passes the thing – accident, road work, someone getting a ticket and everyone had to slow down to watch, whatever – that was slowing the traffic. A large number of drivers do not return to normal driving speed for several miles. Almost every time this happens, I will go back to the speed limit as soon as I am past the problem and, when I check my rear-view mirror, there is a large gap behind me, often in more than one lane, because some “mindless” driver is not bothering to move on and get out of the way of all the slow traffic still piled up behind them. Pay attention, stop gawking at someone else’s misfortune, and drive the car – that’s why you are in the driver’s seat.
R F Singleton says,
May I add another comment here that tends to ignite my personal road rage?
In most, if not all, States there is a law that headlights must be on when it is raining; but just how many vehicles do we all see without headlights on while driving through a pouring rain?
My main question is; – – if it is in fact a law, why doesn’t it get enforced?
Oh, yeah, the police will pull someone over for not wearing a seat belt because they ‘don’t want someone to get hurt in an accident.’ Well, my question to that is; shouldn’t they concentrate on decreasing that number of accidents first, not just the number of people who might get hurt in those accidents?
I have brought this subject up a number of times, and get many lame excuses, such as:
– People tell me that the police officers don’t want to get out of their vehicle and write a ticket in the rain. To this I suggest they simply pull the vehicle over, get on their ‘bullhorn’ and tell the driver to turn on their headlights while it is raining or they’ll get a ticket. Then watch them turn on their lights and let them go on their way. No one gets wet!! (Oh, and just how many of those vehicles we see without lights on are police themselves?)
– I’ve had many folks say something along the line of, “Well, I can see where I’m going. If others can’t see, that’s their problem.” To this I usually point out that, they may be able to see where they are going, and that’s fine. But the main idea of the law is to ‘be seen’ by other drivers such as when drivers look in their rearview mirrors to change lanes, it is harder to see vehicles behind them, especially looking through windows without wipers like the windshield has.
– Many people think this law means that ‘driving lights’ or ‘fog lights’ on the front of their vehicle are okay. To that, I point out that the law says ‘headlights must be on during rain’ and turning on headlights also turns on tail-lights, which also helps them to be seen in the rain.
I have flashed my lights at vehicles that don’t have lights on. Some, very few, will turn theirs on. Many others ignore the signal, and some go so far as to turn their lights on and then right back off as a kind of a ‘finger wave – up yours’ kind of answer.
I’m sorry for the rambling here on this subject, but in me, it does have that spark to ignite a bit of ‘road rage’, and I have to ask again — if it is in fact a law, why doesn’t it get enforced??? Shouldn’t this law be more emphasized than it is; ie, on road signs, radio and TV news stations reminders, etc???
Just my view . . .
Gina cates says,
The worse place for road rage are the drive thru like McDonells. It seems the cars are always pushing to make u move. Also to shove one off the road….what’s going on…people are getting nuts.
Benzin Bruder says,
GEICO sez: “A firearm in involved in 37% of road rage incidents”.
The advice offered in this article is good. Why would you try to bolster it with obviously errant information? Just like everyone else, I have observed angry drivers on the highway. Your idiotic number suggests that well over a third of the road rage drivers I have observed were armed. Exactly how does GEICO obtain that number? Surveys?
Yes or no: when you flipped off the other driver were you armed?
Golly gee! When we consider that population centers like NYC, DC, Chicago and the high population state of California restrict firearm access one can conclude other areas must have an even higher percentage of armed (and enraged) drivers.
And just to be fair, perhaps this number is only those incidents where the police were called. 1) I doubt the accuracy of this number even in this case, and 2) if an enraged driver brandishes a weapon the police are much more likely to be called. This grossly skews the numbers. It would not surprise me if the “pistol” that was reported was actually a cell phone.
I send you checks to insure my car. You do an excellent job for me as your customer; you always have. I would appreciate it if you would ditch the agenda.
Alan says,
Road rage is the natural response to the behavior of inconsiderate drivers. Instead of so much emphasis being placed on the person engaging in road rage, more emphasis should be on the jerks who cause the road rage by going to slow in the passing lane , failing to signal, slowing down to see if they can get the red light, etc.
kiki says,
ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!! Short and to the point and easy to do. Learn to behave properly and the world will treat you well.
