How many times have you just been driving and WHAM someone cuts you off! You can chose to ignore it and just drive on as if nothing happened or you can give into ROAD RAGE! Just the other night I was driving home and a guy pulled out in front of me and slammed on his breaks, i honked gently to let him know that he was driving dangerously and I was greeted with a finger and some choice words. I smiled and drove on, further down the road he pulled up along side me (not a 2 lane road) and began yelling again, I made the nearest right turn and took a different route home. Road rage is dangerous it has lead to fatalities especially in today’s world where some people are just down right CRAZY! According to GEICO here are 7 tips to avoiding the dreaded road rage

1) Move over if someone is tailgating you

2) Use an “I’m sorry” gesture to attempt to defuse the situation

3) Plan ahead; allow time for delays during your journey

4) Consider whether you’ve done something to annoy the other driver and adjust your driving accordingly

5) Listen to music you enjoy (if this happens to be angry death metal you might want to rethink that!)

6) Use your horn sparingly (it really is only supposed to be for warning danger to other drivers not your annoyance or anger!)

7) Avoid eye contact with angry drivers and give them plenty of room

They also say that the most common reasons for road rage/aggressive driving are:

Fighting over a parking space
Cut off
Not allowed to pass
Given the finger
Annoyed at someone honking too much
Stuck behind a slow driver
Tailgated

Reasons to avoid aggressive driving*:

Aggressive driving plays a role in 66% of traffic fatalities
50% of people who encounter aggressive driving behavior respond in kind
A firearm is involved in 37% of aggressive driving incidents
Out of 10,000 road-rage incidents committed over a seven-year span, there were 218 deaths and 12,610 injuries recorded

You really have to ask yourself how important is it! When you take our online class you will learn more about road rage and how to avoid it. Stay tuned to this blog spot for more info on road rage and aggressive driving and as always DRIVE SAFE!!!