Road rage spike: over 6000 killed due to anger on roads

Increasing road rage has contributed to 17,316 assault with intent to commit grievous bodily harm (GBH) cases over three months.

The 2022/2023 first quarter crime statistics indicated the 6,424 murders reported were due to arguments, misunderstanding, provocation and road rage, leading to 997 attempted murder cases.

Layton Beard, spokesperson for the Automobile Association (AA), said road rage incidents were seen almost every day in various degrees of intensity.

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“Road rage is real, and, unfortunately, can happen to anyone. But with a little patience and tolerance, minor traffic events could be prevented from escalating into incidents of road rage,” he said.

Beard said the most important rule of combating road rage was to not overreact to minor traffic events.

“Common triggers are when people don’t wait their turn at stop streets or four-way stops, cut other motorists off or tailgate them when driving. People become incensed when drivers are slower than them, or, in their opinion, hogging a certain lane.”

Beard said all drivers occasionally made mistakes.

“Take your cue from normal behaviour outside of the vehicle. Society ran smoother when we tolerated minor failings politely. We can make driving safer for everyone by carrying this attitude into our vehicles,” he said.

Beard said road rage didn’t occur immediately, but was a build up of anger over time.

“If you have unresolved issues, take some time to talk them through with someone you can trust, or seek professional advice. Consider the consequences of your actions, as incidents of road rage may lead to many lives destroyed over minor traffic events,” he said.

Fred Nel, Democratic Alliance (DA) Gauteng provincial chair, said various factors contributed to road rage.

“I suspect a psychological aspect plays a role because people experience stress due to economic circumstances that lead to impatience,” he said.

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The frustration could be because motorists felt a lack of law enforcement on the roads and careless drivers got away with their actions, he said.

“People take matters into their own hands.”

Psychologist Lloyd Bemelman said everybody has aggression – “maybe men more than women because testosterone levels are higher”.

Bemelmans said aggression was the underlying factor in road rage and could be due to a lack of tolerance.

“People are acting on emotions. It’s all about the circumstances.”

Victimologist Professor Jaco Barkhuizen said an increase in road rage indicated an increase in aggression in society.

“Looking at the stats, South Africans show they are in general more aggressive. We have no patience,” Barkhuizen said.

It was debatable if it was past traumas or post-traumatic anger, he said.

“Compared to rest of world, South Africa is more aggressive. Because of its traumatic past, and not having fully dealt with this has reflected in our aggression.”

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