All right! It has been a while since I have written anything, I know. Great to be back. Now, let’s begin.
Have you noticed that in the past decade, the number of road rage incidents have taken a huge leap? People now are more impatient, tenser, and angrier behind the wheel? Have you noticed that our empathy as a collective society has decreased, and we are less considerate as compared to earlier, while driving and riding?
Something happened today, which got me thinking, and pushed me to write this article (not entirely true, Mom was telling me to resume writing, so I had to start). I was at a signal that was green. I was about to cross, when suddenly a lady crossed the road. I braked for her, and the signal immediately turned red. I stopped. A Kia Seltos behind me immediately started honking continuously for 10 seconds, as if admonishing me for stopping at a red light and not jumping it. I, a person who is usually calm behind the wheel, was starting to lose it, but I somehow controlled myself. That’s when I realized, that I can also become a part of the herd, and change into a potential road-rage prone person who can easily be triggered into road-rage. That, scared me.
But let’s understand first, what is road rage? Road Rage, as defined by the Cambridge dictionary, is “anger or violence between drivers, often caused by different driving conditions”. This means that any form of inconvenience can trigger road rage. If you look at our roads, the condition of our roads is really bad, and you never know when a dangerous situation can take place. Not to mention, the density of traffic over the years has also increased. This can be a logical reason why road rage incidents have increased. Not to mention our weak licensing system and weak law-enforcement system, and the fact that even policemen sometimes break rules. A system that is filled with chaos and where rule-breaking motorists are the norm, like our beloved Indian roads, breaks trust, and the lack of trust, causes road rage and reduces empathy. Every person for themselves, screw the others. That is what people end up thinking these days.
Well, what the Government does to solve this problem isn’t in our control. We can only hope they fix the roads, fix the licensing system, enforce rules strictly, and bring in policies that actually work. But let us end this on a positive note. Here are my tips that can help you become a better citizen and prevent you from adding to the road-rage problem.
- Don’t-You read that correctly. Don’t. Don’t drive, Don’ t ride, if you don’t feel like it. Don’t drive or ride if it isn’t absolutely necessary. I know this is blasphemy but hear me out. If you will force yourself to drive or ride when you are anxious, tired, don’t feel like it, angry, frustrated, or focused on a task you have to do, or are distracted, then don’t drive or ride. This increases the chances of losing your cool behind the wheel. So, don’t. Take a cab, use public transport. You will be doing society a service by reducing traffic by one vehicle and causing less emissions, at least temporarily.
- Deep breaths-When someone’s behavior annoys you and tickles your angry side, don’t erupt like Hulk or a wannabe Kabir Singh. Take deep breaths. This will instantly calm you down. Once you are cool, then you can either choose to ignore the behavior or calmly and politely confront the person and explain the person the mistake they are making in a calm manner. Of course, stop on the side of the road safely first. Don’t jump out and hold traffic. People definitely won’t like you if you do that.
- Stop-If you think that you are hungry or tired, then stop. Take breaks in between to make sure you are mentally relaxed and prepared to drive.
- Give way-If you think that someone is trying to overtake you rashly, just slow down, and let them pass. Don’t let your temper get the better of you. Remember, you are more mature. Also, you are avoiding an incident by doing this, which is mature behavior, instead of adding to the problem.
- You are not special-Keep your fragile ego aside. You are not special. The road isn’t your personal playground. Make sure you are driving safely and are considerate of other road user’s safety as well. Everyone has to go through the same traffic, might as well collaborate instead of competing. And you aren’t the only one at the mercy of bad motorists. Everyone is going through it. So, behave.
This is a serious problem. We will have to work together as a society to stop it. I am counting on you. You, the person who is reading this, to be the part of the solution instead of being a part of the problem.
