Road Rage: How to Instantly Protect Yourself, Your Fleet, and Your Drivers
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Everyone gets annoyed on the road. It’s one thing to get annoyed by someone overtaking you, but it’s another to rudely or even violently retaliate. This is road rage, labelled “one of South Africa’s biggest killers". As common as it is, it shouldn’t be your reality.
Fleet operations depend on keeping drivers safe – especially since road rage sparks countless violent incidents annually across South Africa
Staying calm can defuse a tense moment with an angry driver
If something happens on the road, AI cameras inside vehicles quietly record what really happened
Stay calm and change your mindset; your life isn’t worth being right
What is road rage?
'Road rage' is a term used to describe aggressive and sometimes violent road behaviour that’s often caused by reckless driving. Things that can trigger road rage include:
Speeding
Tailgating
Running a red light
Changing lanes without indicating
Harsh weather conditions
Traffic congestion
This less-than-friendly behaviour is more than just a feeling of frustration or a mean look, as it is displayed in different forms, including:
Yelling at other drivers
Making vulgar gestures
Physical violence
These behaviours endanger the lives of those involved and other road users. But just how common is it on South African roads? Let’s see what the stats say.
Road rage stats in South Africa
While road rage includes yelling and vulgar gestures, it can escalate into more violent behaviour that turns into potentially dangerous, life-threatening events. Let's take a look at just how severe it can get and look at the numbers:
Looking at these stats, we can easily see how serious of an issue road rage is in SA. But what exactly causes road rage? Let’s take a look.
What exactly causes road rage?
Driving recklessly, slowly or inconsiderately is usually met with an aggressive response from other drivers, aka, road rage. Factors like traffic, tailgating, driving while using the phone, weather conditions, aggressive driving and driving slowly are all quite common causes of road rage.
Traffic jams: When you're stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic and you’re already running late, it can cause you to drive recklessly in an attempt to get to your destination on time. However, all this does is make you and other drivers frustrated and annoyed, triggering road rage.
Look at Thando, for instance; she’s about to miss a very important meeting because of traffic. So now she’s becoming impatient and starting to hoot, flash her lights and shout at other drivers to move out of her way and to move faster.
Weather conditions: Driving is already quite a stressful task. Add harsh weather conditions, and now it’s basically an extreme sport. When you’re feeling extremely stressed and nervous on the road, other drivers driving recklessly can cause you to be more agitated than usual.
Now look at Brent, who’s caught in a severe rainstorm. Even though he’s making sure to drive cautiously and follow all the rules of the road, the person behind him is driving recklessly, overtakes him and causes him to brake harshly. Now Brent is upset and starts aggressively hooting and shouting at the other driver.
Winston is speeding and tailgaiting anyone in front of him. Now this is causing other drivers to become angry at him and potentially react in a negative way.
This shows us that road rage is usually triggered by feeling unsafe and being inconvenienced while driving. Here’s what you can do to ensure that these actions don’t lead to road rage. What we can see from this is that road rage is usually provoked by feeling unsafe and being inconvenienced while driving. Here’s what you can do to ensure that these actions don’t lead to road rage.
7 Pro tips for avoiding road rage
Feeling frustrated on the road is normal, especially when you have somewhere to be or have had a long & draining day. Preventing road rage is impossible because you can’t control the next person, but you can take certain steps to avoid it yourself. Let’s check out 7 tips to help you avoid road rage.
Drive safely: Cutting off drivers, driving in and out of lanes, and forcing yourself in front of another vehicle with the nose of your vehicle are irresponsible driving behaviours that trigger road rage.
Avoid speeding: You should try to avoid speeding when possible. We all want to get to our destination but when you speed, especially when the weather is less than ideal, you’re putting your life and the lives of others at risk. And that’s exactly why it can lead to road rage, because your actions are risking everyone else on the road.
Plan your journeys: Delays and running late all cause you to behave more irrationally on the road. It's recommended to plan your trips in advance so you’ll have extra time for possible delays, and you’re more likely to stay calm while you're driving.
