Road rage and aggression towards women?

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Rozellelily

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Is there anything that can be done about the growing problem of road rage?
I find it hard to understand how people can act civil, but then put them behind a car steering wheel and they can turn into monsters -impatient, aggressive, even violent.
Incidents like in the video below make me feel unsafe being on the road as a woman.
Where on earth do people feel it is so important to get to such in a hurry that they are willing to let their emotions become to this abusive level?

There is so much talk about fixing violence towards women all around the world, but for some reason men (and sometimes women too!) seem to flip a switch when behind drivers seat and have no shame to swear at women…or maybe even physically attack.

Apart from just call police after the facts, is there anything that can be done to change people mentalities to prevent these things?

There are so many problems in the world, and yet people have made it such a big deal to get to xyz location 10 minute earlier than they would have otherwise :cry:

 
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Holiness would change the world for the better.
As a nation, we’ve forgotten that.
 
Pray while you drive. Stop and allow the other car to enter the roadway. When someone does something stupid, think to yourself, “Have I ever done that?” and of course the answer will be “yes.”

If you encounter someone who is “raging” you, DO NOT drive home, or to work! That’s all you need is them knowing where you live or work. Drive to a police station if you can. Call 911 if you can safely do so and give police your location, direction and description of the other vehicle. This works very well on the interstate.

Decades ago, DW and I had some strange guy following us on the interstate, making gestures and honking. No idea what I did or if I even did anything. I pulled ahead of the car to my right and stayed there, with goofball behind me. When an exit came up, I accelerated and cut across two lanes and exited, leaving plenty of room for the uninvolved car. The rager could not take the exit and stopped, shaking his fist!

Better to prevent than to cure. I was and am a certified emergency vehicle operation instructor, so it was not a replay of the Duke’s of Hazzard.
 
Rozellelily said:
Incidents like in the video below make me feel unsafe being on the road as a woman.
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I don’t know why you feel like being a woman should impact your feelings about road rage. And I say that as a woman.

What’s the reason to bring gender into it?
Rozellelily said:
Apart from just call police after the facts, is there anything that can be done to change people mentalities to prevent these things?
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Practice your religion well, so that people around you are inspired to imitate holiness in their own individual lives. When you know someone who struggles with anger issues, help them – over the years – to overcome these anger issues. Without imagining you can make the change for them. But be prepared to try to influence things for the better when you can.
 
MNathaniel said:
I don’t know why you feel like being a woman should impact your feelings about road rage. And I say that as a woman.

What’s the reason to bring gender into it?
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It is because men and women are different and built differently. Catholics are not meant to buy into the modern American feminist teaching that genders are the same. Naturally women (for the most part) overall are less powerful then men, even if feminists say otherwise. So of course, women will be afraid to be in a situation like this with a volatile man.

Being a woman doesn’t impact feelings about road rage on a general level. All road rage is a concern and there have been violent road rage by women too unfortunately.

But on a subjective level, I would be afraid to be confronted like this by a strong man.
Men are meant to treat women differently than other men. e.g, men brawl in a pub with other men, not with women, so to see some men be this quick to potential violence in road rage situations and not be able to moderate their feelings even once they see it is a woman driving, is quite scary.

An analogy is like saying if a woman if in a dark alleyway with some “bad intent man” she should not bring gender into it and instead should use “gender neutral terms” of “I was scared because there was a bad person in the alleyway”.
I believe in saying things as they are and not some political correct terminology.

In simple words, I believe that men should treat women more gentle. Of course, a man should not be aggressive or hit another man in road rage either, but double so for a woman.
ATraveller said:
There’s something about cars that trigger certain individuals to become aggressive.
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It is like a person can be a good person in life, but then they get behind a wheel and they become someone else!
I do not understand this human psychology. Or when people stubbornly fight over a car park spot like as if it is some pot of gold or it contains the fountain of youth. Where is people’s perspective?
It is a privilege just to have a car. In many countries people have no car and must walk many km. My parents didn’t have a toilet growing up, let alone a car…
 
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Thanks for the excellent advice @po18guy

I’m not sure if it post Covid- lockdown frustration, or what is going on but I have seen more people on the road lately being impatient etc.
And it doesn’t take much. Just driving at the speed limit on a suburban road can be enough for a person behind to get angry.
 
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Road rage is an age old problem. It’s nothing new.

And during this pandemic, it’s been less of a problem nationwide since there has been a lot less traffic congestion on our roads and highways. Traffic congestion to me appears to be the number one contributing factor to road rage.

