Attitudes Driving Newsgroups
Danger on the Highway
Table of Contents
Subject: Road Rage
Date: 1998/03/14
I've seen more than a few items on TV and heard more than a few on the radio regarding road rage. None of them address some of the problems that may cause road rage, for instance,
Brain-dead drivers who do stupid things
Slow drivers who leave huge gaps in busy traffic
Drivers who are overly timid and waste time
etc., etc., etc.
You see and hear cases of people who get out of their cars, shoot or beat someone and basically just go crazy. I don't drive overly fast, usually staying between 65-68 MPH when I can but it hacks me off when people think they can drive 60 MPH in the left lanes in clear traffic. I don't drive overly aggressive, however, I do drive defensively in that I will always try to drive around what I consider "trouble spots," most frequently poor drivers who exhibit poor driving habits and may tend to do stupid things. I consider my driving alert-proactive, that is, maintain the speed limit when possible, keep alert of everything going on around me, etc.
I've observed so many incidents of stupid drivers doing stupid things and then some rager goes ballistic and tries to get even. I have sympathy for some of these ragers, they pay taxes as I do and I can understand what sets them off, although they are living dangerously because you never know these days who is going to draw a gun and let them have it, I suppose.
I just have noticed that all of these stories in the media tend to ignore the root of the problem in some cases. Why? --
---------------------------- "There are no stupid questions, just stupid people who ask questions."À [ Chris Berman ]
This driver raises an interesting idea that I'm sure most road ragers agree with. This idea is that "it's not my fault if I get angry." This is an example of an external attribution that places the blame upon someone else. Someone driving in the slow lane is the conditioned stimulis and road rage is the conditiones response. The problem with this type of thinking is that you are not responsible for your own behavior under this model, therefore you do not have to attempt to become a less angry person. I agree with the writer of this posting in that there are a lot of people (tourists, elderly, teen-agers) who may do things that can make other people angry. The trick is to not become angry, and to continue on with your drive as safely as possible.
Subject: Re: Speeding, Tailgating, and Reckless Driving (Was:Re: tailgating)
Date: 1998/03/07
It doesn't excuse it, but it is the primary trigger. Trigger or not, two wrongs don't make a right. Never said it did, but which one is easier to enforce? Road rage (in which case you have to be there when the guy loses it) or left lane blocking (which is fairly obvious).
I've heard this "trigger" excuse in other situations lately, using just that terminology. (Is there some kind of nutty psychological or management theory someone's pushing in expensive seminars or something??) It's excusing aggressive behavior, plain and simple. There is NO SUCH THING as having no "triggers" in driving, or in life for that matter. Functioning adult human beings have learned to deal with frustration, starting with conquering those two-year old tantrums. So this "removing the trigger" approach is pure bovine excrement IMHO.
As I have said before, road rage is inexcusable, but if we can remove the trigger, why don't we? Why stop with just inconsiderate left lane drivers? Who said anything about stopping there? If you remove them, traffic flow smooths out, allowing for higher limits.
I'd agree that encouraging lane discipline would help smooth out traffic flow. But in my experience the so-called "trigger" ccould be someone passing a line of cars with a reasonable 5 mph differential, or someone on a residential street slowing somewhat at every intersection because they're unfamilliar with the area and following written directions looking for their next turn.
The so-called "trigger" cannot be eliminated because it includes normal and reasonable driving behavior. It cannot be eliminated because human error is unavoidable. The immediate problem is the unwillingness or inability of a certain kind of driver to deal well with any but the most favorable of traffic conditions. In short, they haven't developed the maturity to deal with momentary frustration. Therefore, the solution is to deal with the aggressive behavior itself (like any other area of the law does). Starting with a crack down on tailgating!
Comments:
This writer understands that the problem can not be blamed on a few slow drivers and for the greater traffic problems in his area. He says many people think that if a few people could be removed from the roads, traffic problems can be solved. As opposed to the person who wrote the first posting, this person is shifting blame to the person who gets angry. This process of pointing fingers does not make any progress at solving the problem. The problem is that there are just too many people on the roads these days, all wanting to have the freedom that the automobile gives you. Instead of this feeedom of mobility, people are finding that they end up sitting in traffic.
