No Rage

How To Stop Road Rage In Its Tracks

2006-07-24T14:51:00.000-07:00

Anger is a temporary madness
St. Basil, fourth-century religious figure

How to know if you have road rage:

People suffering from road rage are more likely to speed, tailgate, fail to yield, weave in and out of traffic, pass on the right, make improper lane changes, run stop signs and lights, make rude gestures, scream, honk their horns and flash their lights.

Here are some more tips to stop road rage in its tracks:

How To Stop Road Rage In Its Tracks

Happy Driving
Scott "DOC" Sindelar

Irritability Irritates the Heart

2006-07-17T09:42:00.000-07:00

WARNING!

Your Personality May Be Hurting YOU.

Irritability and being Domineering are two personality traits that harm the heart, your own heart.

Dr. Aron Wolfe Siegman published a study in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine after examining 110 men and 95 women. Their personality traits were assessed and then they were given physical stress tests to determine blood flow to the heart.

Those with Dominant personalities were found to have a 47% higher risk of heart disease.

Those with Irritability had a 27% increased risk.

Why does this happen?

Sudden increases in blood pressure are caused by these emotions and traits. These increases are damaging to the heart.

Both of these traits are related to the issue of control. Trying to control others is rarely effective.
Work on controlling yourself instead.

When you are irritable toward others (or toward things) use that as a signal, a red flag, to calm down, chill out, let it go. Do it for yourself.

Here's to your healthy heart!

Scott "Doc" Sindelar

When in a Rage, Dance like Matt

2006-07-03T13:35:00.000-07:00

What the heck, it can't hurt to dance like Matt instead of staying enraged by silly stuff on the road.

Check out his videos.

See Matt Dancing

I like his answers to the FAQs.

Turn your rage into a dance.

Scott 'Doc' Sindelar

Slower Traffic Keep Right - Bumper Sticker

2006-07-03T11:36:00.000-07:00

This website is giving away some advice and a free bumper sticker.

For a limited time you can get a free bumper sticker. Just send your name and address to

free@slowertraffickeepright.com

and they will send you a free bumper sticker.

Here is one of their tips:

Realize that it is not your job to keep people from speeding.

Try not to let emotions control your driving behavior. Consider that the speeder is making the roads safer for the rest of us. What is the bigger risk while driving on the highway - wrecking or getting a speeding ticket? There are more speeding tickets than wrecks so our biggest worry should be avoiding a speeding ticket. By letting the speeder get ahead of you then that person will get the ticket and you won't.

Here are 5 tips to reduce traffic congestion

Some of us believe we are already going too fast and certainly nobody should be going any faster.

Chill out, Back Off, and let them get the ticket.

Here's to safer driving.

Scott "Doc" Sindelar, Ph.D.

Woman charged with homicide in alleged road-rage death

2006-07-03T11:13:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had the urge or thought "I'll Show You!" ?

We are ASSUMING that the other driver is doing something on purpose.

Even if they are, {or maybe especially if they are} is is time to
BACK OFF rather than get back at them.

Here is what can happen if you don't:

Court charges Karen Greene, 20, of Medina, with criminally negligent homicide and reckless driving for allegedly causing the death of Robert Crump, 19.

Before the crash that killed Crump, Greene allegedly pulled in front of a pickup that had stopped in front her, then slammed on her brakes.

The truck's driver said he went into the left lane to avoid the car, but the car pulled alongside him at a high rate of speed and slid into the pole.
***************

Beware of the Rager within. On this 4th of July, start becoming independent of your own rage.

Please have a safe holiday.

Scott "Doc" Sindelar, Ph.D.

How to "win" at Road Rage

2 Years In Jail For Road Rage Stabbing

2006-07-03T10:51:00.000-07:00

Two years in jail for road rage stabbing

I noticed that the "Victim" here, the 18 year old, was the one who chased the perpetrators. The "victim" raged first, then the perpetrators attacked him. Here is the article:

A Canberra man has been sentenced to two years in jail for stabbing a man in a road rage incident last year.

The attack happened after the car Matthew John Davis was traveling in merged in front of another car.

The 18-year-old driver of that car began pursuing Davis.

When both cars stopped, Davis and another passenger assaulted the teenager.

The 18-year-old was stabbed twice in the arm.

The ACT Magistrates Court today heard 26-year-old Davis has a violent criminal history, and has been given chances to rehabilitate.

Magistrate Beth Campbell indicated Davis has exhausted his opportunities to be sentenced with a view to rehabilitation, and said it is now appropriate for him to learn society will not accept such behaviour. {emphasis added}

Be careful out there!
Scott "Doc" Sindelar, Ph.D.
How To Get 2 Years in Jail

Overcoming Road Rage - Tips from AAA

2006-06-17T23:25:00.000-07:00

AAA has some interesting tips for overcoming road rage. Here are someof them:

How to Avoid Succumbing to Road Rage

Be aware of the precursors. Follow our general recommendations for avoiding stress and fatigue (see below). In particular, try to disassociate yourself from problems that have no bearing on the journey.

