Avoiding Road Rage: Five Tips to Handling Aggressive Drivers

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Call a car accident attorney to inform him of the incident. Also, make sure to gather information about the vehicle including its license number, color, and model, so you’ll have something to give to the police once they arrive at the scene and in case the offending driver flees the scene.

Road rage is a longstanding problem in the United States, and the American Psychological Association has studied the reasons behind people having anger issues behind the wheel extensively over the years.

Now, if you’re faced with a situation with an aggressive driver, how you act can make a huge difference in the outcome.

Here are five tips to help you get through this situation successfully:

Be a responsible driver.

The first step to handling aggressive drivers is to be a good one. Make sure that you’re following traffic rules, driving calmly, and not provoking anyone while you’re on the road.

If you need to be in a business meeting at a certain time, leave your house early, so you don’t have to weave through traffic and provoke anyone just because you’re in a hurry.

Give way to aggressive drivers.

If you notice any aggressive driver on the road, let him pass, so he can move forward and you can go back to driving normally. If you’ve been anxious or stressed about the situation, you can pull over for a few minutes to get yourself together before you continue driving.

Never confront an aggressive driver.

There are aggressive drivers who will not let the situation go even if you already gave way to them. In this case, never make eye contact with them or try to talk to them while you’re driving.

Most of these road rage drivers will try to scare or intimidate you while others would just want to initiate conflict by provoking you into confronting them. Focus on the road and ignore these drivers, so they can move past you.

Find a safe place to stop.

If an aggressive driver keeps following you, ramming your car, and verbally harassing you, don’t drive home. Instead, find a place where there are a lot of people to be your witness or if you’re near a police station, go there right away. You can go to a busy parking lot, a gas station or a store where you can be seen inside your car. Never get out of the car once you’ve parked. Instead, lock the doors and keep your windows up.

Call the authorities.

Aggressive drivers need to be apprehended for their behavior and that means calling the authorities. Never attempt to handle the situation yourself because no matter how calm you are, you can never predict what the other driver would do. Instead, get in touch with the police, so they can take care of the situation professionally.

The trick to successfully handling an aggressive driver situation is to make sure that you stay calm and follow these steps.