COLUMN: ‘Head Space’: Is there a cure for road rage?
By columnist Brandon W. Hahn
Is there a cure for road rage? I’d like to think so.
I think most of us experience it on some level. Maybe we don’t all scream obscenities or give somebody the finger, but there’s usually a little frustration involved in getting from point A to point B.
Why do we turn into monsters when we get behind the wheel?
We’re normally reasonably decent people. We hold doors open. We say please and thank you. We wait patiently in line at the grocery store.
Then we get into a couple of tons of metal and suddenly we’re preparing for combat. To pick up milk.
I’ve been guilty of this myself.
I can become judgemental, impatient and occasionally convinced that I’m the only person on the road who understands how traffic works.
What if we actually tried to cure road rage?
Not with medication or mandatory counselling sessions at the Ministry of Transportation. Just by being nicer.
Imagine that.
Drive the speed limit. Maybe even accept that arriving somewhere two minutes later than the guy in front of you isn’t going to destroy your afternoon.
Keep an eye out for pedestrians, school buses, cyclists and squirrels. Especially squirrels.
They seem to have their own interpretation of the Highway Traffic Act.
And what about the horn?
I generally use mine to say hello or give somebody a quick reminder that the light has turned green. A quick little bump.
I don’t see much value in leaning on it for 15 seconds while demonstrating my displeasure with another human being. They already know you’re upset.
So does everybody within three blocks. Here’s something else I’ve noticed.
When we’re standing in line at the grocery store, we generally don’t behave this way.
If somebody takes a little longer paying for their groceries, we might roll our eyes. Internally.
We don’t usually start screaming at them or threatening to follow them home.
Why should driving be any different? Let somebody merge. Forgive the occasional mistake.
Be considerate in parking lots. Park a little farther from the entrance and get a few more steps in.
Try not to treat every misgiving at an intersection as a personal insult.
And when somebody does something stupid, remember that you’ve probably done something equally stupid yourself. I certainly have.
Driving requires confidence, attention and a certain amount of patience. It doesn’t require us to be angry.
We’re all trying to get somewhere. Work. School. Home. The grocery store.
Somebody might even be having the worst day of their life. We don’t know.
So maybe the cure for road rage starts with remembering that we’re still the same people behind the wheel as we are everywhere else.
Be alert. Be capable. Be considerate.
And perhaps if we can learn to get along while travelling around in our little metal boxes, we might even make some progress getting along outside them.
World peace. Conscientious driving. Starting in the parking lot at No Frills.
Brandon W. Hahn is a podcaster, screenwriter and mental health advocate. He hosts Snackable Mental Health on YouTube and writes about the strange business of being human.
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