In this post:
- How do you deal with an aggressive driver?
- What is aggressive driving?
- What to do when confronted with an aggressive driver
- How to deal with aggressive drivers behind you
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How do you deal with an aggressive driver?
You’re driving along a fairly busy road after work, minding your own business. Slowing down at a stoplight, you start thinking about your day, and what you need to do when you get home. As the light turns green, you step on the gas intuitively, picking up pace, but not too fast, to reach the speed limit.
However, as your car begins to speed up, you notice a flashing bright light in your rearview mirror, and you look to see what’s causing it. The driver behind you is tailgating you with only a few inches to spare, flashing their lights at you and making it harder to see, and bringing their car even more dangerously close to yours.
Suddenly, there’s a break in traffic in the right lane next to you, and the car behind you lurches into the lane and steps on the gas loud and hard. You can feel them staring you down as they begin to go around you, bringing their car unnecessarily close to your own and even crossing just over the lane. Though you know you shouldn’t look over to your right, you just can’t help it. How dare they act like such an a**hole? Enraged at their annoying and dangerous, selfish behaviors, you:
a. Stare straight ahead. Ignore the prick.
b. Speed up and don’t let them get ahead of you! You can’t let them get away with such stupid, hazardous driving!
c. Look for the nearest froyo stop. You feel a sudden urge to eat your feelings and getting the hell off the road is the most appealing thing right now.
d. Give them the California howdy and tell them to stick it where the sun don’t shine! They deserve at least that!
If you picked b or d, then you did exactly what the aggressive driver wanted you to do: you succumbed to their aggressive behaviors. If you picked a (or c), then congratulations! You survived that driver’s road rage and didn’t get into an accident.
In recent years, the reports of aggressive driving have skyrocketed. Nearly everyone has had an incident or at least exposure to an aggressive driver out there.
What is aggressive driving?
As defined by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, aggressive driving occurs when a driver endangers or is likely to endanger people or property. It can include:
- Improper and/or excessive lane changing
- Speeding
- Improper passing
Aggressive driving is actually a traffic offense, and it’s estimated that nearly 70% of all traffic fatalities occur because of aggressive driving behaviors (including running red lights and tailgating). Aggressive driving is often associated with crowded roads, people hurrying, and selfishness. It’s also often confused with road rage, but road rage actually encompasses another set of behaviors.
Road rage is defined as an “assault with a motor vehicle or other dangerous weapon by the operator or passenger(s) of another vehicle or an assault precipitated by an incident that occurred on the road.” Road rage is a criminal offense, and is typically an escalation of emotions that results from aggressive driving behaviors.
Unfortunately, I witnessed a pretty severe case of road rage when I was driving in Sydney, Australia (if you think LA drivers are bad, drive in Sydney!). We were driving in peak hour traffic in downtown Sydney. There was a driver ahead of us that was trying to move into the lane next to him.
As we were already at a standstill bumper-to-bumper, it was essentially impossible for him to move until the light turned further up ahead and traffic began to move. When the light turned, the driver attempted to swerve into the lane next to him, but the car that was in the lane next to him inched slightly ahead. It was clear that we weren’t going to move much given the heavy traffic, but the driver ahead of us exploded, and actually got out of his car. We watched, frozen, as the scene unfold in front of us.
“Should I call the cops??” I asked my husband, my voice shrill and panicky. My husband didn’t answer and pushed the “lock” button on the door instead. The man started to bang on the other driver’s window, demanding that he get out, using a string of cuss words that I had never even heard of before.
The driver stared straight ahead as the man continued to kick and punch his car door. Although only a few seconds passed, it seemed like an eternity. Finally, the traffic began to move more and the guy lurched ahead in his car. The other man seemed to come to his senses and returned to his car, then drove off.
Needless to say, we were shocked, even paralyzed by the road rage we had just witnessed. It made me wonder, “what should you do if you encounter an enraged driver?”
What to do when confronted with an aggressive driver
So what can you do to protect yourself from an aggressive driver? There are a number of steps you can take when dealing with crazy drivers on the road.
- Firstly, make every attempt to get out of their way. It simply isn’t worth it to try and prove a point when their behaviors could potentially harm you and anyone else in the car with you.
- Swallow your pride. As tempting and intuitive as it is to respond to their behaviors by challenging them, speeding up, or “holding your own” next to them, doing so will encourage their behaviors and potentially endanger others more, as well.
- Make sure your seat belt is buckled. Pretty self-explanatory here, but it could save your life if things get out of hand, or if you need to make an abrupt driving maneuver.
- Avoid eye contact with them. Making eye contact with them can be interpreted as a challenge (to them). Avoid the temptation to look them in the eye. Sometimes all drivers want to do is “make a point,” but if you simply don’t look at them, they’ll usually move on pretty quickly.
- Ignore any gestures they make, and don’t return them. Though you may want to return the good ol’ California howdy to them, DON’T. Doing so will most likely provoke them and encourage them to become even more aggressive.
- Report aggressive drivers once you’re pulled off the road. You’ll need to give the police the vehicle description, their license number, location of the incident, and any other details you can recall.
- Do not get out of your vehicle. Whether you’re still stuck in traffic or on the side of a road facing an enraged driver that is threatening you, do not get out of your car. It can help to protect you.
- Remember: you can’t control traffic, but you can control how you react to it.
But what should you do when you encounter an aggressive driver tailgating? Dealing with aggressive drivers behind you requires a little more defensive driving.
How to deal with aggressive drivers behind you
Tailgating occurs when a car is following another car too closely. Here’s what you should do the next time you’re tailgated:
- Tap your brakes lightly a few times. This will warn the tailgater that you are slowing down.
- Brake slowly when you’re going to stop. Avoid an accident and give your tailgater plenty of warning when you’re going to stop.
- If possible, change lanes to avoid them. If it’s safe to change lanes, remove yourself from their way.
- If you can’t change lanes, slow down more. This will encourage the tailgater to just go around you. They may be angry when they do this, but that’s their problem, not yours.
- If slowing down doesn’t work, pull off the road to let them pass.
While there’s only so much you can do to avoid drama on the road, by not engaging and keeping a safe distance from aggressive or enraged drivers, you could potentially save your life and others. So the next time you come across an aggressive driver, try to not take it too personally and be the better person.
Are you an aggressive driver? Learn how to calm your mind the next time you’re about to snap.