Subject: Road Rage Driving Test
Date: 1998/03/25
1. Do you allow people to merge in front of you when the traffic is bumper to bumper?
2. Do you waive or thank someone who lets you into the merging traffic?
3. Do you flip somone off for cutting in front of you suddenly?
4. Do you pull up to the next car so close so that no one can pull in front of you?
5. Do you drive along the shoulder if traffic is backed up to the next exit?
6. Do you ride the edge of the shoulder and the lane to keep others from driving ahead of you?
7. Do you honk or shake your fist at anyone who travels the shoulder in backed up traffic?
8. Do you honk the horn the second the light changes if one ahead hasn't budged?
9. If someone cuts you off in traffic suddenly, do you chase them down and cut them off?
10. ....Do you swerve at them as you pass by?
11. If someone honks at you for pulling onto a speeding interstate from a dead stop, do you take it personal and chase them (after you catch up) and shake your fist, honk or otherwise harass them? (pull out a rifle or other firearm)
12. Do you take it personal if someone just passes you and make every effort to overtake them?
13. Do wait at the next exit to see if they turn off?
14. Do people look at you like you've lost it and slow down or let you pass without confrontation?
15. Do you wish you had a fake hand grenade or toy gun to point or threaten other drivers with?
16. If someone is driving 55 in the slowest lane inner city traffic: _____Do you get as close as you can to give the appearance of pushing them? _____Do you blast your horn at them for several minutes _____Do you scream at them as you go by, or raise your fist or give a hand signal?
Add 6.25 points for each Yes answer. If you answered 10 questions out of 16 Yes - you are a card carrying Road Rager
Comments-
This questionnaire is a valuable tool in the fight against road violence. There are many people who don't know that they have a problem until it is too late. Many of the items in this questionnaire are socially acceptable behaviors in urban area, such as honking at people who do not react instantly to a green light. The first two items on the list strike me as odd because they are not behaviors that I asscoiate with road-rage. I think that couteous, good drivers allow others to merge infront of themselves and thank others for this courtesy. Anyways, this questionaire assumes that knowlege of a problem is the firrst way of dealing with it, a valuable assumption.
Subject: Re: Speeding, Tailgating, and Reckless Driving (Was:Re: tailgating)
Date: 1998/03/10
Left lane blockers, along with no-signal lane changers, are among the most dangerous creatures on the highways. Far more dangerous then speeders who have the true driving skills.
I've yet to see a speeder in the DC area with driving skills.
Take a ride with me, John. :)
In Boston, yes, but in DC there's a weird passive-aggressive combination of stupidity and aggression (particulary pronounced in Maryland drivers -- I live, work, and commute in Virginia, yet an incredible number of the really awful drivers I encounter have Maryland tags. Your mileage may vary, of course.).
I am a Maryland driver. In my opinion, I have found that to some extent the stereotype is true, generally speaking Maryland drivers are worse and more aggressive in Virginia than Virginians are.
However, I also believe that the opposite is true. Some of the rudest, most inconsiderate and even most dangerous drivers I have ever seen in Maryland are Virginians.
Perhaps it has something to do with the familiarity of surroundings, I don't know. But driving in Maryland is very different than Virginia. They are different states in every sense. People probably don't take that into account when switching over.
Since moving here I'm amazed at the number of people who can't stay in a lane, can't figure out how to slow down without screeching to a near >halt, can't figure out what their bright lights are for, and can't >tell whether their vehicle will fit in a gap.
I concur - there are a lot of idiots out there, it's a wonder we don't have more accidents than we already do.
This is also the only place in the country I've seen people driving on highways accelerating and braking simultaneously.
Perhaps that is from people who drive automatics and use both feet? I have seen that - they rest their left foot on the brake pedal, so the brake light comes on, even while they are cruising. Stupid.
The level of indecision drivers here display is astounding. One of the bset things my dad taught me when I learned to drive was that when you decide to do something, do it; don't change your mind three times. You are much safer when other drivers can predict your behavior. If you pull out, put your foot down and go. Don't pull halfway into traffic and then pause to decide whether it was a good idea.
That is very good advice. Indecision is very dangerous on the roads. Especially when you're constantly moving.
In Boston, drivers are far more aggressive (far too aggressive in fact); but they had the skills to match. Here, they're aggressive without seeming to understand the basics of operating their vehicles. It's scary.
A generalization, which IS generally true for DC. I take exception WRT myself. I'm not the average DC driver, although I am definitely one of the faster ones.
