To understand the causes and problems that lead to road rage

Abstract

Road rage is considered as one of the most dangerous phenomena a driver could encounter while driving, mainly in busy roads during rush hours. The main promoters of such incidents could be triggered either by human or environmental related factors, or a mixture of both. The aim of this study is to examine people‟s perception about road rage and to identify whether or not the phenomenon of road rage is a Myth or a fact in the Maltese islands. Further to this study will seek to identify that if such incidence exists, what are the main contributors towards such phenomena, either human related or environmental related factors. In order to identify such phenomena, a quantitative research method has been adopted where a self-completed questionnaire was distributed to employees working within the Enforcement Unit of Transport Malta. Such survey revealed very interesting figures as during the last twelve months 86.6% of the participants have declared that they have encountered some sort of road rage while 48.9% have been victims of such phenomena. Respondents also contribute such incidents with human behaviour rather than environmental factors. The majority of participants attribute verbal abuse as the main human related promoter towards road rage incidents while traffic during rush hours is considered as the main environmental contributor towards such problem. These figures indicates that road rage is not just a myth in the Maltese Islands but a reality that drivers have to face while driving on daily basis.