Driving is difficult enough when everyone else drives correctly. But when other drivers make mistakes that put you in a precarious situation, it’s natural to feel anger at their actions.
This anger is known as road rage and it’s incredibly common. The problem with road rage is that it greatly increases the likelihood of an accident because a road-raging driver is not thinking or behaving rationally.
Specifically, it increases the risk of experiencing human error. This is significant because human error causes more than 94% of car crashes.
With this in mind, you must do your best to avoid road rage and steer clear of anyone who is behaving irrationally. This starts with understanding who is most likely to experience road rage.
To help you stay safe on the road, we’ll go over who is at the highest risk of road rage below.
Young Drivers
Most road-ragers tend to be young drivers.
This primarily applies to drivers under the age of 25, but it can also include anyone up to 39 years old. The reason behind this is different for each age group.
For particularly young drivers (under the age of 25), they face developmental disadvantages. Your brain does not finish developing until late into your 20s.
The parts of your brain that are underdeveloped at this point are responsible for your judgment, regulation of emotions, and communication skills. Considering this, young drivers simply do not make the best decisions yet because their brain is working against them.
This makes road rage extremely likely because it’s an expression of anger and displeasure at a situation. Older adults are less prone to this behavior, but it does still happen. Young adults just aren’t fully in control of their emotions.
That said, older adults up to the age of 39 are still susceptible to experiencing road rage. One reason for this is because your 30s are generally when you start to make serious headway on your career.
As you begin to attain success, it can be difficult to refrain from comparing yourself to others. This can make you more prone to road rage because it increases the likelihood of judging and responding to the driving behaviors of others.
Many drivers that experience road rage in their 30s tend to drive fairly luxurious vehicles like Audis, BMWs, and Porsches. This further illustrates that relatively young and successful people may be more likely to exhibit road rage as well.
Age is a major factor in road rage. The younger the driver, the more likely they are to express their frustration behind the wheel.
Men
Comparing genders, men are much more likely to experience road rage.
Biologically, men and women have several differences. Regarding road rage, men have different hormone levels than women do.
One significant variance is that men are more prone to acts of aggression. This is a result of having more testosterone and also how society has historically depicted how men should behave.
You’ve likely heard of male aggression before, which speaks to how men are more likely to be involved in violence and address conflict with a physical response. This is also applicable to how many men approach driving.
Men are more likely to get angry and express themselves because that is how many assertive males behave. Not only are men more susceptible to experiencing road rage, but they are also more likely to act on it because of their male aggression.
Putting this together, gender plays a significant role in road rage. Men are simply more likely to be involved in incidents of road rage.
Drivers Prone to Anger
Anyone prone to anger is also susceptible to road rage.
It’s important to keep in mind that road rage is an act of rage. By definition, rage is uncontrollable and violent anger.
Considering this, someone who gets angry quickly or has a short fuse is far more likely to exhibit road rage. The primary issue here is that anyone quick to anger typically has underlying anger from another source.
Whenever someone makes a mistake, this can serve as a trigger that ignites your underlying anger. As a result, even minor errors can cause a dramatic response because you’re affected by more than what’s happening on the road.
This means that underlying anger struggles certainly impact how likely someone is to experience road rage.
Children of Road Raging Parents
Children who watched their parents road-rage are likely to emulate this when they drive.
Children are like sponges and they learn by example. You can tell them to behave a certain way, but they are much more likely to imitate what you do.
This concept applies directly to how people drive. If you grew up with parents that frequently exhibited road rage, then you’ll pick up on this and learn that as the proper way to respond.
It is still possible to avoid road rage with angry parents, just as it is to experience road rage without having road raging parents. Despite that, having an example of road rage as the source of your learning will certainly make you more prone to it.
External influences play a large role in road rage. If someone who taught you to drive exhibited road rage, then it’s only natural to do it yourself.
Most Drivers Experience Road Rage
One final thing to keep in mind is that most drivers experience road rage at some point in their lives.
Regardless of who you are, your age, or your gender, you can still get upset at things that go on in life. Driving can be especially frustrating considering your life is at risk and any errors can result in costly disruptions.
Most of your frustrations will come from the actions of other drivers. People make foolish mistakes all the time out of ignorance, malice, or stupidity.
Considering this, you’re surely going to get affected by what other drivers do. It may not happen every day, but driving frequently will put you in frustrating situations often.
Enough of this will push anyone over the edge and cause them to get angry. Be careful to avoid escalating any situations because you’ll quickly regret the consequences.
Closing Thoughts
Road rage affects almost every driver on the road. Whether they experience it themselves or deal with another driver’s anger, it can be terrifying and dangerous for anyone involved.
Something to keep in mind is that some drivers are more prone to experiencing road rage. This includes younger people, men, anyone who struggles with anger, and drivers who grew up with road-raging parents.
While some people are more prone to road rage, everyone does it. Remember this and try to be more understanding of the mistakes of other drivers!
