We can drive away anger by listening to our better angels

What you need to know:

  • In Australia, two in five drivers have become so angry that they’ve tailgated offenders and more than 90 per cent of the public believes drivers are becoming more aggressive.
  • Surveys show that men are slightly more likely to be aggressors, and that drivers in their 20s are the most regular perpetrators.
  • My temptation was to say this could only happen in the US. But I discovered road rage was everywhere.

A Las Vegas woman was shot this week in a stupid and tragic road rage incident. Reports say the woman got into an argument with another driver over a minor traffic incident.

After the verbal exchange, she scoured the neighbourhood with her armed son looking for the offender. But he saw her first and followed her back to her house where he killed her.

Police have pictures of his car speeding away and are looking for a man in his 20s.

My temptation was to say this could only happen in the US. But I discovered road rage was everywhere.

In Australia, two in five drivers have become so angry that they’ve tailgated offenders and more than 90 per cent of the public believes drivers are becoming more aggressive. All this happens during the season of Lent; a time of self-reflection.

Oftentimes, Christians try to give up a bad habit. As a child, for example, I’d forgo my favourite candy.  As an adult, I’ve tried to take a different tact.

One of my favourite mentors — now dead — used to say that the world’s greatest problem was that too many people ignored the values taught in churches and schools in favour of selfish motives and lesser emotions.

ESCAPED UNHURT

Nothing says this better than road rage. Once in El Salvador in the 1990s, I was involved in a wreck in downtown San Salvador.  I was not the driver and escaped unhurt. The travellers in the other car were safe as well.

But I was afraid. Everyone carries guns there. Police do not respond to non-injury accidents. Few carry insurance. It is often left to drivers to argue out who is at fault. Sometimes, each party has a gun during the argument. If all goes well, the issue is settled and money exchanges hands. In our case, it happened in broad daylight and held up traffic behind us for 30 minutes. 

I believe we were saved by the fact that our unarmed negotiator was a Catholic priest.

In that tense half hour though, I thought of how a happy day could easily have become tragic.

Surveys show that men are slightly more likely to be aggressors, and that drivers in their 20s are the most regular perpetrators. The most likely action is honking, followed by angry words and an offensive hand signal. It degenerates into flashing headlights and trying to run the other driver off the road.

To put anger in some perspective, I’m often haunted by the tiny cell where Nelson Mandela spent 24 years on Robben Island. There was not a bed or toilet, only a large rusty bowl and a blanket. This would make anyone angry. Yet, Mandela is known today for his ability to reconcile differences.

He believed in forgiving, not forgetting. So when the TV set blared the news of road rage in Las Vegas, I told myself that we must remember what this tragedy means to our own lives.
We are all far better off when we listen to our better angels.