Bitumen battles – the phenomenon of road rage

Key text

This is the sort of behaviour that the media has dubbed ‘road rage’. Perhaps what excites the media about road rage is that serious assault, including murder, can be provoked by apparently trivial driving mistakes. Horrific stories of road rage are not in short supply. But is road rage more prevalent now than in the past? And can it be prevented?

Distinguishing between road rage and aggressive driving

If road rage is to be studied, understood and addressed it is important that it is clearly defined. Numerous aggressive driving acts, ranging from the mild to the malicious, have sometimes been steered into the road rage category. These include unfriendly gestures (eg, a raised fist), cutting off another car, following too closely or pursuing a vehicle.

However, many people working in the area feel that the term road rage should be limited to criminal acts of assault. Such a definition was used in a study published in 1997 by the American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety, in which road rage was taken to be:

Is road rage increasing?

Sensational though the worst examples of road rage are, there remains a question mark over whether they are on the increase. In Australia, researchers at the University of Western Australia surveyed offence reports compiled by police for the years 1991 to 2000 for incidents of road rage, which the study defined as ‘driving-related impulsive violence between strangers’. Violence, in these cases, included actual physical assaults and plausible threats of violence. The researchers reported that 797 road rage incidents had occurred in Western Australia between 1991 and 1995. This increased to 1404 incidents between 1996 and 2000. This increase was not simply a function of increasing population or road use – the rate of road rage incidents per head of population and per 100,000 registered vehicles also increased. However, the rate of road rage remained generally constant (at about 10 per cent) as a percentage of all street assaults by strangers during the period.

Increased reporting of violence

The road rage phenomenon has captured the public imagination, and there has been a dramatic increase in the reporting of road rage incidents in the media. Some people say that road rage is simply a manifestation of generally increasing levels of violence in society. But perceptions about the levels of violence can sometimes be misleading. According to a report published by the Australian Institute of Criminology in 1996, many forms of violence, including those occurring within the family, probably went unreported in earlier times. Since such violence is seen increasingly as a crime, it is possible that the frequency of reporting is increasing, creating the perception of an increasing level of violence.

Moreover, roads have certainly become safer in recent decades. According to the Australian Bureau of Transport Safety, the number of road fatalities has declined from a high of 30 per 100,000 people in 1970 to just less than 8 per 100,000 in 2006. The overall number of fatalities declined from 3798 in 1970 to 1456 in 2006, despite the rapid growth in the number of cars on the road.

Triggers of road rage

Road rage probably has a negligible effect on road fatality statistics but, as the Western Australian study shows, it may constitute a significant proportion of violence between strangers and is therefore a phenomenon that should not be ignored. The authors of the Western Australian study identified five ‘triggers’ that may provoke a road rage incident:

• encounters with slow drivers;

• other drivers cutting in or overtaking;

• stereotyped sex roles (attributions of driving incompetence by males about females);

• accidents between vehicles; and

• competition for parking spaces.

Minor incidents can lead to violence partly, perhaps, because of the stress of driving. Road rage incidents tend to occur more commonly in heavily congested traffic and are often perpetrated by people spending long periods on the road. Moreover, being inside the car ‘cocoon’ reduces the ability of both victims and aggressors to defuse potentially violent situations with conciliatory gestures and language. In the absence of such pacifying feedback, every silly act of driving could be interpreted by an angry driver as aggressive and insulting and thus provoke an aggressive response.

The identification of road rage triggers may help us understand the psychology behind road rage. The act of cutting in or overtaking, for example, can infuriate people who feel their ‘status’ is being challenged. According to the Western Australian study:

The use of violence to address a perceived injustice or to defend one’s wellbeing is probably as old as the human species itself; to some extent such reactions are an evolutionary defence mechanism designed to increase the chance of survival (Box 1: Hormonal hotheads – stress and the human nervous system).

Preventing road rage

Using evolutionary biology as an excuse for road rage would burn little rubber with either the law or the victim. How can road rage be prevented? Some psychologists recommend that people who tend to get angry on the road should undergo relaxation therapy, while driving manuals emphasise that drivers should use defensive driving techniques to help diminish the risk of provoking a road rage attack. For example, following at a safe distance and using your indicator lights before changing lanes are defensive driving strategies that could minimise confrontations on the road.

