Everyone who drives with any regularity encounters a few common problems: among them are traffic, bad road surfaces and road rage. On the first two, despite the increasing number of vehicles on the roads, the road building programme provides some light at the end of the tunnel. No one, however, seems to have any handle on the third problem.
Road rage is a menace because it makes the roads less safe. An angry driver is a distracted driver, and a distracted driver poses a danger to others.
We do not know to what extent this is a problem and what the real consequences are on the ground. Road rage is not classified as a criminal offence so the only statistics that exist refer to incidents that have turned violent. The police would then issue charges of, say, threatening, insulting, assaulting or injuring the victim.
The police receive an average of two reports a month of motorists becoming physically violent. Even here, however, this should not be construed as any solid indication of how widespread or serious the problem is. How many cases go unreported?
According to the police traffic division, what usually spark physical clashes are right-of-way disagreements and near-misses. Drawing on his 13 years of experience, the officer in charge of the police traffic division thinks such incidents are “not as uncommon as one would think”. On the other hand, the head of the Local Enforcement System says that cases of road rage involving violence are isolated. The Malta Road Safety Council’s executive chairman says they are “very remote”.
Go tell that to the international tax graduate whose skull was fractured when he was beaten with a baton in a road rage incident 16 years ago. He insists something must be done to deal with what he sees as increasing frustration on the traffic-packed roads. An experienced bus driver feels road rage has increased over the last few years.
One suspects that many regular road users would agree with them. It would therefore be important to conduct a study of the phenomenon of road rage, ideally every few years, to serve as a basis for a plan of action. Transport Malta or LESA could take the lead. Three lines of action suggest themselves: driver education, prevention, and enforcement that clamps down heavily on the kind of erratic and dangerous driving that results when a driver loses self-control.
Education would need to start within driving schools and extend to the tests undertaken by learner drivers. Simulated situations could be devised to gauge a learner’s reaction in terms of road rage. This would serve as a major contributor to prevention.
Laws and regulations also need to be reviewed, to ensure they meet today’s needs and standards and that law enforcement agencies have all the necessary resources at their disposal. For instance, the production of dashcam and bodycam images could be allowed as evidence in court, while respecting privacy. Available technology, such as Transport Malta’s intelligent traffic control systems and speed cameras, could also be deployed.
All this would serve as a deterrent: if drivers know they are being watched they are likely to be more disciplined behind the wheel. At the end of the day, discipline is what it all boils down to. Anger management, by whatever means, will make our roads safer.