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On Road Rage and the Privileged
- Thread starter Willamena
- Start date
Like all things Human there are many things that cause Road Rage. I am sure privilege is one but for me it was control. I use to be a control freak and my road rage would appear if I would start running late. My father has anger issue's when threatened or confused this is what leads to his road rage. He is far more inclined to rage when going somewhere new. As people reply I'm sure you will get many more reasons.
Calm, cool, collect all observable info, never
experience rage of any variety.
experience rage of any variety.
A Vestigial Mote
Well-Known Member
What is the "privilege" you think is being stood upon when one gets a bout of road rage? Something like "You're lucky to have a car, you should just ignore anyone behaving like a complete dolt on the road and just be glad you have a car because there are starving kids who don't even have Power Wheels."
I don't think privilege plays a part at all. As soon as you are in a situation, like driving, where all other things are presumed equal (for example, I have no idea who is in the other car, what they do for a living, whether they are intelligent or not, what they do for fun in their free time etc.), behavior (ignorantly manifested or not) that decidedly inconveniences others or blatantly breaks rules is fair game for chastisement. Granted, I never have seen the point of blatantly showing anger to the other driver beyond simply honking. But my mind certainly develops a hearty patina of perturbation at the failures of other drivers - no reason to deny it.
It would be like being at a party (a party that poor, little starving children with no Power Wheels have no way attending) and putting up with someone picking their nose and reaching into the various communal food bowls. Why not put up with such behavior? Hey - you're lucky you can even attend parties, right? Why not put up with the boogers? Eat up!
Or are you claiming we shouldn't even be driving (or attending parties) in the first place?
Curious George
Veteran Member
I think it is the result of stress, anxiety, and impatience. If you want to add entitlement to the mix, that is reasonable. I just do not think it a singular cause.
Yes. That's the sort of thing I mean by "high expectations of what they deserve."
I'm making no such comment.
BSM1
What? Me worry?
Road Rage is a natural occurrence of action-reaction, there are no underlying psychological or societal explanations needed. As S. Freud once supposedly said, "...sometimes a cigar is just a cigar...".
Shadow Wolf
Certified People sTabber & Business Owner
Perhaps, but there are probably so many individual factors that I suspect there is no one greater cause or another. Me, I can say that yes I do have expectations, and those are that while doing something so dangerous as driving a motor vehicle that the driver pay attention and be alert. Me having to slam on my brakes because some **** brain is looking down or away and not paying attention to the road and pulls out in front of me and obliviously cuts me off, that tends to irritate me.
Generally, it doesn't work well to relate to psychology and/or sociology and quote Freud.
Road rage is about anger, immaturity, & self control.
Not privilege.
I know the type. My father (may he rest in agony) didn't handle anger well.
He'd even ram cars of people who offended him on the road. (I use the plural
because he was a serial rammer.) He had a strong sense of right & wrong.....he
was always right, & everyone else was wrong. His righteous rage had to be
imposed upon offenders who crossed him.
A few posters here remind me of him. Oddly, most are women.
Not privilege.
I know the type. My father (may he rest in agony) didn't handle anger well.
He'd even ram cars of people who offended him on the road. (I use the plural
because he was a serial rammer.) He had a strong sense of right & wrong.....he
was always right, & everyone else was wrong. His righteous rage had to be
imposed upon offenders who crossed him.
A few posters here remind me of him. Oddly, most are women.
Curious George
Veteran Member
Sheesh, and some kids think their parents are embarassing by hugging them in front of their friends.
I never had that problem.
We weren't a family that touched.
More like....
Even in his late 80s, my father got arrested for ramming a woman's car.
I think it was he saw her talking on a cel phone (according to our lawyer).
dawny0826
Mother Heathen
Depends on situational context. Some motorists are purposefully rude on the road and perhaps that stems from a personal sense of entitlement.
It's reasonable for all motorists to expect others to drive as safely and lawfully as possible. A degree of aggressive reaction and response is justified when placed in a situation in which safety and/or reasonable expectation are compromised.
I do think that road rage towards pedestrians and cyclists is often rooted in privilege or, at least, unfair/unrealistic expectation.
Whose privilege are you referring to: The person who exhibits road rage, or the person who is the target of road rage?
I admit to sometimes reacting with a negative outburst directed generally toward the idiots who drive in ways that cause hazard for other drivers...such as passing everyone at well over the speed limit, abruptly changing lanes, cutting people off because they were about to miss their exit because they were two lanes over when they realized they were passing their exit, and so on...I think it's frustration that people put others at risk.
PureX
Veteran Member
I think it's usually the result of an accumulation of internal resentments and frustration being 'triggered' into over-reaction by some small event that the perpetrator sees as 'emblematic' of everything he/she is in turmoil about.
It should be clear from the context.
Twilight Hue
Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
My god, it's the 401 in Toronto!
Rational Agnostic
Well-Known Member
Probably caused primarily by impatience.
DavidFirth
Well-Known Member
For me it's impatience. I get in a hurry, get tired of waiting on others and lose my cool. But I have a lot of cool so it's not all bad.