AAA Chicago: Sixty Percent of Motorists Admit to Losing their Temper While Driving | Business Wire

AURORA, Ill.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Aggressive driving kills, says AAA Chicago. More than half of fatal car

crashes involve some form of aggressive driving—speeding, running

another driver off the road, tailgating or yelling obscenities.

A 2008 survey by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that 80

percent of respondents consider aggressive drivers to be a serious

traffic safety problem. However, many of those same people said they

drive aggressively. Relatively minor driving infractions—changing lanes

without signaling, following too closely, driving too slowly, honking at

other drivers—can easily escalate into potentially deadly altercations.

Not every incident turns violent, but 60

percent of motorists admit losing their temper while driving—also

known as road rage.

AAA recommendations to avoid aggressive driving:

Don’t offend

• 
  

  Signal when changing lanes and merging. Avoid cutting off other

  
  

  drivers.

  
  


• 
  

  Do not drive slowly in the left lane. If faster traffic wants to pass,

  
  

  move to the right lane.

  
  


• 
  

  Allow a two to four second space between your car and the vehicle

  
  

  ahead of you to prevent tailgating.

  
  


• 
  

  Keep your hands on the wheel. Obscene gestures often incite other

  
  

  drivers.

  
  

Don’t engage

• 
  

  Do not take other driver’s actions personally. There may be a reason

  
  

  why another driver is speeding or driving erratically.

  
  


• 
  

  Give aggressive drivers lots of space.

  
  


• 
  

  Avoid eye contact with aggressive drivers.

  
  


• 
  

  Get help. If possible, drive to a safe public place where you can park

  
  

  and call police. Going to your home leads a potentially violent person

  
  

  to where you live.

  
  


• 
  

  Do not get out of your car.

  
  

Adjust your behavior

• 
  

  Forget winning; driving is not a contest.

  
  


• 
  

  Give yourself plenty of time to get where you’re going. Eliminate your

  
  

  need to rush.

  
  


• 
  

  Practice relaxation. Soothing music and deep breathing help you arrive

  
  

  at your destination in a calmer frame of mind.

  
  


• 
  

  If you find yourself driving angrily on a regular basis, ask for help.

  
  

  An anger management course may dramatically change your attitude.

  
  

For more information, visit

http://www.aaafoundation.org/multimedia/index.cfm?button=ADupdatePR.

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