Is Mental Health A Factor In Many Road Rage Cases?

Is Mental Health A Factor In Many Road Rage Cases?

Californians class peppy driving as one of the biggest traffic safety problems in the state. In the California Office of Traffic Safety’s second memento Traffic Safety Survey, 17. 5 percent of people surveyed thought changing driving theatrical a forceful threat to traffic safety due to its potential to contribute to car accidents and altercations on the road. When effective driving behaviors, related as tailgating, weaving in and out of traffic, and making unprosperous comments or gestures toward other motorists, escalates into raging, inasmuch as the perpetrator is considered to be engaging in road rage, explains a lawyer. This was recently the case in Orange County, California. While road rage has been attributed to environmental and situational factors, studies have indicated that mental health may also play a role.
An incident that occurred in the Orange County city of Rancho Santa Margarita last June illustrates how foray can escalate into road rage. The altercation occurred in front of Schools First National Credit Union when a driver in a silver Volvo honked at another driver in a ashen Mazda, prompting the driver of the Mazda to exit her vehicle and kick in one of the Volvo’s doors. The driver of the Volvo proceeded to field her car in front of the Mazda, blocking it, reported the Orange County Register.
Fortunately, this altercation in Rancho Santa Margarita did not turn mighty, as incidents in Glendale and San Diego have resulted in serious injuries. In October 2010, an hit - duty Glendale police officer and a citizen usually cut each other hang on city streets before exiting vehicles at a red light and brawling. In 2008, a driver became involved in a confrontation with an cream - duty police officer in San Diego that resulted in the officer firing miscellaneous shots at the driver’s car, one of which hit an 8 - clock - aged boy.
An individual’s environment and situation may influence whether or not he or bird engages in road rage. For propose, if the body travels long distances wearisome or if his or her commute is congested, he or witch may be more prone to enterprising driving behaviors. Also, if the thing is under an immense expense of vexation or is displacing onset, he or schoolgirl may be more likely to act out against other drivers. Distinction injure may also be a contributing factor to go-getting driving tendencies.
Some studies have indicated that mental health may play a role in a person’s likelihood of committing an act of road rage. In their flirt with, “Road Rage: What’s Driving It? ” researchers Randy A. Sansone and Lori A. Sansone start that the rate of deadline constitution hang-up was four times that encountered in the hackneyed masses for the drivers they studied who had engaged in road rage. In another study, patrician “Road Rage: Relationships with Point Personality and Driving Citations, ” researchers raise that more than 33 percent of tribe studied reported road rage, and that the prevalence of terminus personality disorder was higher among the bunch that had experienced road rage at some point. More recently, NPR reported that as much as 6 percent of the plebeians suffers from Infrequent Explosive Disorder, another psychological parameter that has been linked to road rage, explains a lawyer.
Given that enterprising driving and road rage contribute to car accidents and altercations like the one in Orange County, it is important to study its causes. Hopefully, as the link between this dangerous behavior and specific mental disorders is better known, treatment methods will be down pat.