Rage on the road

You know that familiar tightening feeling, the red tinge to your vision, -- some bozo cuts you off, or the rugged guy who gives you full flood /snow lights , the mama with her kids who slows down as you are about to pass, the lady flirting away on her cell is going under the limit in the middle lane, doesn’t signal and keeps you from making the light, or the deafening bad sound coming from the multi colored Nyamirambo taxi that wants to squash you in at the lights. How about the extra dimensional ones who will just give a good smack to your rear bumper or if they respect you, but are still in rage, will get out their arms and smack their own doors? Makes you tense up just to read it, doesn’t it? Welcome to our new Kigali city road rage. More and more people in Rwanda are joining the workforce, the financial institutions dispensing all sorts of loans are on the increase, and obviously car dealerships are mushrooming every where. Gone are the days when a typical Kigali working day was like todays Sunday where you find a few cars with their desciplined drivers.Sunday is the only day when you can be sure to enjoy the beauty and ‘serenity’ that is our humble Kigali. As every one else is getting increasingly busy, roads are becoming increasingly crowded. There are far more people on the road than ever before. Crowding causes aggression. We’re rude, we’re crude and we’re not going to take it anymore. Inside our metal boxes, we’re not always as polite as we would be to one another face-to-face, and when we’re all frustrated with traffic, sometimes people make mistakes or pull impolite driving maneuvers, which can lead to anger from other frustrated drivers. This often results in road rage, which can pose a significant threat to health and safety for everyone on the road. One study estimates that more than half of all drivers have experienced a surge of road rage at some point, although as is common in the first world(read paranoid society) not all road ragers will bang into the offender’s rear bumper, pull a pistol, or hurl a helpless puppy into oncoming traffic. In Africa we also have exceptions: Uganda, Kenya....and now getting to our Rwanda. Tens of thousands of accidents happen each year around the world because of aggressive driving, which is also a leading cause of death. Lots of times I have witnessed rage from these strangers when I am riding my bike. To many drivers, their cars are their second most valuable possession, so they want to protect it. And if anyone gets in their way of hurting their car, they will react in a violent manner. Just look around, there are an ever increasing number of people who feel that they have a God given right to do what they like “on their road”. Sometimes it seems like society is becoming angrier and people are looking to get their revenge in first. Many things can cause road rage. Even trivial and unintentional moves can lead to an act of behind-the-wheel violence. All drivers have their own “driving personality” when they drive. Everyone expresses how they feel or act in society by their driving abilities. If someone has a lot of self-confidence and is concerned with the well being of others, then these qualities will show through their safe driving techniques. There are many different attitudes that drivers can portray while driving.From carelessness to recklessness.More accidents are caused by careless drivers than anyone else. Drivers making dumb mistakes that could easily make someone upset to those who haven’t had their liscense that long so don’t know how to make the right decisions when it comes to driving. When people act reckless, they feel as if they can do anything and they won’t get caught. If a driver is driving dangerously, this not only endangers the reckless driver, it puts all the other drivers at risk, which could then lead to road rage. How about Mr. Hot Temper? When people get angry, they lose their sense of judgement and values and let their instincts take control. This is especially bad while driving under tense situations. The tempered driver becomes upset over the littlest driving mistake made by another driver. They then react against that driver in an aggressive way, leading to a harsher situation. Even if you do not drive dangerously, it does not preclude you of being the victim. Sometimes you have to worry about the other person.I read some where that when you are faced with road rage, the best way to react is to “not make eye contact, hand or facial gestures. These can and most likely will be interpreted as retaliation.Now instead of fighting with peoples egos, I will smile, act and but not react.It saves both of our time and emotions.Not that I am not tempted to shout some. Ends