Road Rage: Adding Injury To Insult

Road rage. We all know the feeling of that blind rage when another driver does something stupid on the road. Usually curses are yelled, hand gestures are thrown, and everybody arrives at their location that little bit angrier. But road rage is more than just getting a little hot under the collar. It is estimated that 66 percent of traffic fatalities are caused by aggressive driving or road rage.

Furthermore, the National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA) classifies “aggressive driving” as a traffic offense, and “road rage” as an actual crime. Add to this that 37 percent of aggressive driving incidents involve a firearm, and it is clear that road rage is more than a few harsh words — it is actually very dangerous. And yet, only 14 percent of people consider driving 10 mph over the speed limit to be “extremely dangerous” (Defensive Driving disagrees).

This infographic sheds a great deal of light on a commonly misunderstood phenomenon, and might just make you think twice before screaming at your fellow drivers next time you are on the road.

So put on some soothing music and maybe ease off of the acceleration next time you drive.