[Article] Aggressive driving is all the rage

Aggressive driving is all the rage
From:The Irish Independent
Tuesday, 29th April, 2003
Treacy Hogan Environment Correspondent

AGGRESSIVE driving and road rage is widespread and on the increase in Ireland, a major international study has found.

Some 82pc of Irish drivers are "very annoyed" by other drivers, the fourth highest of 15 European countries.

A poll carried out four years ago found 69pc of Irish car owners were very annoyed by other drivers - showing the problem appears to have worsened by 13pc since then.

A total of 38pc of Irish motorists - almost four in 10 - were victims of "aggressive behaviour" during the past 12 months, the Irish Independent has also learned.

Road rage sparked by increasing pressures on people's lifestyles has meanwhile been officially linked to road crashes in the country. It's not all one way traffic, however, as some 29pc of our motorists admitted being aggressive towards other drivers.

The worldwide poll by EOS Gallup Europe involved 14,000 drivers in 23 countries including all EU nations, the US, Japan and others.

Niamh Delaney, project leader, said the drastic 13pc increase in the proportion of Irish drivers seriously annoyed by others was a "very worrying trend".

Ms Delaney said there was a difference between aggressive driving and road rage.

"Driving behaviour is aggressive if it is deliberate, likely to increase the risk of a collision and is motivated by impatience, annoyance, hostility or an attempt to save time. Road rage is where there is intent to cause harm," she added.

The Irish motorists surveyed complained about aggressive drivers who:

* Overtake a queue of traffic to cut in in front (69pc).
* Insert themselves in front of a vehicle when a road narrows (53pc).
* Flash lights aggressively (35pc).
* Make aggressive or obscene gestures (50pc).
* Tailgate or pursue another driver aggressively (8pc).
* Change lanes without indicating (60pc).

Meanwhile, 21pc of Irish drivers said they had been verbally abused in the 12-month period. A total of 49pc of drivers said they were very irritated by other motorists using mobile phones.

Other causes for concern were drivers leaving main headlights on while following closely behind (64pc), hesitant or nervous driving (29pc), absence of road markings and driving in the middle of the road (39pc).

Gallup said aggressive driving, a global issue, was on the increase. "Aggressive driving is an issue that needs to be urgently addressed. Public awareness of the dangers of aggressive driving should be heightened in order to avoid moving into a society of acceptance of such behaviour on the roads," the organisation said.

"Since roadway congestion is considered to be just one factor that tends to exacerbate aggressive driving behaviours," it said, "roads and traffic circulation should be improved."

Governments and policy-makers should continue to strengthen law enforcement measures to combat aggressive driving behaviour and thereby heighten safety on roads, Gallup said.

A spokesperson for the Irish National Safety Council (NSC) said aggressive driving could be attributed to lifestyle pressures, but that this was no excuse as it led to road crashes involving other innocent road users.

The NSC spokesperson urged drivers to exercise more tolerance and less impatience while on the roads.

The Gallup Europe survey was carried out on behalf of the Belgian-based Responsible Young Drivers Foundation, dedicated to road safety and reducing the number of traffic accident victims.

The top four European countries for drivers "very annoyed" by other motorists were the UK (87pc), the Netherlands (86pc), Italy (85pc) and Ireland (82pc).