NAME WITHHELD BY REQUEST
It’s hard to drive today without occasionally being exposed to some form of road rage. Impatient motorists driving along congested highways sometimes take out their anger on those around them. When you’re behind the wheel, you can choose not to engage and try to distance yourself from an aggressive driver. But what about when you’re a passenger? In this incident, what role, as a passenger, could I have played in keeping a highway confrontation from turning into a crash?
After dinner one night at a local restaurant, three buddies and I decided to head home. I sat in the right-front passenger’s seat while one of my friends drove us down a limited-access highway. As we neared our exit, another driver approached us rather aggressively, tailgating our vehicle and flashing his high beams. Our driver quickly became annoyed and, in the same aggressive spirit, intentionally slowed down as we moved toward the off-ramp.
As we exited the highway and merged onto a two-lane road, the other driver sped by us on the right. Our driver, who was furious at this point, decided this was unacceptable and mashed the accelerator pedal. We had almost caught up to the other vehicle when our driver crossed the double solid lines into the oncoming lane to pass. As we did, the other driver also sped up.
We were going between 80 and 90 mph when our driver swerved and lost control, sending us off the road and straight toward a tree. Fortunately, when we hit, the impact was off center and the car spun and wrapped itself around the tree. Had we hit it dead center with our front bumper, I doubt any of us would have survived. After the accident, our driver claimed the other driver swerved toward us, but I disagree. After all, I was the one with the best view of what really happened.
If there was anything good about this accident, it was the fact that we all survived. Miraculously, I suffered only a sprained foot and bruised chest. Had it not been for my seat belt, I would have suffered more serious injuries.
But what was my role in this accident? Where did I fail to be a diligent passenger? I failed because not once during the entire sequence of events did I try to discourage our driver from acting out his anger. When he took off after the other car, I said nothing about the danger he was putting us in. When he illegally crossed into the oncoming lane, I kept quiet and went along for the ride. When he swerved and went off the road, there wasn’t time to say anything. I’d gone from being along for the ride to being along for the crash. I could (and should) have compelled our driver to reconsider his confrontational actions, but I missed that opportunity.
I learned from this accident that we, as passengers, are also responsible for our safety on the road. Even though we may not be in control during a dangerous situation, we should never underestimate our influence on others — even from the passenger seat. A few timely words of sound judgment can prevent a lifetime of pain or, worse, a season of mourning.
FYI
Dealing with Aggressive Drivers
If you drive, sooner or later you will be confronted with an aggressive motorist who tailgates, honks, cuts you off or makes rude gestures. Your first reaction might be to respond in kind, but that could soon escalate into a full-blown road rage incident. There are better ways to respond to these incidents so you and your passengers don’t become the victims of road rage. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration offers the following tips for defusing these situations:
- Make every attempt to safely move out of the aggressive driver's way.
- Do not challenge an aggressive driver by speeding up or attempting to hold your own in the travel lane.
- Always wear your seat belt. It will hold you in your seat and behind the wheel in case you need to make an abrupt driving maneuver as well as protect you in a crash.
- Avoid eye contact with the aggressive driver.
- Ignore gestures and refuse to return them.
- Report aggressive drivers to the appropriate authorities when it is safe to do so by providing a vehicle description, license plate number, location and, if possible, direction of travel.