Road rage affects us all, but never in a positive way. To improve safety and well-being of everyone involved in traffic, it is important to understand what causes us burst and how we can avoid it.

Common Causes of Road Rage

We’ve all experienced road rage at one point or another – whether you’re yelling at the person in front of you going 20mph in a 35 mph zone, or honking at the car taking too long to make that left turn, there is always some reason.

Still, aspects other than “bad drivers” usually cause us to lose temper. Hunger, fatigue, stress are all factors that can affect our attitude on the road, and we most likely wouldn’t think of it in the moment.

Another major reason is time, and running late to something will increase your risk of being agitated by other drivers.

Preventing Road Rage

There is no way to fully eliminate road rage, and people will probably be forever agitated by universe working the way they imagined it. Still, there are ways to try and at least stiffen the agitation a tiny bit.

Leaving on time is probably one of the best pieces of advice you can get for calming down. If you leave earlier for your destination, you allow yourself time to cruise there peacefully, not having to worry about slow drivers because you’re not in a hurry.

There will be times where we’ll be late to something very important, and your agitation levels are already peaking, and you haven’t even walked through the door yet.

In these cases, try to find anything that is calming to you, which might help with agitation.

Steps for Preventing Road Rage

Here are some actual steps you can take while driving, to try and instantly relieve yourself of road rage.

• Play some calming music, but avoid heavy bass or songs that are too fast.
• Make sure to breathe. Taking deep breaths will lower your heart rate and reduce stress and anxiety.
• Sleep well at night, being rested means feeling better.
• Think about the consequences. Remember that there are many lives at stake on the road, and expressing your anger for that moment isn’t worth causing an accident.

We have to understand that anger is not only dangerous to ourselves but others as well. When we act without a clear head, we are endangering many people’s lives, and finding ways to control that rage will help save lives. Stay calm.