Driving roughly is a punishable offense. Aside from being a punishable offense, it can cause a severe collision between cars, which is likely to cause severe injuries to anyone involved.
Without a doubt, there are different types of drivers, there are those who are lovers of decency, they ensure things are in order, you can call them the chef of the street, they ensure everything is well aligned; they block those who try to over speed and protect those who drive too slow.
We shouldn’t forget those who don’t care about you and me. They just drive while we have the aggressive drivers who in every situation always want to be ahead of anyone. They drive so fast without considering the rules.
In the end, they get into trouble and secure severe injuries or sometimes cause others to get injured. So, the question is, What is the root of aggressive driving?
When it involves aggressive driving, it can be traced to a mood shift from happiness to a more blood-draining experience. It can also represent a situation of not being able to manage stress, or a trigger because of impatience in traffic-congested moments.
A definite conclusion cannot be made until more clue is drawn from the driver.
Table of Contents
What Is Aggressive Driving?
As the name implies, aggressive driving is a state while driving that involves the driver not being conscious of safety rules. He or she exhibits behaviors and deliberate intentions to disregard safety measures, causing great harm to themselves and others.
There are various laser conclusions that can be made to show a sign of aggressive driving. It can be related to overspeeding, weaving in and out of traffic, ignoring the red lights, tailgating, an uninformed lane change, reckless driving, or a combination of them all.
What Is the Root of Aggressive Driving?
The root of aggressive driving starts with the emotional status of the driver, taking a deeper look into situations. Nobody wants to drive recklessly without a solid reason. It is they are running away from something or running after something.
Imagine a man so soaked at home, that his nagging wife keeps placing a demand on his patience. It is so easy to leave the home with enough anger needed to make other drivers feel the heat.
Impatience most time doesn’t come from free will. Someone or something somewhere is tampering with your gentle nature.
Aggressive driving includes overspeeding which is most likely related to either the driver being so focused on avoiding danger or he is hell-bent on getting to a location as quickly as possible.
Aside from a deliberate intention, let’s tell a little truth, we all are victims. There are times we just can’t miss the meeting so we go beyond the normal speed limit or times we can’t afford to miss a dinner date.
You can’t be a minute late or else you leave a bad impression, which you don’t want to so you hit the speed bar, channel your rage to the wheels, and care less about what other drivers think, you just want to be where you are headed.
More of the causes of aggressive driving is linked to emotions. Something somewhere is pushing you to move quickly, caring less about others.
When Did Aggressive Driving Begin?
Aggressive driving can be traced to the 90s; it was labeled as a set of “dangerous on-the-road behavior”.
A theory from the EOS Gallup Europe Survey on aggressive behavior reveals data that requires more attention. This was concluded as early as January 2003, with 66% visibility in the United States, 65% in Russian Federation, and 48% European Union.
The rate at which Aggressive driving is spreading across the globe is quite alarming, from the 90s to a daily experience on our highways in these present days.
Excessive speed or overspeeding, as you might call it, takes the highest breaking limit of highway aggressive behaviors exhibited by drivers.
In 2019, 17.2% of causes of a collision on highways is because of overspeeding, stated to the NHTSA while 10.1% is because of some sort of “Driving under influence”.
Aggressive driving is as common as the flag of the United States on our highways. Records of collisions are taken day after day. It all started a long time ago and still causes enough terror today.
What Are The Dangers Of Aggressive Driving?
The effect of aggressive driving cannot be overlooked. Its impact on our highway calls for daily attention. Collisions aren’t cheap; they will cost money and sometimes innocent lives.
In case the claims aren’t as clear as ever, here are a few threatening dangers aggressive driving causes:
1. Life and Properties are in Danger
You are likely to have good intentions. You never wanted to cause a collision or cause others to be in danger, but a collision is likely to get people hurt.
Over speeding, or changing lanes suddenly is likely to cause two cars or more to collide. It can lead to an explosion or a fatal head-on collision which is deadly. You are likely to get people really hurt.
Relating to the NHTSA survey, thousands died in the USA, millions are injured and properties are lost in the process of collisions.
2. You Always Spend More
Hitting another car is expensive, and repairing yours is also expensive. Making matters worse, getting people hurt is also an expense you will bear if your careless driving caused the collisions.
3. You Can be Jailed
A consistent break in traffic laws can serve you a few months or years in jail. You can’t be so sure the judge will be lenient with much understanding.
Over speeding and causing lives to be in danger because of your careless driving can have you jailed, sometimes for long, depending on how much damage was made.
How to Deal With Aggressive Drivers
Dealing with aggressive drivers requires precautions and tactics to manage the situation so you don’t get as frustrated as the aggressive driver does. A few steps can calm the storm.
- Always Wear Your Seat Belt: Nothing is much safer than wearing your seat belt. If you can’t at least manage the situation with collision, your chances of safety can be high.
- Avoid Them: There is no safer way to control the situation than avoiding them. You save yourself the stress of worrying.
- Be Compassionate: A larger portion of the reasons why drivers get so aggressive is because they are having a bad time, you can always feel for them.
- If You are Not so Nice, You Can Call 911: Sometimes you just have to be as brutal as the driver who wants to cause you harm. A call to 911 can prevent a collision.
How to Avoid an Aggressive Driver
Nobody is as pure as we might think. Nobody can avoid the bad days, but in case yours is good, and another is really hitting it aggressively on the highway, you should be able to get behind them, and avoid them with the following tactics:
Don’t Go Haywire as the Driver
You can’t also choose to Overspeed, it won’t solve the problem. To avoid aggressive drivers, you need to remain within the speed limits.
Obey the Traffic Signs
Traffic signs are laid down to ensure cars are in order on our highway. Stop when needed, pause when needed, and drive with the speed limit when needed. This alone is your quota for keeping the road balanced.
Relax, Take a Deep Breath
Aggressive drivers are not fun people. Seeing them exhibit these behaviors on the highway is irritating and can cause you to lose your patience.
You need to relax, take a deep breath, park and take a break if possible. This way, you can avoid these drivers and prevent a collision.
Final Thoughts
Aggressive drivers are easy to come by. Someone somewhere is having a mood swing, a bad day from the office, home, or environment and he channels his anger on the highway.
The root is always a temper with the emotional part of the driver. To avoid it, it is important you apply a few tactics to avoid a collision. Collision is expensive; avoiding it should be every driver’s goal.