It is very easy to get frustrated on the road while driving, especially in Port-Harcourt, Nigeria, especially when stuck in traffic or driving through tightly-packed roads in major cities. Even with all that goes on during your normal commute, it's important to keep yourself controlled and calm and not escalate any situations you may find yourself in.
Sometimes both parties are at fault in a road rage incident, but other times one party is unaware that he has offended the other driver. Road rage may be as harmless as a rude finger gesture as one driver passes another, or as deadly as an assault with a gun.
The term road rage was coined sometime in the 1980s in the United States, though that is not to say that the phenomenon did not exist before this time. However, it was not until the 1980s that this subset of violent crime was identified.
Some of the common triggers of road rage include;
- Traffic jams
- Drivers running late
- Making changes without using a turn signal
- Slowly traveling in the left lane, restricting faster-moving drivers
- Tailgating
- Vulgar hand gestures
- Not allowing a merging vehicle in
Though most people in Port-Harcourt have experienced road rage at one one point or the other, that doesn't make it acceptable. Drivers have found themselves distracted when they fly into road rage leading to accidents, veering off the roads and altercations with others that are simply not worth your while. Road rage can be extremely dangerous and here’s how you can avoid it;
1) Carefully Plan Your Day Ahead
The first and most important thing you can do is to avoid getting on the road in a hurry. Always try to plan out your day on the road, in order to have enough time to get to your destination. This means taking into account the rush hour traffic, as well as buffer time, just in case you get stuck in a traffic jam. By giving yourself a lot of time, you would discover that the entire journey to and fro your destination would be calm and stress free.
2) Don't Engage, Avoid Making Eye Contact
If you happen to pull up alongside someone who has been driving like a crazy person, cutting people off or honking at them, try as much as possible to avoid making eye contact with them. In many cases, this is seen as challenging and rude, which can just incite more road rage for everyone involved. Just give aggressive drivers room and try to avoid them because you don't know their baggage and trust us when we say, a transfer of aggression would be looming around the corner.
3) Calm Yourself By Doing Something Relaxing
If you are a music lover, make your commute a private concert in your car. If you like audio books or pod-casts, download a favorite that you only listen to during your drive. This will make the commute something you look forward to, which is a great way to keep yourself relaxed during the drive. If you are relaxed, you are less likely to react badly when others aren't as considerate on the road.
4) Only Horn in Emergencies
Horning to avoid collision with or just to alert drivers who can't actually see you is a safe way to drive. On the other hand, using your horn to tell someone to hurry up, would most likely make them angry (especially for Port-Harcourt weh everybody eye dey red). The drivers around you are probably driving in the same direction as you and can also see the traffic slow down for no apparent reason, so, they are probably just as mad as you are about it. Avoid using your horn as much as you can to keep everyone a little more relaxed.
5) Be Predictable on the Road
Always try to use your car signals when driving, and do everything you can to announce your intentions to those around you. Start slowing down a little earlier, and don’t slam on your brakes if you are coming up on a turn or exit you need to take. This is a good way to keep everyone else relaxed, because they won’t have to be on edge wondering what your car is going to do.
6) Ensure You've Had Enough Sleep
Driving in the morning when you are groggy and cranky from lack of sleep is not a good idea if you also suffer from road rage. It’s too easy for our tired bodies to react to perceived threats with heightened states of anxiety, which exacerbates road rage. Try to give yourself plenty of time to wake up before you have to be on the road.
7) Be The Bigger Person
Finally, if there is an aggressive driver that is tailgating you or honking at you, try to ignore him/her. Maybe you can get over into another lane, or speed up a little if you are driving under the speed limit. At the end of the day, it’s more important that everyone on the road get to their destinations safely, than who was truly “in the right” in these situations. It is essential for you to keep yourself calm as well, while trying to ignore such driver.
Keep in mind that these are only a few suggestions of how to reduce the risk of road rage. It is important that you should be aware of your surroundings and avoid driving too defensively and slow. Being a defensive driver is a good thing, but if you are overly cautious by driving too slow, it can block the flow of traffic, which may increase your stress, as well as the stress of other drivers.
