Roadrage is a Problem
Every year, thousands of people are injured or killed in car wrecks caused by road rage/ aggressive driving. Despite this fact many people still are impatient and become angry on the road. Driving is a curious display of public and private acts. A car isolates the driver from the world. The personal sensation of power over a couple thousand pound car is intoxicating. Road rage/aggressive driving starts from things such as illegal or improper lane changes, failing to yield the right of way, and excessive speeding just to name a few. Everyday we deal with this type of driving. Everyone runs a great risk just driving around the corner to the local convenience store or just to the local church. According to U.S. News and World Report, the United States Department of Transportation estimates that two-thirds of fatalities are at least partially caused by road rage/ aggressive driving. This essay will look at some of the arguments for and against road rage/aggressive driving.
The major cause of aggressive driving is the discourteous or inattentive driver. Driving behaviors include changing lanes to closely, tailgating and "the number one cause is the left lane hog." (Larson 1) These seemingly small errors infuriate the potentially aggressive driver and cause a transformation indescribable to man kind. Reduced law enforcement, highway traffic, the growing congestion is cities, and personal issues play a large role in the disposition of the aggressive driver. Then the angry driver may demonstrate his or her displeasure by speeding around the other vehicle, cutting the other car off, and or with a number of verbal and non-verbal messages. Though the driver may feel justified in his or her action, but the display in most times is very dangerous and often will result in damage to one or both cars involved.
As mentioned above, two thirds of the fifty eight thousand highway deaths last year, 2004 were related to aggressive driving. In a recent survey by roadrage.com reported that six out of ten people reported that they were followed by a driver displeased with their driving. Another survey reported that out of those six people, four reported a chase of more than ten miles and out of the four, three reported being followed to their house. A questionnaire posted by roadragers.com surveyed 600,000 thousand people and out of those 600,000 thousand 216,000 people reported that they know someone who was killed or injured by an aggressive driver. With these facts alone there is enough evidence to raise concern to pass laws to punish the aggressive driver. In 2003, a bill was brought into the United States of America's House of Representatives stating in summary that if a driver was caught being aggressive they would be fined 300 dollars given probation for one year and had to take a defensive driving class. If caught a second time, they would then be fined 800 dollars and given 2 years of probation with 8 hours of community service. And if caught a third time, the driver's license would be suspended for one year, a 1200 dollar fine and probation of 5 years. The bill was never passed representatives gave excuses saying that it was not as big as drinking and driving. For years the highway safety has been spotlighting their focus on the impaired, unbelted and the speeding driver.
There are over 200 hundred different types of cars and trucks on the road ranging from the smallest being the mini cooper and the semi-truck being the largest. A survey conducted by the United States Department of Transportation asked 200 drivers does the size of the vehicle matter on who is more aggressive on the road, 135 said yes, it does matter. This survey may provide evidence that the larger vehicles have more aggressive drivers behind the wheel. When someone gets behind a couple thousand pound car they are driving a dangerous weapon which can cause damage, sometimes very severe and deadly. Large vehicles may seem at first glance to cause more damage but if we look at Sir Isaac Newton's Second Law of Motion, Force equals Mass times Acceleration (F=MA). A smaller weighing about 2,000 kilograms, going fifty meters per second did as much damage as a 10,000 kilogram vehicle going ten meters per second, B. No matter how big or small the vehicle they can all do the same amount of damage depending on the speed. Add an aggressive driver to the equation and the damage amounts can be even greater.
Now one may argue against the fact that aggressive driving is not a problem. Yes aggressive driving is not a huge problem in a small city, though in a large city aggressive driver is a huge problem. A large city would be considered by the United State Census of 2000 as a population of 200,000 or more people. In McMinn County Tennessee's Rescue Squad Fire and Extraction Manuel a survey conducted in cities across the nation states that there is a 65% chance that an individual will come in contact with aggressive driving and in a small city below 200,000 that number dropped to an amazing 35%.(roadrager.com) Aggressive driving is a problem everywhere and is a much bigger problem in larger cities.
In conclusion, we have seen that aggressive/road rage is a growing problem in our nation. It creates a very real problem in our everyday lives. No matter what car is driven how large or big, aggressive/road rage is dangerous. We must do more to control this outrageous behavior before someone else gets hurt.