Anger In The News

Road Rage Help Available

"Aggressive driving is defined as a progression of unlawful driving actions such as speeding, unsafe lane changes, improper passing, running stop signs and tailgating.

The aggressive driver fails to consider the impact he or she has on other drivers. When this type of a person gets the behind the wheel of a vehicle, it gives him a sense of control and power. He is driving a 3,500-pound weapon, and you had better get out of his way.

There is a difference between aggressive driving and road rage. Aggressive driving is when a person commits infractions. Road rage is when the incident turns into a criminal offense.

Road rage requires determined and reckless disregard for the safety of others. Road rage is intentional and involves violent behavior."
Full story Click here

Need help with road rage? Classes now forming in Southern California. Laguna Beach click here. Orange Click here. Long Beach Click here.

Motorcyclists vulnerable to road rage

What started out as a fun warm summer afternoon turned dangerous for a couple riding on a motorcycle on East King Street.

Melissa Fochtman was a passenger on her fiance's motorcycle on June 12 and ended up in a cat-and-mouse game with a minivan on Lincoln Way East.

The number of cars and motorcycles on local roads is growing with the population, which means more instances of careless or reckless driving. When tempers flare, as was the case on June 12, the results can be costly.

Full story in the The Public Opinion from Chambersburg, PA

Road Rage On Increase

ROCHESTER — Police on state and local highways say they are concerned about an increase in the number and severity of road rage incidents taking place this summer.
Full story in the Foster's Online from Dover, New Hamphire.

Is aggressive driving a problem for you or someone you love?
Anger management classes in Orange, Long Beach, and Laguna Beach, California often help to re-adjust your attitude and teach you how to control that  reaction that turns you into a dangerous road warrier quite unlike your normal sane self. 

No time for classes? Download our anger management workbook at stopyouranger.com and learn how to do it on you own time!

Driving Tips to Reduce Anger!

Summer Driving Safety Alert: Don't let your anger get the best of you driving this summer

Full story at Townonline.com

Would a "sorry sign" help on the road?

Road Rage and inconsiderate driving seems to be on the increase. If we make an error on the road, some suggest we carry a "sorry sign" to hold as  way of apology - to defuse the situation and prevent escalation of anger. Do you think this would help?

Reference article click here.

400 Billion Hostile Road Gestures

Dr. Bruce Sharkin of Kutztown University in Pennsylvania, an expert on road rage, estimated in a recent study that 400 billion "hostile exchanges" between motorists take place in the United States every year. Road rage results in thousands of car-crash injuries and hundreds of deaths, but no agency yet counts them.

"Clearly, road rage has become a significant public health concern, and in many ways, a mental health concern as well," he wrote in a recent study published in the Journal of Counseling and Development. "Driving behaviors such as tailgating, cutting someone off, making obscene gestures and flashing one's headlights are becoming more and more commonplace in everyday driving situations"

Full story at http://www.ajc.com/news/content/health/0505/26anger.html

Driver's Anger led to Crash

After a wreck last fall put his girlfriend in a coma, Ryan Douglas Fegles told police that two drivers playing a game of cat-and-mouse forced his car into oncoming traffic and caused the crash that sent several people - including two newborns - to the hospital.

But evidence at the scene told a different story and led to Fegles' arrest, Eugene police Sgt. Tony Baker said recently in Eugene, Oregon.

"He had two miles to disengage from this (other driver), to stop or take a side street," Baker said. "But he made a decision to display his anger. It is deadly, dangerous, costly, and he's realizing now it could lead to his confinement." Full story click here

Comment: Road rage is often an escalating dance with drivers in both cars needing to take some resposnibility for the outcome. In our anger management classes, we teach participants not to make eye contact with aggressive drivers and to relax to reduce stress, as well as practice different "self-talk" statements to stop or reduce those angry feelings.

Anger Management Helps Road Rage

Just found a GREAT review of what is known about road rage and the psychological and personality factors that contribute to it.

The good news is that anger management can help. Let' s hope more state legislatures establish standards for anger management as a treatment for road rage.

Click for link to review article

Road Rage In LA

There have been at least seven attacks in the last 10 weeks, four of them fatal, the worst outbreak of apparently random freeway shootings in the Los Angeles area since 1987, when five people were killed. It has taken awhile for the news to soak in, but last Sunday's shooting seemed to tip the balance.

Is it road rage? Is it random or are victims specifically targeted?

No one seems to know yet the answers to these questions - but one things seems clear- there are a lot of angry people out there behind the wheel!  How to protect yourself?

First of all, as we teach in our anger management classes, do not make eye contact with aggressive drivers as this is the secret signal in the animal kingdom for combat. If angered by another driver, don't retaliate because this usually leads to th eother to then escalate another notch.

The best thing to do is to ignore bad or aggressive drivers, relax yourself and refuse to engage in the anger "dance" on the freeway.

To link to an excellent NY Time Article ont he subject, click here

Opinions? Post away!