** Remove the NOSPAM (all caps) parts to send me email **
Comment
This posting has several authors, all of them adding to a discussion of dangerous driving habits. All of the authors are interested in making generalizations about bad drivers in their geographical area. For the DC driver, the bad ones are the Maryland drivers, for the Maryland driver, the bad ones are the Virginians. There is no end to this generalizing in this posting. Once again, if eveyone is blaming everyone else, who or what is the real problem? Whenever the Maryland driver sees someone recklessly speeding down the street, he may look at the car's liscense plate, every time it is a Maryland plate he says "aha! I knew it!" After a while the driver begins to see more and more bad drivers from Maryland and begins looking at people's plates, noticing if they are from Maryland, and if they are, becoming hyperaware of the least problem in that persons driving. The other explanation of this is that Maryland drivers really are worse than Virginians, something that is rather unlikely.
Subject: curing mad driver disease
Date: 1998/03/25
Curing 'mad driver' disease (c) 1998 Nando.net (c) 1998 Scripps Howard [...]Increasingly, aggressive driving factors into violent driving crimes and often-gruesome acts of "road rage." But for every criminal who shoots someone on the roadways, there are perhaps thousands of regular, otherwise law-abiding folks who tailgate, blow through red lights or cut off other drivers, bicycles or pedestrians. [...]More cars are on the road today than ever before. Since 1987, the number of miles of roads nationwide has increased by 1 percent, while vehicle miles driven is up 35 percent. Congestion is rising not only around such usual suspects as Los Angeles, Chicago or Washington, D.C., but also in new-growth cities from Denver and Salt Lake City to Raleigh and Atlanta. [...]A common approach is to supplement traditional speeding patrols with unmarked cars watching for traffic-weavers, tailgaters, headlight-flashers and the like.
Utah police cruise in an unmarked van and sometimes in helicopters, videotaping aggressive drivers in the act. They then call ahead to a trooper in a marked car who pulls the driver over and writes a ticket. Maryland, which is at the forefront on aggressive-driving enforcement, started its program in 1995 and credited it with bringing the driver fatality rate down 22 percent. Most police agree that for aggressive-driving enforcement to work, whether by human patrols or by cameras, it must go hand-in-hand with driver education. Local media are a key component of education, and they are giving police enforcement efforts much attention. [...]The third way of combating aggressive driving -- changing the driving environment -- is also the most contentious. Motorist groups look at congestion and say the key is building new roads, raising speed limits and removing obstacles to traffic flow. Safety advocates argue for the opposite approach, urging traffic-calming devices like speed bumps. In some communities, that argument is approaching open warfare. By CHRISTOPHER SWOPE, Governing Magazine. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service.
Comment
This newsroup posting first draws attention to uor problems on the roadways, and then gives information about current efforts by law enforcement to solve the problem. The first way of dealing with this problem is through the use of policing in unmarked cars to catch people in the act. This is a solution if one is intersted in simply getting dangerous drivers off of the road, this is not a complete solution though. The problem is that by the time someone gets caught for aggressive driving , it is too late for that person, and getting a ticket or getting your drivers liscense taken away will not solve the problem. If all of the aggressive drivers were taken off of the road, it would be a great inconvienance for those people. The other two suggrestions for making safer roads are a preventative way of dealing with the problem that is already there. As for speed bumps, I can not think of any place that uses more of these annoying things than Honolulu. It is a shame that people can not be trusted to drive slowly enough so that these things must be placed everywhere. In the area around the University of Hawaii dormitories, many students on mopeds have crashed trying to speed around the edges of the speedbumps.
Subject: Re: Speeding, Tailgating, and Reckless Driving (Was:Re: tailgating)
Date: 1998/03/07
Since, almost by definition, the road is CLEAR ahead of the bandit (in his lane), SURE it is, bright boy. That's only be true if the road were lightly traveled, and in that case there would be plenty of room for a vehicle to pass safely on the right. The ONLY reason the guy behind would not do is is because he's caught in the throes of advanced road rage and wants to teach the one in front a lesson.
Just in case there's a newcomer to r.a.d. who might be taking you seriously...
A left-lane bandit is not passing anyone in the adjacent lane. A person becomes a left-lane bandit when he: - is not passing anyone, AND - is not permitting faster traffic to keep left, AND - is not availing himself of safe opportunities to move right (into a lane with a prevailing speed closer to his chosen speed).
LLBs often show up in heavy traffic, either driving more slowly than traffic to the right or (even worse) driving at the same speed as the vehicle beside them. In the former case, a victim of the LLB can eventually pass on the right. In the latter case, the LLB's victim must either move *two* lanes to the right to pass, or wait (and wait, and wait...).
