Road Rage - Tips For Avoiding A Confrontation

 

Driving, whether that’s a rental car or your own, should be a joy. The feeling of being in total freedom when behind the wheel, the sense of confidence as you keep a ton or more of metal under control and the quiet satisfaction of a job done well after arriving at your destination. However, not every day is perfect, nor is every driver. At some point in time, you’ll encounter someone else on the road who either annoys you or is annoyed by you, for one reason or another and even for the most able amongst us, it can be hard to be impassive when confronted with anger.

Follow our tips below for avoiding road rage and for dealing with it should it happen despite your attempts to evade it.

 

Let Mistakes Go

At some point or another we all make mistakes, it’s part of being human. While other drivers may well make mistakes and even force you to take evasive action, try to avoid allowing yourself to become angry about it, instead, congratulate yourself for having been observant enough to spot an issue and avoid a collision. if the other driver waves a hand in apology, then be gracious and wave back to accept it. You’ll feel better and so will they, de-stressing you both – isn’t that what you would want were the shoe on the other foot?

 

Acknowledge your own errors

As with the point above, if you make a mistake when driving, causing another driver to react to avoid you, then be the bigger person and offer a simple nod or a wave to acknowledge error. It’s a positive affirmative action and even if the other person is still angry, the situation is likely to have been de-escalated and potential conflict avoided.

 

Set off in plenty of time

When you have plenty of time to get where you’re going, driving becomes a much more relaxing experience, but if you’re on the last minute, there’s the temptation to take risks in order to make up the time and every delay, no matter how minor is more likely to cause you stress or annoyance.

 

Listen to calming music

If you’re feeling stress when behind the wheel, or even if you’re not, put on some relaxing slow tempo music when behind the wheel, you’ll find that your mood ends up being just as serene as the music you’re listening to, but beware, the opposite is also true, fast tempo music may well lead to faster tempo driving!

 

Leave traffic enforcement to the Police

When driving, there’s always something that gets on our nerves. That might be seeing someone else on their phone when behind the wheel, someone playing their music far too loud, or trying to cut in a queue or trying to overtake/tailgate etc. As tempting as it might be to try to tell the other driver to get off their phone/turn the music down, position your car deliberately to stop pushing in or drive slower to force the car behind you to slow down too, remember it’s not your role to enforce the rules or your opinions on other drivers, leave that to the authorities and instead, just let bad drivers go. You’ll feel better for doing it and less at risk of being involved in an instance of road rage.

 

Don’t engage with angry drivers

Whether justified or not, you may well encounter a driver who is angry at you. Maybe they want to pass you and can’t, maybe they want to tell you what they think of your driving, maybe they’re beeping their horn, flashing their lights and behaving aggressively in a fit of road rage. Such behaviour is only going to affect your stress levels, so it’s best to avoid eye contact, allow them to pass if you can and if they seem to be following you, drive to a public place or police station before getting out.

 

 

Road Rage – Stay calm, Stay Safe

When you’re angry or stressed, you’re far more likely to behave erratically or make mistakes, so being able to avoid incidents of road rage, whether that be other people’s or your own, will make your driving experience safer and more enjoyable