How To Avoid Driving Road Rage

Every single year, Michigan road rage accidents make headlines. We are talking about an epidemic level problem that can easily affect every single driver. It can lead to you being a victim or an aggressor. Unfortunately, road rage can lead to injury and death. We thus all need to do whatever we can to avoid being affected by it.

Avoiding Road Rage

Always follow these tips when you are on the road:

• Be polite – You want to avoid cutting off vehicles, weaving, speeding, tailgating, having your high beams on, and having erratic braking behavior. Avoid driving slower than the other people in the same lane, be polite when you merge, and stay courteous. This makes driving so much more enjoyable and avoids road rage.
• Simply slow down – Just leave the aggressive drivers pass you.
• Remove yourself from unwanted situations – When you see drivers with aggressive behavior, just get some distance. You can slow down or you can change lanes. The goal is to stay away.

• Avoid rude gestures – We all get mad but responding to road rage incidents can only make the situation worse. Keep in mind that you have no place in telling others how to drive. This is true even if they are terrible. Do not make eye contact with the aggressive drivers since they most likely just want to fight anyway.
• Sparingly use the horn – You should only use the horn when faced with an emergency situation. Aggressive honking only makes things worse.
• Call the road rage hotlines – In many US states, there are aggressive drivers hotlines. Call them so you can report the aggressive drivers. This lets authorities know and puts you out of harm’s way.
• Don’t make driving a sport – You do not drive a race car so you should not act like you are. You win a race on the street whenever you get home safe. This is more important than being superior to another driver.
• Apologize – When you do something wrong on the road, which is something we all do from time to time, just apologize. This calms and disarms even most drivers prone to road rage.
• Avoid driving when distressed – Do not drive when you are drowsy, upset, or angry.
• Adjust your attitude – Most mistakes are not intentional and you should always take this into account. Think about if responding aggressively will make matters worse. If so, there is no reason to risk injury just because you need to have an attitude.
• Be realistic about travel time – You need to be aware of how long it actually takes to reach your destination. This lets you plan ahead and you get all the time you need. When you do not set reasonable expectations, you are in for a lot of stress.
• Call 911 – Last but not least, whenever you are attacked on the road by an aggressive driver, you need to call 911. Do this immediately and remain on the phone. You can also consider actually driving to a police station, a convenience store, or any other public location filled with witnesses. Just do not drive straight home in such a case.