Book Review of Road Rage

by Gerald L. Lacambra

Dr. Leon James and Dr. Diane Nahl, Road Rage and Aggressive Driving: Steering Clear of Highway Warfare Prometheus Books. New York 2000.

The textbook, Road Rage and Aggressive Driving: Steering Clear of Highway Warfare, begins by defining road rage and clearly showing its current presence in our driving community. Somewhere in the middle of the textbook, without coercion but with meaning and a global sense of purpose, the authors imbue its readers with the awareness of choices about aggressive driving, lessons in emotional intelligence, and behavior modification strategies. Road Rage ends with a look to the future and implications of what our current trend of aggressive driving will entail.

Throughout the textbook, shocking yet insightful anecdotes about aggressive are given. I enjoyed reading these stories, testimonies, and personal reflections. It just surprises me that these actually do happen. Drivers shoot other drivers over a tailgating incident, people fire rounds aimed at other vehicles on major highways, and what is most surprising, perhaps even embarrassing, is that some people still justify their actions.

The textbook has opened my eyes to the fact that road rage is not only a nation-wide problem, but also a world-wide one as well. It is amazing that driving problems only seem to increase through time, when the world has so many modern theories, technologies, and resources to help curtail those same problems.

Proposing to acknowledge and witness my personal aggressive behaviors, not just driving, has shown me that faulty reasoning and unwarranted emotions can lead to rage. Recognizing the mistakes in my thoughts and feelings is step toward change, less rage, and inner peace.

The tables and tests goad people into acknowledging their rage, and certainly helped me to see mine, while incited me to constantly read on. Probably the most helpful of the textbook's proposals is the call for Quality Driving Circles, or QDC's . This particular psychology class is a QDC, which gave focus to a concern affecting each member, instigated peer relationships rather than professional-clientele to form, encouraged an even give-and-take of help and ideas, and an underscoring of experiential knowledge over professional authority. The textbook is guide for anyone, but more importantly, it is truly for everyone.