Don’t interact with angry drivers: STOP! Don’t pull that finger out to respond to that irate driver in his brand-new bakkie. Rather ignore him and get away from the situation as quickly and safely as possible.
Watch out for the “L”: You have to be patient with learner drivers. They’re most likely not going to drive fast, as they’re already anxious on the road, and if you’re impatient, it can cause unnecessary road rage.
And even though these may not entirely protect you from experiencing road rage, they can significantly lower the chances of it affecting you.
But what if you’re the one having road rage?
What if you are the one exhibiting road rage?
When you’re on the receiving end of road rage, it simply requires you to disengage. But what do you do if you’re the one that’s exhibiting road rage? Let’s check out a few tips that can be helpful to you:
Take a deep breath: Road rage increases tension in your body, which simple breathing exercises can help relieve. This is because the more oxygen your blood has, the easier it is to calm down, so when you feel yourself about to have road rage, take a few deep breaths.
Stay in your lane: Rather, stay focused on your journey instead of reacting to other drivers being reckless. When you let what other drivers do affect you, it's easy to get upset and escalate the situation and make it take a potentially dangerous turn.
Think before you speak: We’ve all seen or heard about the recent road rage incident that ended up with one person dead, one on trial and another in hospital. Think before reacting. Is your life worth fighting with someone who cut you off?
But what if you have a fleet? How do you stop your drivers from being involved in road rage incidents, and can you prevent road rage? Let’s find out.
What is a fleet management system?
Afleet management system helps you keep track of driver activities, ranging from where they are in real-time to whether they’re practising safe driving. Think of an FMS as your eyes and ears, from anywhere, anytime, at the tap of a screen.
But what role does it play in reducing road rage?
How does a fleet management system prevent road rage?
Driver behaviour monitoring: The root of road rage is dangerous driver behaviour. If you’re managing or are responsible for multiple vehicles, you can’t be in the passenger seat of each of them at all times to monitor driver behaviour. This is where a fleet management system comes in, providing you with solutions that help you detect and prevent harsh driver behaviour.
Recorded video footage: Road rage can lead to costly accidents, and in the unfortunate event that this does happen and your drivers aren’t at fault, you can use recorded footage to help prove their innocence. Having access to the exact footage you need helps you defend your drivers from any false claims to support exoneration.
Real-time analytics: Road rage can quickly spiral into a potentially dangerous accident. Should this happen and your drivers not be responsible for it, a fleet management system can help you see exactly where your drivers were and how they drove. This protects your drivers from false claims and legal costs you may incur due to road accidents.
Route optimisation: As we looked at earlier, traffic congestion is one of the major causes of road rage. When your drivers are short on time and a delivery is about to be late, tension begins to rise, which can lead them to drive dangerously.
Our route optimisation feature looks at all the tasks your drivers need to complete and finds the best order to complete them in the most efficient, time-saving way. With a tool like this, your drivers are less likely to end up in situations that may lead to road rage and dangerous driving.
Advanced Driver Assistance Systems: We’ve established that tailgating is another major cause of road rage, and fleet management tools can help eliminate this too. This system makes use of smart technology to inform drivers of any obstacles or vehicles they’re tailgating.
If you’re tired of road rage running rampant in your fleet, you need a fleet management system, and who better to give this to you than Cartrack? Let’s see what features make us the ideal choice for your fleet:
AI Live Vision cameras
Bid farewell to distracted and dangerous driving with Cartrack’s AI Live Vision cameras. Powered by artificial intelligence (AI), this cloud-connected management solution uses in-cabin cameras to continuously monitor driver behaviour. This enables it to detect different forms of distracted driving, including:
Cellphone use
Smoking
Yawning and other telltale signs of fatigue
But this solution does more than just monitor the behaviour; it also triggers in-cabin audible alerts, immediately notifying your drivers and allowing them to correct their behaviour in real-time. Distracted driving plays a massive role in road rage, and our high-tech solution helps eliminate it.
