Essay on Road Rage : How can we avoid it? Road rage is aggressive or angry behavior exhibited by a driver of a road vehicle, which includes I rude gestures, verbal insults, physical threats or dangerous driving methods like speeding, tailgating, weaving in and out, honking vehicle's horn, etc. targeted toward another driver in an effort to intimidate or release frustration. Road rage can lead to altercations, assaults and collisions that result in serious physical injuries or even death. It can be referred to as an extreme case of aggressive driving. In India, the Road rage, is also due to people not following traffic rules, they will break the traffic lights and speed limit at will, not because they are in emergency, but people are in perinea hurry and always fighting the time clock
Essay on Road Rage : How can we avoid it?
“When involved in a road rage incident, take a deep breath
and ask yourself if the actions are worth your life.”
-Grant Boles
Road rage is aggressive or angry behavior exhibited by a
driver of a road vehicle, which includes I rude gestures, verbal insults,
physical threats or dangerous driving methods like speeding, tailgating,
weaving in and out, honking vehicle's horn, etc. targeted toward another driver
in an effort to intimidate or release frustration. Road rage can lead to
altercations, assaults and collisions that result in serious physical injuries
or even death. It can be referred to as an extreme case of aggressive driving.
In India, the Road rage, is also due to people not following
traffic rules, they will break the traffic lights and speed limit at will, not
because they are in emergency, but people are in perinea hurry and always
fighting the time clock. Plus we are so concerned about our car that if
something or someone nicks it, we act as if one of our limb has been broken,
plus no individual respect for each other while driving, we will honk, not give
space to ambulance, will do wrong side overtakes and try to push our vehicles
even when there is no place to stand, why we do this, because we care 2 hoots
for law, and we know by bribing law enforcing authorities we can escape any
punishments. Along with this we carry our ego, social position and dominance in
the road, many a times; giving way to one of the passing by car is taken as a
defeat and huge ego issues, also a sense of defeat or arrogance creeps in.
A stressed driver's behavior depends on that driver's coping
abilities. Generally, drivers who scored high on aggression tests used direct
confrontation strategies when faced with stress while driving. Strategies include
long horn honks, swerving, tailgating and attempting to fight the other driver.
Many drivers who experience road rage have admitted that they believe they
commit more violations. Driving presents many stresses any time a person is
behind the wheel because of high speeds and other drivers making different
decisions. As stress increases, the likelihood of a person having road rage
increases dramatically, and if a person has road rage, their stress levels
increase. Typically, younger males are most susceptible to road rage.
According to one study, people who customize their cars with
stickers and other adornments are more prone to road rage. The number of
territory makers predicted road rage better than vehicle value or condition.
Furthermore, only the number of bumper stickers and not their content,
predicted road rage.
How the World Reacts to Road Rage and Penalties they
impose
Road rage is a relatively serious act. It may be seen as an
endangerment of public safety. It is however, not always possible to judge
intent by external observation, so "road raggers" who are stopped by
police may be charged with other offences such as careless or reckless driving,
or may be fined. Road Raggers may be considered as criminals.
Australia
In New South Wales, Australia, road rage is considered an
extremely serious act. Any person who chases another motorist or shows
intimidating and/or bullying towards another road user can be charged with
predatory driving, a serious offence that can leave the culprit in jail for up
to 5 years. Offenders can also be fined $100,000 and disqualified from driving,
whether or not he or she intended to harm the victim physically. If the
predatory driving results in a physical assault or harm, and/or the victim’s
car were intentionally damaged, penalties can be much more severe.
Additionally, most common-law countries prohibit common
assault, which could apply to road rage where the personal safety of the victim
is seen to be threatened. The common law regards assault as both a criminal and
civil matter, leading to both public criminal penalties and private civil
liabilities.
Germany
Road rage, insults and rude gestures in traffic can lead to
fines and even prison sentences to drivers who shout insults or make offensive
gestures while driving.
New Zealand
In New Zealand road rage is, in itself, not an offence;
however, when another road-user is physically assaulted or killed, then the
offending parties are prosecuted for the specific offence committed. Drivers
have a legal duty to take reasonable care to avoid endangerment of human life
when operating a vehicle (s 156 Crimes Act 1961); failure to discharge this
duty, such as an act of aggressive driving, can give rise to liability in
criminal nuisance (s 156 Crimes Act 1961). Ramming a vehicle constitutes intentional
or reckless damage to property, a criminal offence, with a maximum penalty of 7
years imprisonment (s 269 Crimes Act 1961). The New Zealand Police generally
regard “road rage” complaints as a low priority and the courts currently have
no powers to disqualify drivers who physically assault another road user.
Singapore
Road rage is a criminal offence in Singapore. When found
guilty, the offender may be jailed for up to two years and/or fined up to
$5,000 for causing hurt.
United Kingdom
In the UK, road rage can result in criminal penalties for
assault or more serious offences against the person. The Public Order Act 1986
can also apply to road rage. Sections 4A and 5 of the 1986 Act prohibit public
acts likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress. Section 4 also prohibits
threatening, abusive or insulting words or behavior with intent to cause a
victim to believe that violence will be used against him or another.
United States
In some jurisdictions, such as the Commonwealth of Virginia,
it is easier to prosecute road rage as reckless driving instead of aggressive
driving simply because the burden of proof does not require "intent"
to successfully convict. In April 2007, a Colorado driver was convicted of
first degree murder for causing the deaths of two motorists in November 2005.
He will serve a mandatory sentence of two consecutive life terms.
Death and Accidents in India through Road Rages
As per 2015 statistics released by National Crime Records
Bureau (NCRB), Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra
are the top five states in India which have the highest number of cases of
'Causing injuries under Rash driving/ Road rage! The overall cases of road rage
and rash driving in the country amounted to 451,069 which means almost 33
people out of every 100,000 unleashed their wrath while driving on Indian
roads. With Kerala being the den for hot-headed drivers, it is no surprise that
Thiruvananthapuram saw 12,440 cases of road rage, the highest among all Indian
cities. It was followed by other cities such as Kochi (10,502 cases), Thrissur
(8,068) and Kozhikode (6,661). Further, the country's capital New Delhi
reported 7,411 road rage incidences - helping it to the fourth spot for the
most fuming drivers. Reflecting Tamil Nadu's behavior, Chennai also saw 6,516
cases of road rage. Meanwhile among other metros, 4,569 people in Kolkata were
charged with the same, closely followed by 4,255 people in Bengaluru and 3,963
in Mumbai.
As they say hurry makes a bad curry, so we can really see
for ourselves that the figures speak for it. Is it not more prudent to leave
home early, plan your routine, look out for others, share cars or use car pool
and drive with patience, as if we are not safe there is no use of reaching a
destination with bruises and injuries, many a times our anger or bad behavior
or insults do not just stop but play around in our mind and brain, which keeps
us agitated longer than usual or longer than we want, the serious question to
ask oneself is it worth, I am sure the answer is no in 90% of cases, be safe
than sorry.
COMMENTS