Does America Have a Road Rage Problem?
In the past few years, several Americans might have noticed a dark cloud over our nation. As time goes on, we seem to get angrier at everything, which probably contributed to a major American party having what some Americans would call a yelling Cheeto as its presumptive nominee. We see the country’s grumpy disposition every time we turn on the news or open social media. Is this anger seeping onto our roadways as well?
According to the AAA Foundation for Public Safety, yes it is. The organization recently conducted a survey to determine how frequently American drivers participate in acts of road rage, from the most severe to simple hand gestures. If the study’s findings are correct, about 80% of American drivers “expressed significant anger, aggression, or road rage” while driving in the past 12 months. While that percentage on its own is already terrifying, AAA went on to clarify that about eight million Americans engaged in the worst possible acts of road rage, from getting out of the car to approach another driver to purposefully making contact with another vehicle.
The AAA Foundation for Public Safety presented a list of some of the most popular acts of roadway aggression, with the king of the list being purposefully tailgating with approximately 104 million drivers pleading guilty. Flipping the bird or other angry gestures was only in fourth place, with 67 million drivers, putting it behind yelling at another driver and honking.
When it comes to the worst offenders, male drivers between the age of 19-39 were the most likely to commit road rage, more than any other group. Anyone who has been to New York City or Boston will not be surprised to know that the Northeast has the angriest drivers.
The first step to recovery is admitting that you have a problem, and the AAA Foundation for Public Safety says that about two in three drivers see road rage as a bigger problem than it was three years ago. In addition, about nine out of ten believe that everyone’s safety is at risk because of aggressive drivers.
Friends, Americans, countrymen, lend us your ears. Don’t let incidents on the roadways provoke you to do something dangerous that will hurt you, your passengers, fellow motorists, or our vehicles. Together we will all learn how to take a deep breath and drive on our nation’s roadways calmly and without angry incidents.
News Source: AAA Foundation for Public Safety
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