ADAS
Keep your drivers completely aware of their surroundings with our Advanced Driver Assistance System. Powered by camera-based sensors, intelligent algorithms, and AI, ADAS takes a preventative approach to driver safety. One way it does this is by monitoring the distance between vehicles to help your drivers maintain a safe following distance.
By providing your drivers with real-time alerts when they drive dangerously close to another vehicle, this system can help prevent tailgating, a major contributing factor to road rage.
Driver scorecards
Monitor individual driver behaviour with our driver scorecards. These offer comprehensive ways to evaluate driver performance in great detail and rate each driver on how safely they drive. By monitoring high-risk behaviours that can lead to road rage in your drivers, you can provide specific training to improve driver behaviour behind the wheel, subsequently decreasing the risk of road rage.
These behaviours include:
Frequent and unnecessary speeding
Harsh braking and cornering
Aggressive acceleration
Route optimisation with Cartrack Delivery
Looking to simplify and automate your delivery solutions? Then get the most efficient routes with Cartrack’s Delivery solution. If your business has a fleet dedicated to delivering goods, you understand the implications of late deliveries on your brand’s reputation and its effect on productivity.
When your drivers are running late, it can cause them to behave irresponsibly on the road so that they can still make their delivery deadlines. This means they’re going to be speeding, turning harshly, or ignoring road signs. These actions can trigger road rage in other motorists.
Now with our Delivery app, you can put a stop to this. It will identify the most efficient order and routes so your team are ableto complete all of their delivery tasks. Helping you keep your delivery operations running on time with little to no delays.
Real-time GPS tracking
Even if you’re not managing a fleet, you can still rely on Cartrack’s technology to help you avoid road rage by gaining total visibility of your vehicle with Cartrack’s live GPS tracking.
Our GPS tracking software does more than simply track your vehicle. It gives you access to your trip history with a route replay function, helping you to easily spot patterns of risky driving. With this information, you can then pinpoint actions that trigger road rage. This way you can stay safe and responsible on the road.
These solutions give your drivers ultimate road rage protection by helping foster a culture of safety and responsible driving. Let’s see what the experts have to say about this and what other tips they can give you for your operation.
Some tips from the fleet experts themselves
Although you have a fleet management system, it doesn’t take away from your general responsibilities as a motorist to be as safe as possible on the road. We’ve got your back, though, because we’re bringing you some road rage tips from one of our experienced Cartrack branch managers:
Always leave for your destination early. By allowing for enough travel time that takes traffic and other delays into account, you can keep calm knowing there’s no need to rush.
Plan your routes. By knowing exactly which route you’ll be taking, you can avoid any delays that can trigger road rage.
Play your favourite music, as this can help you remain calm.
Always remain calm and courteous, and don’t get provoked when you encounter drivers with road rage. Allow them to pass and avoid eye contact.
When you encounter a road rage incident, do not sound your horn, flash your lights, or start gesturing.
If you are a victim of road rage and want to report the matter to the SAPS, record the aggressor registration and the location of the incident.
Safeguard your fleet and its drivers from road rage with Cartrack’s solutions
With a wide range of solutions to tackle nearly every cause of road rage, Cartrack is just what the road rage doctor ordered for your fleet safety needs. Contact us today and make road rage a thing of the past.
FAQs
What is the fleet manager’s legal liability if a driver is the aggressor?
Does a history of "harsh driving" alerts affect insurance premiums even if no accident occurs?
Yes, some insurance providers provide usage-based insurance. This means they don’t wait for an accident to happen to adjust your rates; they look at the probability of one occurring. This is why it’s important to have telematics in your fleet so you can provide fleet management data to prove that your drivers are well behaved on the roads.
What is the "Post-Incident Protocol" for a driver who has been a victim of violence?
When a driver has been a victim of violence, the "Post-Incident Protocol" requires you to shift from monitoring to support & evidence gathering. It should include:
Speeding or tailgating can be frustrating but shouldn’t boil over into road rage. Learn more about its dangers and how you can protect yourself and your fleet.
