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Alarming road rage behaviour in Australia revealed in survey

Many times, road rage is often triggered by the actions of others that one finds discourteous, frustrating or dangerous.

The reactions to such actions range in intensity from ignoring the offender to getting out of the car and having a physical fight.

To delve deeper into understanding road rage, car insurer Budget Direct surveyed 1,032 Australians aged 18 years and over who are licensed and drove frequently.

Involvement in a road rage incident

Roughly 28% of Australians who drive on a regular basis reported that they were involved in a road rage incident in the past twelve months as either the offender or victim.

Those who described themselves as aggressive or somewhat aggressive are twice as likely to be involved in a road rage incident compared to those who do not consider themselves aggressive (52% vs. 23%).

Types of road rage experienced from another road user

About 65% of drivers reported being shouted, cursed or had rude gestures made at them while 23% said that they, or others with them, were intentionally hurt or threatened to be hurt.

It’s interesting to note that 36% of respondents said that cyclists showed aggression towards them, and that 7% experienced cyclist anger frequently.

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Aggression towards another road user

Surprisingly, 70% of drivers shouted, cursed or made rude gestures at another road user whilst 43% showed aggression towards a cyclist. Of those surveyed, 25% admitted to intentionally damaging or attempted to damage another vehicle while 27% said that they intentionally hurt or threatened to hurt another road user.

Men, compared with women, were more than likely to have been aggressive to another road user. Men were more likely to shout, curse or make rude gestures to other road users (51% vs 39%).

Drivers in capital cities were more than likely than those living outside of the capital city to have intentionally hurt or threatened to hurt another road user (15% vs 7%) or intentionally damaged or attempted to damage another vehicle (15% vs 7%).

Anger in different driving situations

When questioned on how drivers reacted in different driving situations, 93% said that they got angry as a result of potentially dangerous driving by other road users and from rudeness or discourtesy from other road users (e.g. failing to indicate, not giving a ‘thank you’ wave).

Travel delays angered 90% of the participants, and 86% were angered as a result of direct aggression from other road users (e.g. shouting and rude gestures).

 

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Expressing anger and frustration towards other road users

Half of the survey participants tended to mutter under their breaths whilst 43% said that they did not express any anger or frustration towards others and preferred to just ignore them.

The survey also revealed that 13% of drivers tended to escalate their anger, which included the following:
– Making rude or threatening gestures, 9%
– Driving aggressively, 4%
– Nudging the vehicle in front of theirs, 2%
– Getting out of the vehicle and having a physical fight, 2%

Changing travel time and/or route to avoid likelihood of road rage

When asked if they would alter their travel time or route to reduce the likelihood of a road rage incident, 43% of Australian drivers said that they would change it.

On a more encouraging note, 20% of respondents admitted to already changing their travel time and route to avoid the likelihood of road rage incidents.

For the full report visit:

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