Here’s a Walt Disney short film about road rage that was released in 1950 (seventy years ago).

 
Is America currently still in lockdown?

In my country, I am not sure it is always due to congestion. There are certain basic suburb areas, where there are very sparse cars on the road, but in those areas have a reputation for people tailgaiting like in your cartoon, when another car is going on or under the speed limit.
Those same areas have a lot of young “hoons” so perhaps it goes hand in hand…

I think maybe your cartoon should be used for educational purposes.
 
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I don’t know what he said to her, or why he was so upset. Was she tailgating? I don’t know. But I would not have been sitting after as he stopped his car. I would have been moving into the next lane and continuing on.

I especially would not have stayed there while he approached my car, and I never would have rolled my window down.

I suppose I am saying I would try to avoid situations where other people are going to act like jerks. 🥴
 
Rozellelily said:
Men are meant to treat women differently than other men. e.g, men brawl in a pub with other men, not with women, so to see some men be this quick to potential violence in road rage situations and not be able to moderate their feelings even once they see it is a woman driving, is quite scary.
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Bullies brawl in pubs. Most men are not bullies, in fact, sadly, I encounter bullying more often from women than from men.

When someone tailgates me, if in town, I will turn down the next road to allow that person to get past me. I never know if they are maybe late for work and their boss will fire them, or if they just got a call that their mom had a stroke, etc. If on the highway, I make sure I drive in the “slow lane” so they can get around me, 2 lane highway, I drop my speed by maybe 5 MPH so they can easily pass me.

As said above, if someone continues I will drive to the police station, a fire station or a busy business with a well lit parking lot. I will call the business (I select bars, because bouncers know how to deal with bullies).

At the same time, I have never been intimidated when I witness a bullying situation. I stand all of 4 feet tall. One evening I went in to pay for gas (before every station had pay at the pump). There was a man, well over 6 feet tall and around 300 lbs who was viciously yelling at the clerk. She was obviously intimidated, that gave him more encouragement to keep at it.

I walked up behind him, very sure of myself and confident, and I told him to stop his abuse, he tried to turn his anger on me, but, he saw I was not intimidated and he stormed out. I then gave the clerk my business card and told her to have her boss call me if they man tried to speak ill of her because she remained polite throughout his verbal abuse.

Have had road raging men walk up to my car in a “traffic at a dead stop” situation, red faced and spitting mad. They do not intimidate me, because I know that bullies are most often cowards who are not about to take a chance that they other cars stopped in traffic are not going to side with bully.

The church does not teach that women must be intimidated by men, that we cannot assert ourselves when it is necessary.
 
You were very courageous @TheLittleLady

I am not sure I can be as courageous because it is hard to tell in the moment how unpredictable someone can be. I have seen examples in the news when a volatile man just outright will bash up a woman. It seems to me even scarier in America, or maybe this is only because of the size of USA and the media only showing negative story from USA.
And there was an awful story some time back of young men violently attacking two girls on a bus in England simply because they would not make out with each other for the boys “enjoyment”.

Yeah, sadly women bully more then men and for longer:(
And now with social media, it’s not getting any better for young girls who are bullied.

 
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Symptomatic of unbridled passions.
We live in society that is weak in the virtue of temperance. We expect satisfaction on the spot and when we are denied what we want, it gets ugly. Not going to change anytime soon.
 
Irishmom2 said:
I don’t know what he said to her, or why he was so upset. Was she tailgating? I don’t know. But I would not have been sitting after as he stopped his car. I would have been moving into the next lane and continuing on.

I especially would not have stayed there while he approached my car, and I never would have rolled my window down.

I suppose I am saying I would try to avoid situations where other people are going to act like jerks. 🥴
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That would probably be a good call. You’d have zero obligation to stick around, as it was not an accident scene.
 
I agree with the OP. The same thing happened to me when I stopped at a yellow light at an intersection. the driver behind me slammed on his brakes and bolted from his car banging on my window, cursing and demanding to know why i had stopped. But a yellow light means caution and is about to turn red right?
Similarly, at a 25MPH zone, I am going 26 MPH and the driver behind me is tailgating and honking his horn demanding that I go faster. When we come to an intersection to stop, he drives beside me, over the solid line and gives me the finger, cursing.
Rozellelily said:
Just driving at the speed limit on a suburban road can be enough for a person behind to get angry.
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Yes, that is exactly right and has been my experience also.
I am 100% with the OP on this and she has my 100% support.
 
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