Interview: April 9, 2007

Telegram & Gazette, Whitinsville, MA.

Steven H. Foskett Jr., Reporter

1.)

On a state police ridealong I went on recently, the trooper said road rage and aggressive driving are relatively new phenomena. "Ten years ago, we didn't know what "road rage" was," he said. Do you agree that road rage and an increase in aggressive driving are relatively new phenomena? If so, what societal/cultural factors do you think have contributed? If not, why not?

Leon James:

Our book Road Rage and Aggressive Driving (Prometheus: 2000) documents the real history of road rage. In Ancient Rome there were aggressive laws passed to control drunk drivers who recklessly drove their chariots across the crowded narrow streets. Today aggressive driving is a problem in all industrialized nations. The term "road rage" began as a newspaper headlines in England in the 1990s. It usually refers to two drivers getting into a violent duel that the laws normally cover as reckless endangerment, using the vehicle as a weapon, and assault and battery when the drivers stop to act on their feelings. Road rage is nothing else than aggravated assault and battery committed in a fight that started on the road. It happens 1200 times a year in the U.S., of which one third are homicides, vehicular manslaughter, or murder.

2.)

What is going on psychologically when someone is consumed by road rage? Is there anything about being inside a vehicle that exacerbates the situation, i.e.: feelings of invincibility, etc.?

Leon James:

My research shows that 80 percent of drivers admit to feelings of road rage on a regular basis, but only a tiny fraction actually act on such feelings by resorting to assault and battery. Instead drivers transform their road rage feelings into aggressive and dangerous driving habits.

3.)

What are the best steps a driver can take to prevent himself/herself from becoming a "road rager."?

Leon James:

The majority of drivers are at risk of becoming a road rager. Because most of us already drive with seething rage just below the surface, an unexpected incident may push us over the brink and break out with a violent act. Later people who done that say that they had no idea they could be capable of such rage and violence – which they regret and for which they are in deep trouble with the courts.

4.)

What should a driver keep in mind when encountering road rage?

Leon James:

First rule: Do no harm to other drivers and road users.

Second rule: Be supportive instead of competitive, defensive, and hostile.

Drivers can keep these two rules in mind while they enter the car and promise themselves to follow the two rules. What stands in the way is that many drivers are in denial by thinking others are aggressive while they are not. So the solution is to monitor your emotions, thoughts, and actions while you drive.

5.)

What prompted you to delve so deeply into this issue? What about this issue interests you?

Leon James:

A few years ago my wife’s grandmother and my wife complained to me saying they are scared when I drive them as passengers. As a professor of personality in psychology I thought it would be easy for me to adjust my driving style to my passengers’ wishes and comfort. But I kept breaking my resolutions, reverting to driving like a rushing maniac even when I was not in a hurry. I enjoyed being an “assertive” can-do driver and I was under the delusion that it was my right to drive the way I feel comfortable. Later I started realizing that it is not morally justified for me to put others on the road at risk for my convenience. The risks that I was willing to take put others in danger, and this was unfair and dishonest. So I kept up my efforts by taping myself speaking my thoughts out loud behind the wheel. I studied the tapes, and the tapes of dozens of other volunteers. I discovered that it was a common thing for drivers to fantasize violence about other drivers. Still later I came to the realization that road rage is cultural temper tantrum or a way of expressing ourselves. It is a training that starts in infancy and childhood as parents and adults drive them around expressing their verbal road rage. This is why we call the back seat of the car road rage nursery.

6.)

Do you have, or could you point me to, statistics regarding a demographic breakdown of aggressive driving/road rage? Men vs. women, teens vs. adults, etc.

Leon James:

For the latest articles on this you might wish to google the query

statistics road rage aggressive driving