Some new technologies have also been developed in an attempt to diffuse potential road rage incidents. One of these, the Pod, was unveiled recently by Toyota and Sony. It replaces the traditional operating apparatus of a car – the steering wheel, gear stick and pedals – with a single joystick. By simplifying the driving task, it is hoped that fewer mistakes will be made on the road. Moreover, the Pod monitors the driver’s stress levels and will play soothing music and blow cool air if they rise too high.

Researchers are developing traffic control systems that allow optimal traffic flows and therefore reduce road congestion. And the ability to flash messages such as ‘Sorry’ to other road users has also been proposed. In addition, an inquiry conducted in 2005 by the Victorian Drugs and Crime Prevention Committee, recommended a range of ways to reduce road rage. These included improving traffic flow, education of drivers and making road violence an offence.

Road warriors?

In the heat of the battle, perhaps little can be done to prevent road rage, although defensive driving should help reduce potential flashpoints. Nevertheless, despite some media sensationalism, Australia’s road system is not a war zone, it’s just another place where people interact and try to get along. The phenomenon of road rage simply tells us that not everyone is capable of that.

Box 1. Hormonal hotheads – stress and the human nervous system

Bodily functions such as this are regulated by what is known as the autonomic nervous system, which is part of the peripheral nervous system.

The autonomic nervous system is subdivided into the parasympathetic nervous system and the sympathetic nervous system. One of the roles of the sympathetic nervous system is to stimulate the release of stress hormones when we are faced with an imminent threat. These hormones prepare us for what has been dubbed the ‘flight or fight’ response – should we run away from the danger, or should we confront it? Either way, the sympathetic nervous system ensures that our bodies can flee as fast or fight as hard as humanly possible.

Effects of stress hormones

How does our nervous system do this? First, the danger must be recognised. In prehistoric times threats might have been posed by a hungry man-eating animal or by an attack from a rival tribe. These days it might be, for example, a negligent driver on the road who is perceived to threaten our wellbeing or status. We see the danger and our brain (subconsciously) triggers a chemical chain reaction.

The limbic system, a network of neurons in the brain, is involved with emotions such as fear and rage. One part of the limbic system, the amygdala, appears to be responsible for interpreting sensory information (eg, seeing a negligent driver) and sending appropriate messages to the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus releases neurotransmitters that stimulate the adrenal medullae – parts of the adrenal glands situated at the top of the kidneys – to release the hormones adrenaline and noradrenaline into the bloodstream. Collectively, these hormones have the effect of:

• making the heart beat faster (thereby supplying more blood and thus more energy and oxygen to the cells);

• raising blood pressure by constricting blood vessels (except those in the heart, lungs and some other key parts of the body);

• dilating (widening) the pupils, thereby increasing the amount of incoming visual information;

• dilating the trachea and bronchial muscle, allowing more air to be sucked in (and thus more oxygen to be supplied to muscles and other tissues);

• stimulating the conversion of glycogen to glucose in the liver, allowing the delivery of more energy to the muscles;

• redirecting blood away from the skin and digestive system to the skeletal muscles, brain and heart;

• inhibiting the contraction of the sphincter muscles;

• inhibiting the production of saliva and mucus and the secretion of urine from the kidneys; and

• suppressing other normal bodily functions, including the immune system.

Very soon the body is primed for action – for flight or fight. Some scientists also suggest that a chronic deficit of a neurotransmitter called serotonin, which is thought to act as an inhibitor to violent impulses, may also play a role in sudden outbursts of rage.

Effects of stress

The effects caused by stress hormones are useful for some kinds of short crisis periods but are harmful if maintained. High blood pressure, for example, can lead to heart failure, and the over-production of glucose can lead to diabetes. Thus, people who are highly stressed are more vulnerable to long-term health problems.

Related sites

• The human nervous system (Nova: Science in the news, Australian Academy of Science)

• The autonomic nervous system (Neuroscience for Kids, University of Washington, USA)

• Violent brains (Brain Briefings April 2001, Society for Neuroscience, USA)

Activities

• AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety (USA)
  • Are you an aggressive driver? – students can take a driver stress profile quiz to measure their hostility on the road.

• Neuroscience for Kids (University of Washington, USA)
  • Adventures in neuroanatomy: Divisions of the nervous system – students read this information then revise by completing sentences provided at Divisions of the nervous system review.

• Drivers.com (PDE Publications Inc, USA)
  • Learning to drive: A guide for parents – provides a number of hints for parents helping their children learn to drive.

Further reading

Scientific American
1 January 2004
Sussing out stress (by Hermann Englert)
Looks at some sources of stress and how they cause illness.

