Rage over Road Rage!

By Maxwell Pereira

It is often said - "The character of a city's people is reflected in the manner its Traffic moves!" When people lack the cardinal three 'C's - Care, Courtesy and Consideration while driving on the road, they become potential victims of Road Rage. Be it as aggressor, or just at the receiving end. This coupled with lack of basic knowledge of road rules and/or the tendency to violate the accepted and expected norms of road behaviour... result, at times most unexpectedly, in situations where just about anyone on the road - more often the affluent, the elite, even the plebeian, or the likes of you and me, are hit with road rage.
Diminutively statured Lola Mathai couldn't control her tears as she narrated to me the other day an intimidatingly horrifying experience of a "burly black woman in her huge embassy car" - her expressions not mine - chasing her little Maruti down the road for over a kilometre, gesturing all the way most threateningly, stopping her at a road junction, and then thumping on her bonnet with her steely hard hands, even as her daughter desperately tried alerting the police on the cell phone.
But Lola Mathai’s encounter was insipid when compared to that of Deepak Singh and Kamalkant Jain on May 4 when mere rolling up of sleeves and letting go volleys of abuses at the other did not diffuse risen tempers - but followed into an eatery in South Delhi's posh GK-II, ending up with one person shot in the leg and another beaten black and blue. Zigzagging near Savitri led to this fracas, reported the press, the next day.
Policemen too were not spared, when a week ago within a span of 12 hours three traffic officials were at the butt end - assaulted in two separate incidents in the city's New Delhi and the trans-Yamuna areas, merely for doing their duty by intervening in situations. In one case, for mediating in an argument between a Blueline driver and the drunk occupants of a Zen. In the other, for restraining a cyclist for irresponsibly invading into the path of a VIP motorcade. And then on May 29 was this incident in which farm owners in Mehrauli who accosted him for crashing into their car, damaging it accidentally, allegedly shot at Sanjay Kumar of Gadaipur - consequently, landing themselves in Tihar jail with an 'attempt to murder' charge slapped on them.
Less than a year ago, Shammi Narang was shot in the abdomen following a minor road accident in West Delhi. And Jaswant Singh in South Delhi's Badarpur was shot dead from point blank range for 'not driving his vehicle safely'.
Road rage overcomes a driver without warning and tends to destabilise the human so completely enough to make him/her irrationally impulsive... to do things one normally wouldn't. Like chasing, abusing, ramming, hurting, bashing, and at times even killing. And the incidence of this demon road rage - often termed the "mad driver's disease", is no more a rarity, visibly rearing its head in ever increasing frequency in our cities in India, and more particularly in Delhi with its burgeoning traffic of over 35 lakh vehicles - whose mobility the administration and the Traffic Police are diligently (...or is it naively?) endeavouring to ensure in convenient, ostensibly safe, and greater speeds.
In an evolving life style where more and more people are finding themselves always in a hurry to reach their destinations and back, indulgence in mindless driving with wanton disregard to traffic rules today tends to be the general practice than the exception - despite the efforts of the authorities. There are far too many vehicles - and a variety of them too, jostling for priority on limited road space; and drivers are taking liberties with the rules, much to the annoyance of other road users. Resulting in the number and type of traffic offenders increasing steadily. The resultant tensions tend to convert into abnormal driver behaviour, getting violent by the day.
Stress levels are often aggravated also by weather and environmental conditions, especially with the onset of summer and its increasing temperatures. Making drivers lose their cool with tolerance levels touching the brim. "Heat brings out the worst in us" psychologists say, "and add fuel to fire, shooting up stress". When climate is uncomfortable, as it is in summers when most are not privileged to enjoy air-conditioners, irritation is round the corner; providing that spark to ignite mental instability and irrationality in impulsive persons... to commit aberrations and at times even crimes - not necessarily by such who normally exhibit a criminal bent of mind. That is why perhaps one experiences a plethora of accidents during the 'heaty' months and more particularly during the height of noon as compared to the rest of day.