Road rage is by far the most likely reason for a bandit to brake vigorously. Maybe so, but it's a rage clearly brought on by the guy in back, sitting on his tail with his highbeams on in spite of the fact that the so-called 'bandit" is going 85mph trying to pass a quarter mile of nose to tail semi-s doing 60.
Once again: A left-lane bandit is not passing anyone in the adjacent lane (see above).
If someone is being harassed as he tries to pass much slower traffic (at safe speed and speed differential), the harasser is the jerk, and the passer is the victim.
Rage is never fully justified, but we really can't blame the guy in front.
Clearly, there are times when a driver is harassed even though he is driving safely and courteously. I think that is a sore point with Banty, for instance (and rightly so).
But sometimes, the person in front is the obnoxious jerk, the LLB. While rage may not be justified against an LLB, the same quirks of human nature that result in LLBs might result in a "rager" who will retaliate against the LLB. -- Chuck Tomlinson
Once again, the concepts of "blame" and "victim" are coming up. The people writing this are interested in finding out who to blame, they are not intersted in really looking at the problem in an objective way. The roads are not a place for competative sport, this sport attitude triggers out many aggressive behaviors that should remain on the football field. The passing problems discussed in this newsgroup sound a lot like competive sports, where players are competing with each other, frequently in a physical way. What really should be happening is sharing a resource, (the road), for a common goal- transportation.
Subject: -- Star: Aggressive drivers face road rage `test' /Education needed on stress, experts say (fwd)
Date: 1998/03/25
?Aggressive drivers face road rage `test' Education needed on stress, experts say by Bob Mitchell Toronto Star Staff Reporter.
They have them for alcoholics and drug users. Now speeders, tailgaters and dangerous lane changers are getting them.
Aggressive drivers caught by provincial Highway Rangers in Greater Toronto will be stopped and given ``roadside interventions'' in the latest effort to curb road rage.
Tickets will still be given to deserving offenders.
But yesterday, police also began using a questionnaire designed to help motorists see whether their anger is under control or if they're headed for a road rage situation.
In the time it takes for officers to chat with the offenders about their actions, using the volunteer test as a springboard, police hope the driver will have calmed down and learned something about their driving behaviour..
Ontario Police Superintendent Bill Currie said dispatchers at the Greater Toronto communications centre handle an average of 500 calls per week about road rage.
-------------------`We will continue to do our full enforcement, not just hand out the card and smile at the driver and let them go on their way. Our primary concern is if people have done something wrong, we'll take the appropriate action..' Bill Currie, Ontario Police Superintendent -------------------------------
``This is astounding,'' said Currie, regional commander for the GTA. ``It's been going up constantly. We will continue to do our full enforcement, not just hand out the card and smile at the driver and let them go on their way. Our primary concern is if people have done something wrong, we'll take the appropriate action.
``But enforcement alone isn't enough. An equal balance of education and public awareness is also required.''
The OPP is the first force in North America to introduce the program. After completing the 10-question card, motorists can rate their road rage score. The card also contains tips on how to reduce stress while driving and how to avoid road rage incidents.
``We'll be counselling them during this roadside intervention,'' said Sergeant Peggy Gamble, head of the Highway Rangers GTA team. ``The cards, which are anonymous, will be collected and data will be analyzed.''
Plans are under way to use an interactive computer version of the card, known as ``Gauge Your Rage'' at public displays and presentations.
Gamble said a recent test of drivers at an unnamed Toronto-area company showed that 15 per cent of the 68 people tested had tendencies that indicate they're driving would ``threaten lives'' unless their stress is reduced.
Another 31 per cent fell into the caution category while only 2 or 3 per cent of the 68 drivers tested had their driving totally under control and 51 per cent were in control most of the time.
``We need to make road rage socially unacceptable and to make people aware of their own road rage and what they can do to reduce their stress and anger while driving,'' said Dr. Lorne Korman of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, formerly Addiction Research Foundation. ``Anger and driving, like drinking and driving, is a potentially deadly mix.''
[ Eric Jackson ]
Comment
This posting is about the Canadian road rage management technique called "gage your rage." Data is being collected by police of actual drivers on the road. This is truly intervention on the spot. The idea is to make road rage socially unacceptable. People will hopefully respond to social pressures through this intervention. Exactly how the police plan on making road rage unacceptable is not given. Issuing tickets is motivation by fear, not from social forces.
