Road Rage and Men
Steve Kovacs
March 19, 2007
Road rage and men, why not title this article road rage and women, or simply road rage? I’ll get to that in a minute, but I think it’s pretty safe to assume we all know what road rage is. It is when men, women, teenagers or anyone driving a motor vehicle gets extremely angry and takes it out on someone, usually another motorist. Acts such as someone cutting another driver off, following too closely or a mired of other actions can cause the anger.
So, if women also are involved in road rage, why single out men. It is because while women are definitely involved in road rage incidents, such as vulgar gestures, hollering at drivers and flat out fist fights, most violent road rage incidents unquestionably occur with men.
Women can get just as angry as men when they get cut off, tailgated or “disrespected” by another driver, however, men are more apt to not let it go. When some men go through a driving incident similar to the ones described above, they’re apt to thirst for some sort of retaliation. They’re more likely to try to get a sort of vengeance, or pay back, or confirmation that they are right. They, as opposed to women are also more likely to take it to another level, a level of physical violence.
Road rage incidents happen every single day in this country and for that matter around the world. From the relatively benign exchange of disrespectful hand gestures to pulling over to the side of the road and having a fistfight, all the way to gunplay, it simply happens much more than the average person thinks. Most of these incidents are men against men. Why? Because--and this might get me into some trouble with some real-politically correct types—men will be men, or as the old cliché says, boys will be boys.
I’m not going to get into the possible psychological or genetic reasons why many little boys like more aggressive and violent activities as opposed to little girls. Or why many mothers say there are definite differences between boy and girl siblings regarding violence, anger and how they handle both.
The fact of the matter is men will get physical way more quickly than women will. Of course there are exceptions to every rule including this one. As a matter of fact, there is probably more girl on girl violence in this day and age than in recent history, and by recent history I mean hundreds of years. Men on the other hand, have been fighting, quite often for stupid reason, since recorded history. And if we could go further back in time, we’d probably also see cavemen fighting each other over absolutely ridiculous reasons.
When it comes to men being disrespected, not to even mention almost being killed by the actions of another driver . . . look out, some fur and fist flying may be right around the corner. I’ve spent much of my life around extreme testosterone types, from old neighborhood friends, martial art acquaintances and police co-workers. I’ve pretty much have seen everything a man’s ego can defend. And to be honest, I too, have been on the extreme ego side a time or two in my life.
However, getting to the heart and truth of the matter, men must realize there is no shame or cowardice in letting things go when it comes to road rage. A truly strong man can let smaller things go by, realizing it’s not wise or prudent to get physical over something as mundane as a gesture. So many dire consequences can occur from hopping out of your car and getting physical with someone.
You could break a person’s finger, nose or cheekbone. Or you can choke him unconscious or hurt and even embarrass him in many other ways. You also may very well get arrested for those actions. You also can kill a man. What if he hits his head, or you choke him for too long or too hard? Or how about if he has a heart attack? How about getting sued? All these possibilities over a traffic altercation?
Or how about if something similar occurs like what happened to a driver who got angry at an Akron, Ohio taxi driver. The driver felt slighted by something the taxi driver did while they were both driving along. They exchanged nasty gestures and words, and the man finally jumped out of his car and tried to get the taxi driver to fight him. The man became even more enraged when the taxi driver wouldn’t get out of his vehicle, so, he punched his drivers side window, shattering it. While still sitting in his vehicle, the taxi driver shot him dead. He told jurors he thought the man had shot, not punched his window out and he acted in self-defense. The jury believed him.
The key to a man not falling into the road-rage trap is to understand that a strong, tough man can know when a situation becomes life threatening he can handle it, whatever it may be. And frivolous road rage incidents simply do not fall into that category. In such dire circumstances where your life’s in danger you certainly can choke someone out or break his nose. A truly strong man can understand it’s not wise or strong to lose control of ones self when so many negatives may come out of it.
