Understanding and preventing road aggression

Pages: 590-598
Makhijani S. (Student, Lotus Valley International School, Noida, Uttar Pradesh)
Ashita Mahendru (Clinical Psychologist, Student Counselling Services, IIT Delhi, New Delhi)

This exploratory research study was designed to investigate and identify Psychological and personality characteristics as well as attitudes and beliefs of aggressive drivers and factors that lead people to behave irresponsible and reckless on roads. This study further looks into traits and trigger points of aggression. While road rage may get triggered by simple misunderstanding or ‘need for control’ on the road, its causes may extend well beyond immediate incident. Increasing level of congestion on roads, poor road and lane designs or signage (specifically in second world countries like India) builds silent aggression which manifests as road aggression. Interestingly as noted in various studies and papers, there is no typical profile for a road rager. A rager can be a person from all walks of life and backgrounds. Professionals, students, moms and even celebrities are not immune to this effect. The paper further examines some of the surveys conducted by bodies like Central Road Research Institute, India and correlates its results with psychological findings from the paper. Finally, the paper examines some methods to address aggressive driving and minimize road aggression using education tools, enforcement methods and self-help techniques.