Subject: USA : 10,037 reported road-rage incidents
Date: 1998/02/20
WASHINGTON -- Road rage has become so common in the United States that the American Automobile Association (AAA) has resorted to the science of anger management to encourage drivers to behave more calmly.
On Wednesday, it launched its biggest campaign yet to combat "violent aggressive driving", as it terms it, which has killed more than 200 Americans in the past few years. The publicity drive features radio commercials which lampoon aggressive drivers.
Mr Remer might not have fought but others have fired shots and used their vehicles as deadly weapons in behaviour that has fast become a normal part of driving in the US.
The AAA said that there were 10,037 reported road-rage incidents in the country between 1990 and 1996, and the number of such incidents is rising at a rate of more than 7 per cent a year.
In addition to the 218 people killed as a result of violent driving encounters, 12,610 were injured.
The majority of offenders are males between 18 and 26 years of age.
Mr Willis said the growth in road-rage incidents was deeply troubling. "We are a very stressed-out society. You can find these incidents everywhere," he said.
The AAA believes this owes much to the rapid expansion of traffic, deteriorating road conditions and an increase in selfish driving.
Psychologists and sociologists argue that it is also related to social disintegration and the release of animal instincts in an increasingly individualistic society.
Mr Willis conceded that the campaign might not reach genuinely out-of-control aggressive drivers but pointed out that many incidents involved at least one normal driver suddenly becoming transformed into a motoring monster by another's behaviour.
"It takes two to tango," he said. "If we can convince millions of calm, mature motorists not to get sucked into encounters with angry drivers, many lives can be saved."
The association said drivers could often avoid escalating an encounter by avoiding eye contact or making some gesture of apology. [ FT, Reuters.]
? * Ideals without practice are merely dreams.* *
Comments-
This is information taken from the AAA about the current road rage problems. Several theories are proposed for the recent increase in road rage incedents. I do not ascribe to one sole cause of road rage, individual, social-psychological and environmental influences interact to cause the final outcome. As for road rage indicating a greater "social disentegration," this sounds rather cynical. Perhaps instead of "social disentegration," road rage reflects a geographical areas sense of community. I have lived in both lightly populated (Hilo) and densly populated (Honolulu) areas of Hawaii. In Hilo, there is a powerful sense of community, generations have lived together fostering stong social ties in this small town. There is much less anonimity in this area compared to Honolulu. It follows from this, that drivers are much more polite and relaxed in Hilo. I agree with the other points in this newsgroup posting.
Subject: Re: Questioning of accident victims
Date: 1998/03/27
Fair enough. But first I guess I should explain better (and this is also addressing Dashadoes's message), what else I think should have been done, namely: 1. Drug and/or alcohol testing of the driver and
we usually need probable cause soch as an odor of alcohol or something articulable about the driver to be able to get a blood alcohol test, not just the accident victim assumption that the person "must have been drunk/drugged not to have seen me."
2. More serious charges. I mean, if I'd also been driving a car and this guy had intentionally run me off the road which caused an accident (i.e., "road rage"), wouldn't something like "vehicular assault" have been considered? If I'd been walking down the street and someone had swung at me with a baseball bat, wouldn't this be a felony offense?
Careless driving seems to fit that the driver turned in front of your vehicle (in my state bikes are vehicles). Your bat anology assumes the person intentionally run into you. What foundation do you have for this?
Yet, because this guy went after me with a car, and I was on a bike, everyone assumes that this was just because he was "careless", ie, he made a mistake because he was going too fast and/or not paying attention, the kind of mistake that an aggressive young driver on a bad day might be expected to make.
You say that it doesn't matter whether he saw me, but if it's possible what he did was intentional, shouldn't this matter?
See above question.
Up until the accident I was riding everyday, mainly the same routes, always in the late morning. The accident happened less than a block from his house. This guy would almost certainly have seen me before. Did I maybe unintentionally get in his way before, and now he was getting even? It was a really hot, humid day, and when you're on a bike that is the time when you deal with a lot of unprovoked hostile behavior. But back to more verifiable info, the police report description: "Vehicle 1 [the car] was travelling south on Rahway Ave. while vehicle 2 [me] was travelling north. Vehicle 1 turned in front of vehicle 2 causing vehicle 2 to strike and swipe down the passenger side of vehicle 1. Driver 2 fell to ground with several bruises, cuts, and contussions. Driver 1 stated he did not see vehicle 2." Now look at my incredibly stupid homepage, http://pages.prodigy.net/macaulaykb,
and you will see pictures of my shoulder and my bike after the accident. This is all so close to home that I can't even look at it objectively, but doesn't this seem kind of inconsistent to you? Given the amount of damage, do you really think I just fell over and had a couple of cuts and bruises? Both xrays > and MRI have confirmed the internal damage to my shoulder, so I'm really not making this up.