It is a conscious choice for men to control themselves when it comes to road rage, no matters who’s fault it may be. Let it go, turn the other cheek, so to speak--and pull away. You truthfully would be doing the strong and wise thing by doing so. Society needs more strong men like that, ones that can hold themselves in during frivolous times and turn it on when truly needed.
So, if women also are involved in road rage, why single out men. It is because while women are definitely involved in road rage incidents, such as vulgar gestures, hollering at drivers and flat out fist fights, most violent road rage incidents unquestionably occur with men.
Women can get just as angry as men when they get cut off, tailgated or “disrespected” by another driver, however, men are more apt to not let it go. When some men go through a driving incident similar to the ones described above, they’re apt to thirst for some sort of retaliation. They’re more likely to try to get a sort of vengeance, or pay back, or confirmation that they are right. They, as opposed to women are also more likely to take it to another level, a level of physical violence.
Road rage incidents happen every single day in this country and for that matter around the world. From the relatively benign exchange of disrespectful hand gestures to pulling over to the side of the road and having a fistfight, all the way to gunplay, it simply happens much more than the average person thinks. Most of these incidents are men against men. Why? Because--and this might get me into some trouble with some real-politically correct types—men will be men, or as the old cliché says, boys will be boys.
I’m not going to get into the possible psychological or genetic reasons why many little boys like more aggressive and violent activities as opposed to little girls. Or why many mothers say there are definite differences between boy and girl siblings regarding violence, anger and how they handle both.
The fact of the matter is men will get physical way more quickly than women will. Of course there are exceptions to every rule including this one. As a matter of fact, there is probably more girl on girl violence in this day and age than in recent history, and by recent history I mean hundreds of years. Men on the other hand, have been fighting, quite often for stupid reason, since recorded history. And if we could go further back in time, we’d probably also see cavemen fighting each other over absolutely ridiculous reasons.
When it comes to men being disrespected, not to even mention almost being killed by the actions of another driver . . . look out, some fur and fist flying may be right around the corner. I’ve spent much of my life around extreme testosterone types, from old neighborhood friends, martial art acquaintances and police co-workers. I’ve pretty much have seen everything a man’s ego can defend. And to be honest, I too, have been on the extreme ego side a time or two in my life.
However, getting to the heart and truth of the matter, men must realize there is no shame or cowardice in letting things go when it comes to road rage. A truly strong man can let smaller things go by, realizing it’s not wise or prudent to get physical over something as mundane as a gesture. So many dire consequences can occur from hopping out of your car and getting physical with someone.
You could break a person’s finger, nose or cheekbone. Or you can choke him unconscious or hurt and even embarrass him in many other ways. You also may very well get arrested for those actions. You also can kill a man. What if he hits his head, or you choke him for too long or too hard? Or how about if he has a heart attack? How about getting sued? All these possibilities over a traffic altercation?
Or how about if something similar occurs like what happened to a driver who got angry at an Akron, Ohio taxi driver. The driver felt slighted by something the taxi driver did while they were both driving along. They exchanged nasty gestures and words, and the man finally jumped out of his car and tried to get the taxi driver to fight him. The man became even more enraged when the taxi driver wouldn’t get out of his vehicle, so, he punched his drivers side window, shattering it. While still sitting in his vehicle, the taxi driver shot him dead. He told jurors he thought the man had shot, not punched his window out and he acted in self-defense. The jury believed him.
The key to a man not falling into the road-rage trap is to understand that a strong, tough man can know when a situation becomes life threatening he can handle it, whatever it may be. And frivolous road rage incidents simply do not fall into that category. In such dire circumstances where your life’s in danger you certainly can choke someone out or break his nose. A truly strong man can understand it’s not wise or strong to lose control of ones self when so many negatives may come out of it.
It is a conscious choice for men to control themselves when it comes to road rage, no matters who’s fault it may be. Let it go, turn the other cheek, so to speak--and pull away. You truthfully would be doing the strong and wise thing by doing so. Society needs more strong men like that, ones that can hold themselves in during frivolous times and turn it on when truly needed.
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