Keep your cool when driving!

ahead of me flipped his cigarette out of the window and it hit me on the chest. I flicked it back to him at the next traffic light. He laughed, so I tossed it into the back seat of his car.
He started to get out . . . threatening bodily harm and the fact that I was a woman did not deter him.
I took some pliers, got out of my car and pulled the valve stem from his front tyre and rode off. Now he has a story to tell his friends. 
Over the years I have read so many reports on this subject and it’s not funny. We all need to keep our cool or our tempers in check whenever we are on the road.
The United States and neighbouring South Africa have astonishing statistics on road rage. In both countries there have been reports of motorists being shot and killed by the driver of another car over flimsy excuses such as “He was driving too slowly”.
Two years ago when I went to Detroit, Michigan, for the annual vehicle show I witnessed a large crowd that was blocking the parking lot exit of a nightclub. A driver who was growing impatient with waiting for an opening drove his car straight into the crowd, seriously injuring people.
Road rage is not only limited to ordinary people but to celebrities also. American actor, film director, producer, and writer Jack Nicholson was recently in the news for causing malicious injury to property after he smashed the windscreen and roof of a car belonging to another driver who had cut him off with his golf club.
Of course, you wouldn’t do such things. Or would you? You might, because road rage is remarkably common.
In one survey, out of more than 500 drivers, 90 percent reported that during the past year they either were a victim of road rage or had witnessed it.
These statistics actually may be underestimates. For one thing, many respondents may not want to admit to road rage because it is socially undesirable.
In addition, more people report being the target rather than the perpetrator of road rage, supporting the idea that initiators may not be owning up to their actions.
The presence of firearms can worsen the situation. Two days ago as I was driving down East Road, Avondale, coming from Da Eros, I saw a guy driving a white Ford Ranger get out of his vehicle and start running after a kombi. The next thing he pulled out a gun and shot twice. Imagine how everyone else in the kombi and other motorists close by felt. What if a stray bullet had hit an innocent person?
We just need to be in control. Even if this person may have been a cop, he could have done it differently instead of endangering the lives of others.
Anybody can succumb to road rage regardless of gender — whether young and old, rich and poor, mentally disturbed and healthy, people with and without generalised anger problems, and members of various ethnicity.
Some become angry almost every time they drive, whereas others do so infrequently.
Although aggressive retaliation, such as assault or murder, characterises the extreme end of these behaviours, most crabby drivers engage in milder displays, such as verbal insults, obscene gestures, honking their horn, cutting off other drivers and chasing other cars.
People with aggressive tendencies across a variety of situations, including home and work, have an increased likelihood of road rage. Younger drivers are more prone than older drivers are. Men have historically displayed a greater inclination, although women have been catching up of late.
General aggression (not limited to driving), high levels of stress, antisocial tendencies, or low impulse control and frustration tolerance can lead you to exhibit road rage. Most perpetrators of road rage are sensitive to supposed attacks on their self-esteem.
People with road rage problems perceive the irksome behaviours of other drivers as a sign of disrespect and a personal insult rather than attributing those behaviours to the other drivers’ carelessness or recklessness.
Drunken driving also contributes to this behaviour. There is a reason why the law stipulates that drivers should not drink and drive.
Avoiding road rage requires one to try as much as possible to contain their anger and not to allow it.
Food for thought people. Remember if the law catches you displaying unnecessary road rage you will get locked up and if convicted you might actually do jail time. Is it worth it?
Take it easy, till next week. Ciao.Fact D. Jeke is a motoring enthusiast who has attended auto shows, rallies and has written for various publications in the region over the last decade. She can be contacted via email on [email protected] or torque with Fact Jeke on Facebook.