What was the medical description of the damage to your shoulder? I looked at your page and from that cuts, scrapes and contusions seems accurate.
The truth is that he turned right(directly) in front of me, and was making no attempt to stop even as I was running into him.
Goes to assurtion that he didn't see you.
This wasn't even an intersection, but instead the entrance to a trailer park, on a sunny Sunday morning, light traffic, on a straight open road with no cars parked on the side where I was. Before he turned I had had a clear and open view of his whole car, and he therefore of me (although I don't know whether a car passed just before he turned). I didn't "fall" I went flying over the handlebars and landed a good five feet in front of the bike.
Fell off the bike is acceptable in the report. Your description of "flying over the handlebars" is more dramatic than is acceptable in an official report. Five feet from a moving bike wold not be an unusual distance to travel before hitting the ground.
Commments-
This posting is a discussion between at least two people, one of them a lady who was hit by a car while on her bicycle. It is not clear what her motivation is in telling people about her accident. She may be wanting some sympathy and understanding. I went to the web page where she has a photo of her bruised shoulder. This seems like an awfully great length to go through for sympathy- posting a photo of your injuries on the web. What also could be happening is that she is still very angry about what happened to her, and telling complete strangers about the stupid kid that she hit ia a way to deal with this anger. I agree with her, if she indeed is telling the truth, that the kid she hit was a fault. Will collecting thousands of dollars from the kid's insurance company solve the problem? Will prosecuting the kid for "vehicular assault solve the problem? No, the person driving that car needs to grow up quick or else find another method of transportation. Hopefully he does not need to hit a third person to learn that he must start driving differently.
Subject: Re: Driving women-a public danger
Date: 1998/04/02
Most of you won't want to hear this, but I've found that the most dangerous drivers are middle aged men. They are probably competent, but road rage turns them into idiots.
I've never really had any problems with women drivers. e.g. yesterday I had a close encounter with a 60yo bloke why thought a "watch for traffic" sign means to give way to them. There's no arguing with these dead heads, you just have to play passive and get rid of them.
[ Mike.]
P.S. Like anything else, there are exceptions.
Driving women-a public danger! Many people have the opinion, that women are the better driver, because they are very careful. But I and a lot of friends think different. The caution only depends on fear and ignorance towards cars function. General I have nothing against women, but i often made this experience in the daily traffic. What&laqno;s your opinion? Yes and No. I'm not saying I'm the best and safest driver on the roads, but what I find most disturbing are these young girls driving small-medium sized cars and zooming in and out of traffic. Thats what scares the crap out of me. As for being more careful ... NO. They put too much faith in the cars, and should anything occur, the car will get them out of danger. WRONG. And the only other times, women drivers really get to me are the pre- and post-school hours. What an utter chaos. Imagine, two/three/a damn bunch of screaming kids, with mum in the 4wd tailgating you, so you drive quicker, and so they can get rid of their kids faster. aaarrrggghhh!!!! I'm glad I'm not on the roads then...... Anyway, my 2c worth to the pot.À [ Cheers, C.]
Comments-
The author of this posting is complaining about what he feels to be a public safety threat- women drivers. It is interesting to see that complaints against women drivers is not a strictly american phenomenon. Is there any truth to this notion that men are better drivers than women? Not that I know of. In his message he writes that the worst group are the young girls driving small-medium sized cars. His argument that women, because they usually do not have the knowlege of the mechanical workings of cars, do not make good driversis not supported. The author's attitude of this group of drivers was probably formed by a few bad experiences and later generalized to the group as a whole.
Conclusions
If you think about what kind of person would actually take time to write a message in a newsgroup such as the ones listed above, you would have to agree that it is not your average person. In order to go through the hassle of writing to one of these newsgroups, the writer must have a special reason to. Otherwise the person would not even bother. Therefore, newsgroups attract people who have interests that sre very specialized, the people who go to road rage newsgroups must either have something that they feel they need to defend, or else they feel like they have been the victim of road ragers and this ia way of venting that frustration.