Never assume that an apparently aggressive act was intended as such. We all make mistakes. So don't bite back. If we take an example from studies of animal behavior in the wild, the dominant animal in a group will rarely get involved in petty fights and disagreements. Although confident in his ability to defeat any opponent, there is always the risk of injury.

Finally, draw reassurance from the fact that if you feel that someone is driving like an idiot, everyone else does also.

For more ideas select: How To Avoid Exploding with Road Rage

To your success!

Scott "Doc" Sindelar, Ph.D.
Clinical and Forensic Psychologist

Bus Uncle - Hong Kong Road Rage

2006-06-15T23:59:00.000-07:00

Road Rage is bad for your health, even three days later.

BUS UNCLE
A version of road rage has become an online fave.

On April 29 in Hong Kong, a bus rider tapped the shoulder of a man in front of him, calling him "uncle" -- a familiar, respectful way to address an older man in Cantonese -- and asked him to not talk so loudly on his cell phone.

But the man in front turned around and verbally tore into the young man behind for about six minutes, sometimes obscenely. Another passenger recorded most of the incident on a cell phone camera and posted it on YouTube.com.

Now people in China are using phrases from Bus Uncle, as the older man is being called, the Wall Street Journal reported. "I've got pressure," they exclaim, and "It's not over," which Bus Uncle yelled when the younger man tried to end the confrontation.

On Friday, Bus Uncle was hospitalized, CNN reported, after three men beat him up.

For more, see:
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060612/NEWS05/606120365/1007

A much better Sign to use with a Road Rager

2006-06-12T17:23:00.000-07:00

A Better Sign

Here is a much better sign to use while on the road and you encounter someone who appears to be angry because of the way you drive. It is a "SORRY!" sign. You can make one yourself.

A different web site promotes this approach:

A road rager can become upset because you accidentally cut in front of him or her, or other reasons that were not intentional.

A key factor in reversing the process is an apology. Over 85 percent of road ragers said that they would drop the matter if the other "careless" driver simply apologized. Instead, road ragers claim, the "careless" driver seems to be unconcerned about what they just did and, therefore, needs to be taught a lesson.

In a car, only one method is effective in conveying an apology: A sign. We have found that it is very effective in warding off anger. In fact, many drivers actually smile when we raise a "SORRY" sign to them after we have accidentally done something wrong. We keep a "SORRY" sign in the map holder on the driver's door and the passenger's door. It could also be kept under the sun visor if it is fastened with a clip or rubber band so that it doesn't hit you in the face when the visor comes down.

For more ideas, go to their site:
http://www.awesomelibrary.org/road-rage.html

Road Rage Signs May Add Fuel To the Fire

2006-06-12T16:42:00.000-07:00

I came across a web site that sells signs in a flip book, that affords you the opportunity to "flip off" other drivers with negative and provoking statements and slurs.
I can think of several ways that this might make matters worse.
If you are the driver and are flipping through the book to find your favorite sign, you would not be concentrating on your own driving. That has to be worse than driving while talking on a cell phone.
What if the other driver has road rage equal to or worse than yours? That seems like a deadly combination.
Many drivers carry loaded weapons in their vehicle. Your sign may provoke a bullet in response.
These might be a funny gag gift for adults, but is this what you want to teach your children?
I strongly recommend against having these in your car, no matter how great the temptation may be to get back at those other drivers.
If you really want to just have fun with them at home or at parties, you can get them here:

Road Rage Cards - get your point across!

What do you think? Would you buy them or use them? How and when?

Disclaimer: I signed up as an affiliate to this product so I might get a commission from any sales linked to my blog. I do not recommend anyone actually use them in traffic. If you do, you are doing so at your own risk.

Intermittent Explosive Disorder more common than Schizophrenia

2006-06-12T16:25:00.000-07:00

New explanations are emerging for road rage and explosive anger outbursts. One large study found that these problems are more common than we thought.

The research , quoted in an AP article
http://www.katu.com/health/story.asp?ID=86522
states the following:

By definition, intermittent explosive disorder involves multiple outbursts that are way out of proportion to the situation. These angry outbursts often include threats or aggressive actions and property damage. The disorder typically first appears in adolescence; in the study, the average age of onset was 14.

The study was based on a national face-to-face survey of 9,282 U.S. adults who answered diagnostic questionnaires in 2001-03. It was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health.

About 5 percent to 7 percent of the nationally representative sample had had the disorder, which would equal up to 16 million Americans. That is higher than better-known mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, Coccaro said.

The average number of lifetime attacks per person was 43, resulting in $1,359 in property damage per person. About 4 percent had suffered recent attacks.
The findings were released Monday in the June issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.

The article continues, noting:

Most sufferers in the study had other emotional disorders or drug or alcohol problems and had gotten treatment for them, but only 28 percent had ever received treatment for anger.

I'd like to hear your stories of anger outbursts in adults. Please post your stories to this blog.Thank you and, "Be careful out there!"