Useful sites

An Australian road safety researcher examines the nature and extent of the behaviours labelled 'road rage' in the media.
http://www.drivers.com/article/165

Road rage (Australian Parliamentary Library)

A short report that covers the basics of road rage and suggests some remedies.
http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/rn/1996-97/97rn25.htm

Keep your cool in the car (VicRoads, Australia)

Suggests ways of dealing with aggressive drivers.
http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/NR/rdonlyres/8463FB5F-A6A6-4713-9EF4-4C886521DBEE/0/Keepyourcool.pdf

Preventing driving related violence (Crime Research Centre, University of Western Australia)

Discusses the variables that lead to aggression and violence on the roads and looks at areas where prevention efforts can be focused.
http://www.crc.law.uwa.edu.au/__data/page/50334/roadrage.pdf

Driver aggression: The role of personality, social characteristics, risk and motivation (Monash University Accident Research Centre, Australia)

Executive summary of a report that looks at the definition and measurement of aggression. The conclusions focus on strategies for coping with driver aggression. The full report can be found at www.general.monash.edu.au/muarc/rptsum/muarccr81.pdf.
http://www.monash.edu.au/muarc//reports/atsb081.html

Measuring road rage (Australian Institute of Criminology)

A conference paper summarising the factors that lead to road violence, including a number of graphs of road rage data.
http://www.aic.gov.au/conferences/2005-abs/smith.pdf

Traffic calming: The reality of 'road rage' (Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate, UK)

Describes the main findings of an analysis of 1996 newspaper reports on road rage.
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/prgpdfs/brf1200.pdf

Road Ready (ACT Department of Urban Services, Australia)

Provides information and activities for new drivers and their teachers.
http://www.roadready.act.gov.au

Controlling road rage: A literature review and pilot study (AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, USA)

A 1999 American survey into road rage and aggressive driving. Evaluates different methods that have been used to prevent road rage.
http://www.aaafoundation.org/resources/index.cfm?button=roadrage

Glossary

amygdala. An almond-shaped structure of the vertebrate brain, involved in the generation of emotions. It also plays a role in the development of memories.

autonomic nervous system. The part of our nervous system that regulates essential functions such as heartbeat and breathing, functions that occur without conscious involvement. It is sometimes called the involuntary nervous system. For more information see The autonomic nervous system (Neuroscience for Kids, University of Washington, USA) and Autonomic nervous system (National Dysautonomia Research Foundation, USA).

hormone. A substance produced in one part of the body and carried by the blood to another part of the body where it causes a response (eg, insulin, produced by the pancreas, that promotes the uptake of glucose by body cells). For more information see The hormones of the human (Kimball's Biology Pages, USA) and The hormones (Center for Bioenvironmental Research, Tulane and Xavier Universities, USA).

hypothalamus. A part of the brain that is connected to, and controls activity in, the pituitary gland. It also controls various aspects of homeostasis such as regulation of body temperature and appetite. There are regions of the hypothalamus that are associated with aggressive behaviour.

limbic system. Interconnecting parts of the brain that are associated with the control of emotions and memory. For more information see Limbic system (Universal Health Services Neurobehavioral Systems, USA) and The emotional nervous system – the limbic system (Shippensburg University, USA).

neurotransmitter. A chemical substance, given off by the terminals of a nerve cell or nerve fibre, which affects the next nerve cell or fibre in the chain, thus allowing a message to be passed between different links in the chain. It is the arrival of the electrical impulse at the end of the nerve fibre that causes the release of a neurotransmitter into the small gap (called the synapse) between nerve cells. The neurotransmitter travels across the synapse and excites or inhibits the next nerve cell in the chain.

peripheral nervous system. Consists of neurons connecting the central nervous system (the brain and the spinal cord) to the rest of the body. Sensory neurons bring information to the central nervous system from sensory receptors of the body. Motor neurons carry signals from the central nervous system to organs such as muscles and glands.

serotonin. One of the neurotransmitters found in the brain. Studies have shown that low levels of serotonin are associated with increased levels of aggression in animals.

parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems. Divisions of the autonomic nervous system. When parasympathetic and sympathetic nerves innervate the same organ, they often have opposite effects. In general, the parasympathetic division acts to conserve energy (eg, stimulates digestion, slows the heart). The sympathetic division increases energy use and prepares the body for action (eg, accelerates the heart, increases metabolic rate).