Why Road Rage Can Boil Over
Feb. 13, 2005 -- -- Road rage usually starts with a honk of the horn, then a gesture. Drivers may exchange words and that's all, but far too often, road rage leads to something much more serious.
Roy Watts, of Bellrose, N.Y., said he was just driving along, when another driver got angry and vented his frustration, with violent consequences.
"The guy just cut me off, and he got mad and shot my truck up basically," said Watts.
According to a new study released today by ABC News and Time magazine, 64 percent of Americans say they often witness aggressive driving, but only three in 10 admit to doing it themselves. And more than a third say they witness impolite gestures.
The report also said that 21 percent of men and almost as many women say they've occasionally experienced uncontrollable anger toward another driver. Not surprisingly, the problem is worse in heavily congested areas.
Lucy Epps, of Fort Myers, Fla., witnessed road rage first-hand when her boyfriend gestured at another driver last week. The driver stopped at a red light and bashed their windows in -- with a skateboard.
"I was sitting in the passenger seat and [they] busted my window through," said Epps. "My window was in my lap."
Doctors say road rage may be driven less by what's going on around your car and more by what's going on inside your head.
"People with anger problems are angry all the time," said Dr. Norman Rosenthal, a psychiatrist and the author of "The Emotional Revolution." "They sit on their anger, and they're waiting for an opportunity to let their anger vent forth."
He added that anger isn't just an emotion, it is a physiological reaction.
"It's sort of a squirt of adrenaline that goes through the system, and the heart rate picks up and the muscles tense up," said Rosenthal. "All of this is part and parcel of the fight-and-flight response. In this case, it's fight."
According to the AAA, bigger vehicles and innovations in soundproofing allow drivers to shut out the rest of the world if they want.
