by Anita Lucia

Created on: July 13, 2009

Students in driver's education classes must prove they meet a variety of basic competencies before ultimately receiving a license to drive. Required knowledge includes safety practices, drug and alcohol awareness and defensive driving. A form of anger management should be added to the list.

Drivers should have instruction in how to handle the various stresses of driving in order to prevent road rage within themselves. Driving becomes an emotional endeavor for many people, who experience frustration at traffic, exhaustion in commute and anger at the maniacs driving too fast around them. The result is that even the most courteous of drivers can display aggressive behavior toward others at times. It may seem like a good idea to flash your lights at the guy driving slowly in front of you- until he stomps on his brakes to let you know what he thinks of your message. Instruction in anger management is a basic step that can educate drivers in how to recognize and handle their emotions in a stressful situation that most will endure daily, and how to accept and release the behavior of others that they are unable to change.

Teaching drivers to healthfully handle their own emotions, and responses to others, produces social benefits. Roadways become safer when individuals are more concerned with driving defensively rather than aggressively. There have been incidents where road rage resulted in death or injury for an involved party; in fact, in Houston, a common "joke" instructs to avoid honking at other cars, in order to avoid getting shot. The ability to not only avoid provoking road rage in others but also recognize the signs of an aggressive driver has far-reaching consequences. On the individual level, drivers can remove themselves from dangerous situations. On the public level, crime statistics are lower and roadways are more pleasant to use, improving quality-of-life for the municipality. Furthermore, the city avoids fiscal expenses associated with handling a crash or assault scene.

We expect drivers to have certain, specific knowledge regarding the legal and technical aspects of driving. However, knowing that green means go or how to merge safely is of little help when you have upset the guy in the next lane, who is now trying to cut you off as a form of justice- or even when you feel your own blood start to rise. Basic instruction in anger management for drivers can be a foundation for the more technical aspects of learning how to drive, and is a step in providing roadway safety for individuals and communities.

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