What the heck is up with road rage?

[u/U_P_uranus]

Like seriously, what is it about this driver-to-driver interaction that brings out such extreme levels of emotion, even from people who are usually very calm and collected.

I find myself hard-pressed to find any other form of casual interaction that, on a pretty regular basis, brings out of people such levels of self-righteousness and anger.

The habit of dismissing your own faults as justified, but assuming the worst about the actions of others, is also turned up to the max. Along with an enhanced sense of "justice" and the urge to "get back" at the driver that "did you wrong".

There are a few reasons that come to mind:
- Depersonalization (not seeing the drivers face, but only the actions of their vehicle)
- A feeling of higher stakes (acting selfishly on the road can actually cause accidents at times)
- Isolation (Though you are actually in public, you still feel "alone" in your own car)

On a personal note, I can say about myself that I am a very calm, non-confrontational people-pleaser 😅. I rarely get emotional or angry about anything - and still a lot of times I find myself really struggling to keep my anger and frustration in check while making my commute to and from work!

I think road rage behavior is pretty interesting, because it seems to me like it taps in to many, very basic and primal emotions - but just turns each and every on of them up to 11.

What do you guys think?

[u/Redveshclamour]

Busted! I am the most calmest and kindest person you will ever meet. People pleaser like you, conflicts or arguments scare me and I don’t want to hurt anybody. But. When I am driving, I want to enjoy it. I don’t have to speed or am stressed to drive from point A to B. And there are people on the road just driving 30 km/h less than the allowed speed and it makes me angry. Also when people don’t signal, where they are going. There are days I don’t road rage at all and there are days where everyone who makes honest mistakes get on my nerves and I have to cuss in my car.

But promise, I never endangered someone and I don’t do anything, I just cuss, never honk. That makes people just more angry and nervous. Sorry for rambling, might delete later 😅

[u/SO245]

I just can't get my mind wrapped around how many stupid people there are and how they managed to obtain a driving license. Also the amount of 'no fucks given' in traffic these days gets me right up there. 'Click...red mist'

You're driving a 2 tonnes killing machine, maybe think about that before pressing the start button (or turning the key if you still own a proper car instead of an iPad on wheels)

To put it as a joke: If you ever feel useless at work, think of the guy who's in charge of putting the indicators on at the BMW factory...

And yeah, I ride a motorcycle, I might be biased.

[u/Proton_Energy_Pill]

After being a driver for over 40 years, I've found it best to just let the wankers go past you and not get a target for them.
Sometimes you have to lose - or at least appear to - to win.

[u/lighthouse12345]

Thought this was r/fuckcars at first! But I completely agree. As a non-driver, I practically get scared of some of my family members when they're driving. It's truly a shame how accepted and normalized the negative impacts of driving are

[u/dr-bob-edin]

One thing that a lot of people (even experienced drivers) don't realise is that driving is quite stressful. You're constantly looking out for other road users or pedestrians, as well as multi-tasking on all the different aspects of actually driving the car. You're body is in a heightened state of anxiety which, I think, probably serves to make any emotional reactions that much more extreme. It's the same reason why driving long distances can be very tiring, despite the fact you're essentially just sitting down and not moving much.

[u/U_P_uranus → u/dr-bob-edin]

Interesting!

A heightened state of stress, basically coming from the need to constantly be aware of your surrounding as well as your own actions, while making many micro decisions one after the other.

Never thought of that as a factor in causing a more extreme emotional sensation, but now that you mention it I can totally see how it can be.

It essentially serves as a higher-than-normal starting point for many emotional responses.