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Road rage brings out the beast in most of us. So try to control your temper as much as you can
With the arrival of more and more new vehicles on the streets of our cities, traffic congestion has increasingly become a nightmarish experience. If that was not bad enough, then there are unruly drivers and drivers with little patience who are ready to fight, beat up people and destroy vehicles because they cannot control their own rage. If you are one of them or know of people who easily lose their temper, then you need to read on. Road rage, by definition, is simply just aggressive or angry outburst by a driver of an automobile on another motor vehicle. Road rage very easily can lead to altercations, assaults, and collisions, which, in turn, result in injuries and sometimes even deaths. Apart from causing trouble for the people involved, it also leads to traffic snarls and endless hours of suffering for others.
Try not to get angry. Recall your own mistakes and assume that the other motorist is also stressed or preoccupied. A good way to reduce your hostility by attributing the other person's offence to something excusable and situational.
Losing your temper is easy but after reacting under its influence, you cannot undo a worn. It's best to try and not let the rage build up in the first place. Try to drive in a more relaxed manner and not offend other drivers unnecessarily.
Do not multi task, especially fiddling with your phone. It may lead to more anger. Keep your focus on the road. Talking on the phone or reading messages clutters your mind with other problems that you don't need to focus on.
Try and reduce the number of reasons which can make you lose your cool and become a beast. If you get in a rage because the slow moving traffic is causing a delay in reaching your destination, then try and leave a little earlier than you normally do. Leaving for your office half an hour earlier would surely help as there would be less pressure when the traffic begins to crawl at a slow pace.
You are not Judge Dredd and it's not your responsibility to punish bad drivers. Catching the wrongdoers is the responsibility of the traffic police. Tell yourself that every time you would want to try and cut off a bad driver.
If you find yourself caught up in a rage, pull off the road and take a long break. Take a little walk and calm yourself down. Just try to focus on pleasant things in your life and try and de-focus from problems. After a little walk, you will notice that the anger does not seem justified anymore. This exercise is really beneficial for people who also suffer from high blood pressure and are prone to rage build-up.
Music is said to calm even the beast. If you are prone to going in a rage, try listening to soothing music. Listening to laidback country or classical music will help calm you down and distract you away from the anger.
If you feel you are getting really angry and are feeling stressed out, then pull over and try some deep breathing exercises. When a person is angry, he stops breathing deeply as all the energy is focused on venting out your feelings. So the breathing exercises help the body calm down also. It will help you not only feel fresher but also help in seeing the futility of the road rage you were experiencing.
A driver in an emotional state is like an intoxicated person. If you are feeling emotional, you should find someone else to drive your vehicle or wait until the emotions have subsided before venturing out in your car.
Whenever you feel your rage building up, try and count down from 100. Just tell yourself you won't be angry till you reach zero. This help de-focus from the feeling of rage you may be experiencing. It is effective even when not driving.