H. Pringle says,
When highway driving on two-lane roads, I regularly move to the paved shoulder when it is clear ahead to allow faster drivers to pass, and so do other Texas drivers. It pleases me so when the passing driver blinks his lights as a “thank you,” and when I am the passing driver, I never fail to blink thanks.
Rusty says,
Think of being courteous on the road as “paying it forward”. Makes you feel better instantly and may inspire others to do the same.
Vinton Fletcher says,
I am one of the many professional drivers that use the highways of this great nation.
It always amazes me when I am driving, how I can watch the flow of traffic and predict what is about to happen.I have been driving semis, busses and my car for over 67 years.
I have done this driving with no reportable accidents. As far as “tailgaters” are concerned,
that is a very serious and dangerous thing to be doing. Whenever I have someone tailgate
me, I usually, very lightly,touch the brake so they will see my brake light, and usually they
will back off.
I normally drive at the posted speed limit and have no problems with doing that.
The state of California has a posted speed limit for commercial vehicles at 55mph. Now, to me that is a big concern. Have been passed by cars doing their limit of 70mph. So far I
have not been hit from the rear, but it could happen.
There are a lot of good drivers out there, and I wish you all happy motoring.
have not had another vehicle hit me from the rear, but it could happen.
There are a lot of good drivers out there, and it is a pleasure to share the roads with them.
Happy motoring to you all.
that is very scary
Michael Belcher says,
Yes as many of you have posted, too many people drive slow in the far left lane on the highways. Most of these people here in Missouri won’t even pull over for an emergency vehicle with lights and siren going. I have also noticed that most of thes types of drivers start the road rage, at least here in the St. Louis metro, 270 is very well known to locals for this.
Vinton Fletcher says,
I am one of the many professional drivers that use the highways of this great nation.
It always amazes me when I am driving, how I can watch the flow of traffic and predict what is about to happen.I have been driving semis, busses and my car for over 67 years.
I have done this driving with no reportable accidents. As far as “tailgaters” are concerned,
that is a very serious and dangerous thing to be doing. Whenever I have someone tailgate
me, I usually, very lightly,touch the brake so they will see my brake light, and usually they
will back off.
I normally drive at the posted speed limit and have no problems with doing that.
The state of California has a posted speed limit for commercial vehicles at 55mph. Now, to me that is a big concern. Have been passed by cars doing their limit of 70mph. So far I
have not had another vehicle hit me from the rear, but it could happen.
There are a lot of good drivers out there, and it is a pleasure to share the roads with them.
Happy motoring to you all.
that is very scary
Iliana L. says,
I find that I can’t even drive in the left lane to pass because people are going 10-15 miles over the speed limit and will tailgate you even if they see you are trying to get past a group of cars safely. I’m not going to speed up 20 miles over the speed limit (80MPH) near a city so someone can pass me. A LOT of people tailgate all the time at excessive speeds. I too wish there were more speeding tickets handed out.
Allison says,
I agree with the slow driver in the fast lane, it can be a bit frustrating at times. However, I find people do NOT know how to merge onto the freeway. You have many who don’t know who has the right-a-way or pays attention to the yield sign. Too many mistakes made on merging, and way too many brake lights stopping flow of traffic. If everyone paid attention to the traffic flow you should be able to merge right in without incident or from congesting the freeway. And this goes hand in hand with those who drive in the fast lane and waits until the very last minute to get over to the slow lane to get off the freeway, they cut people off because they did not think to get over earlier. Tailgaters do make it hard for merging, so tailgaters pay attention here, if the person has to suddenly hit their brakes in front of you, guess where you’re going? Yep, you guessed it, right in the back end of the person you’re tailgating. Bottom line, pay attention to your driving and those around you, and don’t expect the person beside you, in front or behind you to be paying attention to you.
Pete deMatteo says,
being tailgated mercilessly? don’t slam on your breaks to annoy the driver behind you. this could worsen an already dangerous situation. instead, try simply activating your hazard lights until you can pull over or the person passes you, at least. make sure not even to glance at them when and if they do pass you.
Thomas Nieva says,
Well it depends. If you are in the left lane then you should do what you are suggesting. However if you are in the middle or right lane than do the opposite.