Counselor explains causes of road rage
by Aaron Vess, Reporter

    Anyone who has ever been in a car has experienced or witnessed road rage, when one driver lets another driver know he or she is angry.
    Obscene gestures, screaming, honking, putting on their brakes or brandishing a weapon are common displays of road rage, Larry Kimble, NW counselor and assistant professor of psychology, said during a lecture last month on NW Campus.
     "Situations in road rage have gotten worse in the last 10 years, and it's getting worse all the time," he said.
     People feel the urge to release aggression on another person when they feel justified, Kimble said.
     "Anytime you slow down a person from getting to do what they want to do, they get irritated, and that irritation accelerates their anger," he said.
     Kimble covered five beliefs that drivers have about themselves or about other drivers: "make good time, be number one, try and make me, they shouldn't be allowed and teach 'em a lesson."
     "You see a lot of these beliefs on the road. I think each of the five beliefs are valid although you'll usually see more of the first two," he said.
     Drivers can do different exercises to help them relax on the road and help suppress road rage. These exercises include breathing in and out slowly, using breathing to relax muscles and practicing one-point-focus meditation by focusing on how to breathe.
     If these three exercises are practiced several times before driving, then road rage can be reduced, Kimble said.
     "If we can make people aware of road rage, maybe that awareness will keep them from getting into a situation that might cost them their lives," he said.