There are many aspects of life that contributes to the experience of road rage. A bad day, getting into a fight or another car cutting you off are just a few of the many factors that lead up to aggression and road rage.

When people become angry and experience road rage, their thoughts become cloudy and their decisions become impaired. Many are unaware as to what road rage are, the causes of road rage or how to deal with it. Road Rage and Aggressive Driving, Steering Clearing of Highway Warfare by Dr. Leon James and Dr. Diane Nahl defines road rage and its causes and prevention techniques.

Road rage is one of the main concerns in society today. Everyday, the newspapers and media report of some type of violence caused by road rage. We hear stories such as a person shot to death by another because he or she accidentally cut the other off or the person forgot to give the thank you sign to the other car. Dr. James and Dr. Nahl’s book, Road Rage and Aggressive Driving, sends a message to our society that road rage is a problem and needs to be stopped in order to decrease accidents and deaths. Studies showed that out of the 177 million drivers in the United States, there were five million accidents, forty thousand deaths and $150 billion in health and related costs (p. 69).

The problem in today’s society is that people get angry at every tedious thing. For example, being behind a slow driver will set a person in rage. Drugs and other substances are also factors that will aggravate a person and contribute to road rage and aggressive driving. People do not know how to remain calm when they are agitated, instead people tend to yell at or tailgate the other car.

Retaliating while you are experiencing road rage may cause many problems to the health. Stress is a serious health problem caused by aggressive driving. Some people are not able to handle driving in traffic or on the freeway with fast pace cars. Drivers stress, panic, and their blood pressure will rise. For the sake of their health, it is important for drivers to stay calm when they feel stressed.

There are many solutions to prevent road rage from occurring. One can do the simplest thing such as taking deep breaths and counting to 10 until he or she has calmed down. Anger management classes or counseling are available for those who have a severe case of road rage. Another problem in society today is that people do not obey the law especially young teenagers. It is common for teenagers to run stop signs and speed. Statistics show that 14% of drivers who were involved in car crashes were 16-year-olds. They are inexperienced drivers who put their lives and others lives in danger. Eight out of ten car crashes are results of teenagers (16-year-olds especially) reckless driving.

Many solutions are illustrated in order to decrease fatalities. The book suggests a few things that parents should do while their teenager is learning how to drive like supervising their teen’s driving time, establishing a curfew, or setting limits on the areas where their child is allowed to drive (p. 192). Teenagers should also attend driver’s education classes in order to get the proper training and better understanding of the laws.

The major topics in Road Rage and Aggressive Driving are to understand the concepts and causes road rage and preventing road rage from passing on to future generations. It is important that we stop road rage in order to decrease violence, accidents and deaths on the road. Road Rage is caused by aggression. When people feel hostility on the road, their thoughts become impaired and they act on impulse instead of thinking things through. For this is the reason, why there are many incidences on the road everyday. It’s necessary that societies understands and come into terms of their road rage and prevent it from continuing on to the children, our future drivers. Children observe and imitate the actions of an adult. If children learn aggressive driving and road rage at an early age, it is that it will follow them through their adult life unless it ends when they are young.

I thought this particular passage was a great example of how children are easily influenced by adults, especially their parents. Children are young and innocent; they observe, learn and imitate their elders. It is very important to watch what we say around our children and teach them right from wrong when driving and any other type of situation.

According to the Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, psychology is the study of the mind and behavior in relation to a particular field of knowledge or activity. Road rage is a related topic in this field because the results of road rage is an action due to an emotion that needs to be studied further. Many questions need to be answered like why do we experience road rage. How can we deal with and prevent road rage from occurring? Road Rage and Aggressive Driving is a book that all drivers and those who are learning how to drive should read. This book will help educate everyone on road rage, the prevention of road rage, tips in order to decrease accidents and fatalities and how we can help our children to become good drivers in the future. If there was any doubt in your mind as to whether or not you should by this book, then doubt no more. Customers, as well as other editors and I would agree that Road Rage and Aggressive Driving would help educate drivers and save lives. I highly recommend this book for all drivers’ and soon to be drivers to read.

I really enjoyed this book because it helped me understand and identify why people (especially my father) have road rage. I am more aware of how people drive. When I see someone cut another person off, I tend to look at the driver’s expression because I can tell how and what the driver is thinking, feeling and saying. The main thing that I learned from this is book is the different ways that I can try to help decrease the aggression and hostility on the road.