This report discusses results of a literature review and pilot study on how to prevent aggressive driving and road rage. The study "Controlling Road Rage: A Literature Review and Pilot Study" defines road rage as "an incident in which an angry or impatient motorist or passenger intentionally injures or kills another motorist, passenger, or pedestrian, or attempts or threatens to injure or kill another motorist, passenger, or pedestrian." It must be emphasized that "road rage" and "aggressive driving" are not synonymous. Road rage is uncontrolled anger that results in violence or threatened violence on the road; it is criminal behavior. Aggressive driving does not rise to the level of criminal behavior. Aggressive driving includes tailgating, abrupt lane changes, and speeding, alone or in combination. These potentially dangerous behaviors are traffic offenses, but are not criminal behavior. This report discusses results of a literature review and three surveys. The literature review identified recent legislation to combat aggressive driving and road rage. On the state level, only Virginia and Arizona have enacted specific legislation for this purpose. A national survey and a follow-up detailed survey identified three organizations with highly rated road rage interventions that included rigorous evaluation components. These are the New York City Police Department, the New Jersey State Police Department, and the West Valley City Police Department. The New Jersey program was the only one that responded to a request for more information. Indications are that the New Jersey program may be a good model for other jurisdictions. A supplemental survey on road rage characteristics asked U.S. law enforcement personnel about actual road rage incidents. Most respondents say road rage is a problem in their area. Although based on a small sample, there appears to be a slightly higher incidence of road rage incidents during the Friday afternoon peak travel times, during fair weather, under moderately congested conditions, and in urban areas. Incidence does not appear to be influenced by proximity to holidays. However, alcohol and/or drugs were found to be associated with one quarter of incidents. Enforcement and education are the most commonly used interventions to prevent aggressive driving and road rage. Legislation is another avenue, but so far the enactment of statutes has been impeded by existing laws that address this issue and by concerns about ambiguous wording. Results suggest that enforcement efforts should be accompanied by public information campaigns. Cooperative programs were found to be effective for distributing resources and creating invisible patrol boundaries. Interagency liaisons also offer economies of scale to smaller jurisdictions that have smaller advertising budgets. Intelligent transportation systems also show promise for deterring aggressive driving and road rage, mainly through the use of intersection cameras. (Author/publisher)
Abstract