​Getting impatient while driving? Here's how to handle road rage

It's impossible to escape Mumbai's traffic woes. But you know things are truly bad when a police constable is killed on the job -only for attempting to enforce the law. 52-year-old Vilas Shinde, a constable with Mumbai Police, was fatally injured when he was attacked by the elder brother of a minor whom he had hauled up for riding a motorcycle without a helmet. Constable Shinde's tragic case is one among many. Marathi actor Yogita Dandekar was dragged from her car and slapped repeatedly by a businessman and his driver in a crowded Juhu lane.

Irwin Cardozo, 30, had his face slashed with a paper cutter in Malad by a woman and two men, when Cordozo was on his bike, riding home from a gym. Actor Kranti Redkar's car endured serious damage when a biker banged into it. "This happened in Oshiwara, while I was reversing my car.I was looking on the side I am supposed to, and this really aggressive man came on a bike from the wrong side and banged into my car's bumper. He then hurled expletives at me, leaving me stunned. My first reaction was to check if I had done something wrong, but I hadn't. I then took him to the cops," shares the Jatra actor.

"There has been a startling rise in the number of people who visit me, seeking help to curb their road rage. It's unprecedented. Common worries expressed are, `I was about to hit the cabbie', `I am worried that whenever my husband drives he is going to hit someone'. Driving is such an inseparable part of our daily routines now and it's little wonder that it has become a medium of sorts to channel our rage," says clinical psychologist Sonali Gupta. "Any incident of road rage -be it as small as someone honking loudly, or just touching your rear-view mirror --serves as the tipping point.There are larger factors that push one over the edge."

Road rage has dominated newsroom debates, made tabloid headlines and even inspired movies like Black Cadillac and Mad Max 2. According to experts, we are all at risk of being victimised by road rage -the moment we step out of the house, even if we're not behind the wheel.

It's all about power
Be it a brawl between two motorists or a biker treading into pedestrian territory, power dynamics are always at play. A biker feels threatened by a car-owner and vice versa. "Road rage happens in a hierarchical set-up. When you are driving your own car, and a biker swerves or jumps a red light -we're compelled to correct them because we feel they are wrong. At times, there are also class issues at hand. The sentiment, 'the other party is not treating me well is' very dominant. A biker might feel that a car driver is throwing his weight around on the road," adds Gupta. Pedestrians, sadly, are at the lowest rung of this ladder.

Entering the 'safe zone'
While road rage incidents often involve violence and injuries, it's a relatively safer for the perpetrator. Venting one's anger on people whom you don't know is much easier than addressing the people concerned, a phenomenon referred to as "displacement". "Displacement is when a person shifts their subconscious anger. They are unable to express it. It then manifests itself through random episodes of road rage and other such episodes. Simultaneously, they are not afraid of the repercussions of their actions. If one chooses to express one's displeasure to one's boss, there will be repercussions, whereas verbally abusing a cabbie or a fellow driver, who is a stranger, is much safer," shares Dr Parul Tank, psychiatrist and therapist. According to the Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Milind Bharambe, the increasing incidents of road rage are a by-product of urbanisation.

They are also innately driven by our desire to mark our territory. "Road rage is a global phenomenon. We can blame it on the increasing population and subsequent urbanisation," says Bharambe.

Impulse control is key
Almost as though there is a twisted method to this madness, road rage perpetrators also follow a certain pattern. A common link is their inability to control their impulses. "This is an innate trait in all of them. Most have a history of rage issues and are highly impulsive. There are no boundaries in place for them.But later, after the wave of rage has passed, they feel tremendous guilt over their act. This is where one needs to spend time and energy to control one's impulses," adds Dr Tank.