Most of us have experienced road rage at some point - here's why it happens.
Most of us have experienced road rage at some point - here's why it happens.
Road rage has been identified as a factor in several driving incidents leading to injuries and deaths over the years, but what causes road rage in the first place? A psychologist explains why - and reveals how we can avoid it.
Countless Kiwis will take to the roads this weekend. If you’ve taken a Friday off to give yourself a four-day break and are planning to head out of town, beware of encountering road rage on the way.
Seven people lost their lives on New Zealand roads over Easter weekend this year - as road policing director Superintendent Steve Greally put it at the time, “That’s seven families that will never see their loved ones again, seven Easters ruined and seven avoidable deaths.”
Greally’s advice to drivers is to take care on congested routes.
“The potential for people to become impatient and make really bad decisions is very real,” he said.
“If you’re one of those people who is affected by the red mist and becomes impatient, probably speak to your boss and grab another date to come home or something like that, have an extra day on holiday and don’t put yourself through that.”
The message is simple, according to Greally. “Slow down - we can’t say it any other way.”
We’ve all experienced road rage at some point, frustrated by common behaviours we see from other drivers - texting while driving, failing to indicate, speeding up to make it through orange lights, or driving too slowly. Incidents like this can trigger a strong anger response, even if you’re even-tempered most of the time, so what is it that causes us to overreact?
Victoria University professor of psychology Marc Wilson explains that when it comes to road rage, there’s usually more than meets the eye going on in our psyches.
“We have a tendency to ‘attribute’ people’s behaviour to their personalities, and discount the situations they’re in - in this case, it’s important to recognise that people don’t usually fly off the handle for no reason,” he tells the NZ Herald.
On the road, from the safety of our own vehicles, we can misinterpret other people’s actions as malicious, he explains.
“Usually, people flip out because they perceive a transgression, which they also attribute to the other driver’s disposition - that’s to say maybe they were distracted by light in their eyes, but we might instead attribute someone drifting into our lane as inattentiveness, laziness, selfishness.”
If you’re already in a bad mood, you’re more likely to react negatively to poor behaviour from others.
“Road rage is what I would call a failure to effectively regulate one’s emotions - we often experience uncomfortable or unpleasant emotions, and there are various ways we can regulate those,” he says.
Dr Vanessa Beanland, a senior lecturer in Otago University’s psychology department, has studied on-road anger in motorists, motorcyclists and cyclists and says there’s a difference between experiencing road rage and expressing it.
“Some people internalise it, some people use their vehicle as a weapon, some people get out of the vehicle and confront others, some gesture or yell at other road users,” she tells the NZ Herald.
As for what causes road rage, Beanland says that while slow drivers, roadworks and traffic are the most common triggers, it’s a lack of courtesy from other drivers that makes us the angriest.
Road rage is all down to failing to regulate our emotions, psychology professor Marc Wilson explains. Photo / Getty Images
“The anger experienced by drivers is different to the anger experienced by other road users such as motorcyclists and cyclists,” she explains. “For motorcyclists, the most relevant trigger is being put at risk, which makes sense because motorcyclists can be severely injured as a result of interactions with other motorists, or poor road conditions or poor infrastructure. It’s similar for cyclists too ... vulnerable road users get angry because they feel their lives are at risk on the roads.”
By contrast, motorists get angry “because other people annoy them”, she adds.
“This is somewhat correlated with their personal tendency to get angry in everyday life, but there are individuals for whom their primary anger trigger in life is driving.”
How can you avoid road rage?
So, now that we know what causes it, how can you avoid the “red mist?” Wilson advises taking a moment to reset.
“We can reframe the situation - maybe they’re as tired of traffic as I am, maybe the light got in their eyes - which research generally says is a positive way to regulate, or we can distract ourselves,” he suggests.
Obviously, avoid distractions like picking up your phone, but one way to calm yourself down is to turn the music up on the radio. If you’re at a standstill in traffic and it’s safe to do so, pop on a podcast.
Wilson also recommends distracting yourself with positive thoughts. Rather than dwelling on how annoying other drivers are, think about how much you’re looking forward to getting home at the end of a long day at work or a weekend away.
