A Driving Anger

Why are today's drivers so angry and what can we do about it?

Road rage is hardly new, but its incidence and intensity are rising. On any given day, at least one person in the U.S. is shot or injured in a road rage incident, and just about everyone has a road rage story to tell. A recent study found that 80% of all drivers admit to experiencing significant anger while behind the wheel. Expressions of driving anger can involve verbal threats, stabbings, intentionally ramming into vehicles, following a driver for miles, and, too often lately, lethal shootings.

In A Driving Anger, author Anne O’Dwyer, who has been teaching, researching, and talking with people about road rage for over 20 years, seeks to answer the question: Why do so many people who are otherwise calm, cool, and collected become enraged when behind the wheel?

Drawing from psychological theory, research, and data as she weaves together explorations with personal accounts of driving anger, the author challenges common misconceptions and describes the roots of anger and the primary psychological triggers of road rage. These include feelings of anonymity, biases we tend to hold about strangers, unrealistic expectations of independence on the roadway, misdirected outrage, and being in a rush. She also compares driving anger in both the US and abroad and to related lifestyle anger such as air rage, checkout rage, and sports rage.

Armed with an understanding of the causes and effects of road rage, O’Dwyer concludes with nine concrete strategies and technologies that can help reduce driving anger in ourselves, those we drive with, and other drivers.