The garden city of India, Bengaluru which was once known for being cool and stress-free is now facing an altogether new challenge. According to a revelation by a senior police officer, once in every five days, there is an incidence of outburst on the road in the city.
Small Clashes Flaring Into Big Arguments
Small clashes and bickerings alongside the road are quite common in India. But the problem starts when these small clashes turn into violent or aggressive arguments. And that is what is happening quite frequently in Bengaluru.
According to the senior police officer, “It is frightening. We don’t know when who will flare up and what kind of clash a small argument can turn into. There are many cases of road rage being registered these days. Approximately four a week, and some of them as serious as stabbing and being hit with cricket bats, etc.”
Is The City’s Traffic Causing Increase In Such Incidents?
According to many psychologists and psychiatrists, behavioral problems and interpersonal issues are causing such rage. However, there can be one more reason for it.
According to a clinical psychologist Ashwini A, “Chaotic traffic and spending non-productive hours on the roads is not just eating into leisure and family time, but also forcing people to make compromises on their deliverability at work. The result is stress and its byproducts are road rage, anger issues, hypertension, etc.”
It is indeed very much disturbing for the commuters who have now started taking tips from the psychologists and traffic cops to make sure that they are not beaten up when there is a breakout of road rage.
A business analyst from Bengaluru, Sarika Narayan said, “I do get angry but I am now scared to retaliate or shout at people. I don’t know what weapons people carry in their cars, or what their state of mind is. I think being young and a woman makes me more vulnerable, so I keep quiet.”
A software engineer said that whenever he feels that a particular argument on the road has chances of getting serious he moves forward and pretends to be deaf or blind.
Road Rage Is Release Of Accumulated And Suppressed Anger
There are so many psychological reasons behind such an occurrence. A recently conducted research published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine states that those who drive for more than 16 km each way to and fro has more chances of getting blood sugar and hypertension.
According to psychologist Dr. Mahesh S, “The term ‘road rage’ reveals that rage is an extreme, energized state of anger which has accumulated and been suppressed for some time, and finds expression in such behavior.” He divided the anger into two types, Trait anger, and State anger.
According to Mahesh, Trait anger is something where people have a tendency to get angry while State anger is something where people just get angry in response to a particular provocative situation. A senior police officer has warned people not to get into altercations on the road as it can be extremely dangerous and one may lose a life.
Tips To Avoid Road Rage
- Sleep Well
- Make sure to have plenty of time to reach any destination
- Focus on breathing, listen to soothing music
- Do not show displeasure towards drivers
- Avoid venting out anger
- Do not take road incidences seriously
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