Preventing Aggressive Driving and Road Rage

One key to preventing aggressive driving and road rage is to avoid engaging in them yourself and trying not to give other roadway users cause to become aggressive. These guidelines can help:

• Show courtesy and consideration to other road users, even when they are not courteous to you.
• Leave plenty of time to reach your destination.
• Always remain calm. Listening to soothing music can help.
• Maintain adequate distance between you and the vehicle ahead. Following too closely can easily cause the driver being followed to become frustrated.
• Avoid changing lanes unnecessarily.
• Do not block the passing lane. Except when passing, stay out of the far-left lane.
• Always use your turn signals before changing lanes.
• Be sure you have plenty of room between you and other vehicles.
• Avoid using aggressive or offensive hand gestures when communicating with other drivers.
• Use your horn sparingly. A couple of short taps may be perceived as less aggressive than one long blast.
• Do not park across multiple parking spaces. Be sure not to touch adjacent vehicles either while parking, or with another vehicle’s doors as you enter or exit your vehicle.
• When using high-beam headlights, return to using low-beam headlights as soon as you detect an oncoming vehicle. Do not drive behind another vehicle with your high-beam headlights on.
• If safe to do so, move out of the right-hand lane to allow vehicles entering the roadway to merge with minimal difficulty.

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