Tips For Motorists Tackling Symptoms Or Examples of Road Rage

No article about road rage would be complete without a few basic facts about stress. The definition of a stressing situation highlights the reason that it tends to get linked to the on-road events that are triggered by someone with road rage.

What is stress?

Stress is the body’s way of displaying the harmful effects of an unpleasant or demanding event. That display can affect how the stressed individual feels physically, mentally and emotionally. A motorist that is held-up in traffic must experience an unpleasant event; he or she could feel stressed. A motorist that has been forced to drive behind a large truck has to deal with a demanding event; he or she could feel stressed.

Stress can affect a driver’s thinking.

It can push the driver to the point where the driver’s mind becomes full or negative thoughts. It can also cause a motorist to feel frustrated. A combination of negative thoughts and frustration can work to trigger an episode of road rage. From lack of awareness about the surrounding to causing a collision, road rage has caused many accidents. Only a Car Accident Lawyer in Waterloo can help you.

How drivers might plan to respond to a stressful situation?

Many of the healthful strategies for dealing with stress do not work when someone must sit in a motor vehicle. For instance, a stressed motorist cannot step outside or engage in an activity such as exercise.

Fortunately, there do exist ways by which a stressed driver can relax his or her mind. For instance, that driver’s vehicle probably has a radio. It can be tuned to a channel with soothing or at least pleasing music.

Today, too, there are applications that can be used by someone that wants to ease into a moment of meditation. Drivers that find it possible to pull over to the side of the road might be able to take advantage of such an application. Meditation relaxes the mind and helps to banish the feelings associated with stress.

Dangerous ways for coping with stress:

The dangerous strategies are also unhealthful. Some of them cause drivers to become distracted. Those are activities such as eating or smoking. Naturally, a driver’s strategy for becoming less-stressed should not involve consumption of alcohol. That is both dangerous and unhealthful.

How to respond if you have become the target of someone that has been overcome by road rage?

• Do not throw any verbal insults at the person that has targeted you.
• Do not use any gestures to display your anger or annoyance.
• Do not make eye contact with the stressed motorist.
• Stay in your vehicle. Roll up your windows and lock your doors.
• Do not attempt to retaliate in any fashion.
• If the stressed driver decides to tailgate, try changing into another lane as soon as possible.
• When possible, pull over and call the police.