Also, one doesn't need to be a doctor to know that the extra heat generated through consumption of alcohol further tends to make a person less in control of his faculties, more impulsive in his reaction and extremely irritable in the face of provocation. Correspondingly, the general aggression on the roads giving rise to violent situations and accidents is a common fall-out in instances of drunken driving.
And then there are people who are already hassled on account of various matters - matters, maybe totally not connected with driving. Be it a disturbed night without adequate sleep, or a disagreement with the spouse; may be a delayed start or a ticking off from the Boss; could be pangs of hunger, or the child's Report Card, or a financial crisis caused by a crash in the Stock Market - could be anything. All these, anyone or more, could make the pressure valve burst.. or snap the tensed up string of sanity. Triggering off that chord of depression or anger ever lurking and inherent in all. Distracting and disturbing the concentration levels required for safe and sane driving on the road.
Going by behavioural factors, road rage is found to usually strike those with ego problems. Also, a decade ago Delhi-ites talked not-too-kindly of the emerging behaviour patterns among 'yuppies' and the 'puppies' and condemned their nouveau-riche arrogance and irresponsible crudity while zipping across the city in their brand new Marutis and their inflated egos. The conflicting egos of different individuals get correspondingly reflected in road-user behaviour... more often transformed into anger. Anger levels rise and keep rising over each irrational act of the other road user (not necessarily just that of the vehicle driver.... but even of a pedestrian, cyclist, bullock-cart, camel or elephant) - justifiably viewed as such or not, by the one with ego hassles. More particularly when he feels that the other road user is getting the better of him. Which tends to make him break the barrier of sanity, lose his cool... and instead of concentrating on the road and the task of driving his own car with personal faculties fully under control, he succumbs to his rising temper... to reach a level when pressure valves burst, letting out the accumulated steam uncontrollably and unpredictably. Often with disastrous consequences.
Non-stop driving over prolonged lengths of time also impairs the cognitive functions of a driver and modifies his appraisal of hazards and stress. Resultant fatigue is another factor which affects the performance ability under varied driving conditions/situations; thereby resulting in accumulation of more stress influencing driver behaviour. Such heavy strain which the driver on the road is exposed to results in unreliable, invalid and un-quantifiable road behaviour which contributes to the irrational and unaccountable performance ability and other psychological error situations.
The complex interweaving of all these factors ‘midst the at times not-too-palatable and pressure–building traffic conditions is home ground for road rage. This and the resultant disregard to rules, I should not fail to say, the enforcers of traffic laws are tasked to try and control by restrictive and regulatory treatment, with appropriate fines and other enforcement measures for reasons of traffic safety and socio-political considerations. The potential of this exercise, one needs also to concede, is no less a contributory factor too, at times, as witnessed by many a prosecuting traffic official on the beat.
The consequent effects of a conglomeration of all these factors are not necessarily uniform - depending on individual metabolism, mind frame and particular circumstance in time. Loss of cool and equanimity to start with, and most certainly irritation for the majority; leading to impulsive and excessive honking, verbal abuse at times accompanied by gesticulating threateningly - even obscene gestures; unnecessary and aggressive lane changing or driving obstructively or too slowly; cutting across the path of the other's right of way, angry flashing of headlights, and aggressive tailgating... the likes of which experienced by Lola Mathai.
So what's the remedy? Always keep your cool, say most. Easier said than done. But a good driver needs to be organized. Ensure your rest, and make time for relaxation. Start well in time, with sufficient sponge for stoppages and contingencies of traffic abnormalities en route... not forgetting to take whatever that needs to be carried along. Be in control of the wheel and yourself. And do not get provoked or overly excited - especially when driving. Be patient at intersections, and take heed of our suggestion for you to 'RELAX' painted for your benefit on every red light signal-head. And remember, with all the tension packed hurried attempt to reach the destination, you'd not really have gained more than a minute or two. May be it will help to develop that attitude of 'pehle aap' while on the road... and when provoked, never to react before mentally counting 1 to 10..... That will help!
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May 31, 2001: Copyright © Maxwell Pereira; email: maxpk@vsnl.com
(Published as main feature in the centre-spread editorial page of the Hindustan Times of Sunday June 10, 2001 under ‘Reflections’ – as “Drive carefully, road rage ahead”).