Road rage in Geelong

from w
The Geelong Advertiser today talks about the increase in road rage in our region. Not good. It's about drivers and other drivers, gestures, tail-gating, shouting.

Road rage rising as angry drivers roam our roads
Daniel Breen
October 1st, 2008
GEELONG drivers are getting angrier behind the wheel, according to a new survey. Insurer AAMI claims its latest crash index figures show the region's motorists were involved in more road rage incidents than ever before.

Tailgating is the road rager's primary vice, with 26 per cent of drivers revealing they had resorted to the practice to tell another motorist they were not happy with them.

More than half of respondents thought the action was justifiable.

The survey also revealed;

NINE in 10 Geelong motorists think drivers are becoming more aggressive;

SEVEN in 10 had been tailgated;

THREE in 10 had been followed;

ONE in six had been forced off the road;

ONE in 20 had their car damaged by an angry motorist;

CLOSE to three-quarters had been verbally abused, with two thirds admitting they had resorted to swearing at fellow motorists, and;

NINE in 10 had received rude hand gestures.

Geelong police traffic manager Sen-Sgt Shane Coles said he was not so sure about the figures, but encouraged motorists to drop the aggression and become more courteous. "Road rage is everywhere nowadays, not just here. It's probably just the way people are these days, just less willing to be courteous," he said. "Occasionally, we get something (a road rage incident), but it's usually anonymous, or those involved have left by the time we get there and there's not much we can do. I think society is being reflected in the way people are driving. People are in a hurry all the time, they're driving more aggressively and there's probably less respect for others. Courtesy off the road is lacking, that's extending to the road and I'd like people to settle down. If society slows down and people slow down on the roads, we might have less prangs."

AAMI public affairs manager Geoff Hughes said the survey showed there was increasing levels of aggression on the city's roads. "The rise in road rage is worrying in itself. However, also concerning is the increasing number of motorists who believe this sort of retaliation is entirely acceptable," Mr Hughes said. "Drivers would do well to ignore road rage and focus on their driving."