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Rage on the roads

S. Anil Radhakrishnan finds that road rage is becoming a common phenomenon on our roads

There is a battle raging on our roads. Cars race from one end of the road to the other, abuse fills the air and bumpers bear the brunt of the chaos on the roads as drivers bump into other vehicles to work off their excess adrenalin.

Many road users seem to know the ancestors and parents of other motorists. Many others, especially those who fancy themselves to be good drivers, try to see if the roads can also function as runways. Clouds of exhaust from weary vehicles momentarily blind you while the triumphant driver in true James Bond style inches past the vehicles and crawls to the front.

The ageing and young Romeos on the road firmly believe that squeezing past long lines of vehicles and zooming through red lights is one way of proving your machismo. Threatening and/or abusing motorists and pedestrians, close tailgating, blocking another vehicle's movement and chasing another vehicle or running it off the road have become common features without which no journey is complete.

Uncontrolled anger

A phenomenon of recent origin in Kerala, `road rage' is pointed out to be uncontrolled anger or hostility, which results in criminal acts linked to the running of a motor vehicle. Often, it gives rise to verbal provocations such as yelling and cursing, excessive honking, rude or obscene gestures and threats.

While aggressive driving generally involves the violation of a traffic safety law, road rage involves the breaking of a criminal law.

"Road rage is on the increase and has serious implications since the driver is the key element in traffic management and it affects his or her behaviour directly," says Mahesh Chand, head of the Research Division of the National Transportation Planning & Research Centre (Natpac) in the city.

Aggressive driving has increased on the roads with the influx of luxury vehicles of foreign origin and entry of sleek motorcycles. Frustration on the part of the motorist owing to bad road conditions, poor enforcement of traffic rules and conflict situations between heavy vehicles add to the problems.

Director of Kochi-based Indian Institute of Road Safety, Upendra Narayan, says absence of good driving culture results in increasing incidents of road rage. Traffic rule violations are seen as heroism by the motorists, especially the youth. Narayan, who is also a member of the high-powered Kerala Road Safety Council, feels that stringent action must be taken against erring motorists. Teenagers with modified motorcycles think clipping (driving at top speed) is macho.

"The tendency to get drunk and drive is on the increase among the youth in the night . We book them for reckless driving and impose a penalty of Rs. 1,000," says the Circle Inspector of Police, Traffic, M. Radhakrishnan Nair.

Road safety experts say driving is not a contest and one should realise that one cannot control other drivers, but only the way one reacts to them.

Get rid of that anger

Dr. Chand gives some suggestions to tackle road rage

Traffic education
Traffic engineering
`Traffic calming'
Courtesy

Gestures like raising the thumb to say sorry or to admit mistakes as done in Canada and Australia.

Share the road

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