farmdoc's blog post number 180

Last week when Sweetheart Vivienne was driving to Daylesford in a small car, she was harassed – intimidated, actually – by the drivers of several large trucks. This really distressed and disconcerted her. Regrettably road rage, as it’s been labelled, is becoming more frequent. The 2008 AAMI Crash Index is the 14th annual report compiled by AAMI to educate the community about driving behaviour and vehicle crashes. Based on 2007 AAMI claims data plus an independent national survey of 2,503 licensed drivers, it reveals that Australian drivers are getting angrier behind the wheel, particularly as a payback response to the behaviour of other drivers. Tailgating, being followed, being forced off the road, wilful vehicle damage, verbal abuse, and rude hand gestures are all on the rise. And alarmingly, an increasing number of motorists believe this type of behaviour is entirely acceptable. What’s the cause of road rage? It doesn’t seem merely a case of too many vehicles occupying too little asphalt, because road rage is just as prevalent in Tasmania where there’s little traffic. Rather it probably reflects the increasing pace and stress of modern life, because there are other rage rubrics including queue rage, carpark rage, wrap rage and computer rage. This direction our society’s going in is undesirable, so a compelling case can be made for adding anger management to school curricula. And soon.