Adrenaline and tesosterone do not mix! (Road Rage)

Member Name: IanPaterson

Product:	Road Rage
Date:	25/09/00 (46 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nil

Disadvantages: To many to list

What makes someone angry enough when driving to want to physically injure another road user? Why does a car driving at 40mph in a 60mph zone cause such a build up of aggression in the drivers behind them?

Personally, I think road rage is a culmination of other elements that erupt into violence on the roads. As a race, British humans are very territorial. We live in isolated accomodation, our 'home' grouped into larger communities. We errect fences and walls around our property to keep other people out and jealously guard our possesions. Our car is a very integral part of that whole pattern. As a nation we are very 'car proud'.

On the road, our 'home' has come with us in the form of our car. It seems that our boundaries are now 12 feet infront and six feet around the car. Anyone encroaching on that boundary is trespassing and deserves rebuking for that fact, verbally or physically depending how we rate the offence.

This seems to be made worse by the ridiculous hurry everyone seems to be in and everyone else is in the way and it seems to be their job to slow one down and get in ones way. How frustrating! Not only that but they also come into MY territory as well!

We have very little tolerance for each other these days. Communities don't exist anymore. Television and mobile phones dominate our lives and leisure time. The internet tells us all we need to know about anything at high speed. Now that everything else is at my fingertips, transporting myself from one place to another physically is a slow and tedious chore. Boring!

The pressure we have been placed under now is very high. Modern lifestyles demand time and money, often more than we have in either case. More and more families are split by divorce, one million people visited their Citizens Advice Beareau last year to seek advice on debt. Nine million people in this country are credit blacklisted. The cost of living is very
high, the quality of living is getting lower.

I belive road rage is a symptom of our current social climate. To isolate the cause of stress that induces outbursts like dangerous driving and even murder will be impossible and different in every case. Stress is a killer for the sufferer and those that come into contact with it.

Summary: