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Believe it or not, sometimes your own driving may be the cause of road rage.

The best way to avoid becoming the focus of another driver's ire is to drive well yourself, and to pay attention to the other cars on the road. Driving amongst the vehicular hoodlums of my own city, I have carefully developed the following methods to avoid damaging my means of transportation, and more importantly, my own fragile self:

1. Don't drive aggressively
If someone wants in your lane ahead of you, let him. You don't win points in the big Game of Life by keeping your place in queue. Who cares if he waited until the last moment to merge? Yes, it is annoying, but so are many things we have to deal with every day. Also, don't tailgate that slow driver in front of you. Again, yes, it is annoying this road hog thinks he can control the flow of traffic. But again, who cares? In the grand scheme of things, does it really matter?

2. Observe, Observe, Observe
This can not be stressed enough. Watch how other people drive. If a car is shifting from side to side in its lane, the driver may not be paying attention to the road. Stay as far from this guy as you can. If a car has heavy body damage, shy away from it. Chances are this driver has had a few collisions in his day.

Pay attention to the cars ahead of the car in front of you. Does it seem to brake often and unnecessarily? The car directly in front of you may not notice, and you may end up in a chain-reaction rear-ending, easily avoidable, accident.

Always watch every driver in your vicinity, and think about what you are seeing.

3. Use your mirrors
The cars coming up behind you are just as dangerous as the people around or in front of you. Getting rear-ended is as much your fault as the other guy's.

4. Don't take it personally
It is not a personal challenge. It is not a contest. It is simply not important. If someone is rude on the road to you, and you do nothing about it, you are not any way less of a man. Just shrug it off and get on with your day.

Simply put it comes down to driving defensively. Pay attention to what others are doing. And don't be a moron.

Learn more about this author, Doug Stephens.
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