Aggressive Drivers
When cooperating with anyone about anything aggression has no role and this applies to driving as much as anything. Our society rewards aggressive behavior and yet it usually comes at the expense of someone else. In the case of driving it could come as a collision or death if two drivers get into a confrontation on the road. These confrontations have become known as road rage. Aggressive driving that often leads to road rage can be defined as any driver who seizes space on the road that may not be his to take. In other words he may take the right of way when he does not have the right of way or he drives too close to other cars getting into the space cushion that collision free drivers keep around their car. Some examples of taking the right of way when the space is not his to take would be running a stop sign or stop light. We might also see him fail to yield to cars coming off the freeway when he is on the service road. Examples of the aggressive driver driving too close to other cars is most often seen when he tailgates another car. Tailgating is when one car follows another car too closely, not allowing for the minimum two second following distance. The aggressive driver can also be seen frequently, aggressively, moving from lane to lane. When he switches lanes he cuts in front of other drivers, endangering everyone in the area. When anyone does something that endangers others then the other person will eventually feel angry and the temptation to retaliate becomes great. This is where and how a road rage situation gets started. It is started out of a greedy, immature, self-centered kind of driving that reflects the driver's inability to understand that he shares the road with others. I think two year old babies behave this way. They think the world revolves around them. I know this sounds like a repulsive human being. All I am asking is for you to understand what it is and to not do it. This chapter is about cooperating with other roadway users and we do not like aggressive drivers. They just make driving more dangerous and frustrating for us. And yes we think they are very immature.
Dealing with aggressive drivers is really very easy if you just take into consideration the previous paragraph. First, identify them. Second, move away from them. Predicting the actions of an aggressive driver can be difficult because the actions they take are often very sudden. Next, remember the mindset of this person, he has no regard or consideration for you. Driving around him is never going to turn out well. Move away! Take another street if you have to. Watch the following video for some more ideas about dealing with the aggressive driver.