Road rage

:This article is about the Driving phenomenon known as "road rage", for the album by Great Big Sea see Road Rage

Related Topics:
Driving - Great Big Sea - Road Rage

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Road rage (also road violence) is the informal name for deliberately dangerous and/or violent behaviour under the influence of heightened, violent emotion such as anger and frustration, with regard to the use of automobiles.

Related Topics:
Emotion - Anger - Automobile

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Road rage is generally triggered in motorists by pre-existing adverse driving conditions such as congested road traffic or bad weather leading to a collision. Frustration with the road conditions, along with perceived inconsiderate actions by other drivers results in a heightened emotional response (anger).

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Road rage manifests itself in actions such as:

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• sounding the vehicle's horn excessively
• rude gestures
• shouted verbal abuse
• deliberately hitting another person, vehicle or object with their own vehicle
• hitting the person or vehicle with a weapon which is not his vehicle e.g. using a golf club or baseball bat
• threatening with or using a firearm on the road-rager's target
• continued chasing of an automobile, and inflicting road rage once it has come to a halt or slowed down significantly

Extreme cases of road rage have ended with serious injuries or even fatalities. In an infamous case of road rage, a motorist in dispute with another driver seized a pet from the other driver's vehicle and flung the animal into oncoming traffic. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/06/19/national/main297370.shtml

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Generally, the term is applied to emotional behavior motivated by personal outrage at a sudden and unplanned event while driving (e.g., car accidents), but not premeditated and deliberate assaults (e.g., carjackings).

Related Topics:
Car accident - Carjacking

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To avoid road rage, drivers are encouraged to lock all doors when driving in thick traffic at slow speeds. Road rage incidents often occur in such traffic situations.

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Road rage is a relatively serious act; it may be seen as a violation of property rights and an endangerment of personal security.

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