COPING WITH AGGRESSIVE DRIVING: DRIVER ACCOUNTS OF HOW THEY MANAGE THEMSELVES AND OTHERS TO REDUCE CONFLICT ON THE ROAD.

摘要

Dealing with the aggression of other drivers on the road is an important skill given that driving isa common activity for adults in highly motorised countries. Even though incidents of extremeaggression on the road (such as assault) are reportedly rare, milder forms, some of themdangerous (such as tailgating or deliberately following too closely) are apparently common, andmay be increasing. At the very least, this is likely to render the driving environment morestressful, and at worst elevates the risk of crashing by increasing both the level of risky drivingbehaviours and the likelihood of responses that escalate the situation. Thus the need for driversto manage incidents of conflict is likely to become increasingly important. However, littleresearch examines how drivers manage their own or others’ aggressive driving behaviour.Recently greater attention has been paid to driver cognitions, especially the attributions thatdrivers make about other drivers, that then might influence their own driving responses,particularly aggressive or risky ones. The study reported below was the first in a largerexploration of aggressive driving that focussed on driver cognitions, emotions and underlyingmotivations for aggressive behaviours on the road.Qualitative, in-depth interviews of drivers (n = 30, aged 18-49 years) were subjected to thematicanalysis to investigate driver experiences with aggressive driving. Two main themes wereidentified from these accounts: driver management of self; and driver attempts to influence ormanage other drivers. This paper describes the subthemes falling under the management ofself main theme. These subthemes were labelled ‘being magnanimous’, ‘chilling out’, ‘slowingdown’, and ‘apology/acknowledgment’.‘Being magnanimous’ referred to situations where the respondent perceived him/herself to be arecipient of another’s aggressive driving and made a deliberate choice not to respond. However,a characteristic of this sub-theme was that this choice was underpinned by the adoption ofmorally superior stance, or sense of magnanimity. ‘Chilling out’ was a more general response toboth the milder aggressive behaviours of other drivers and the general frustrations of driving.‘Slowing down’ referred to reducing one’s speed in response to the perceived aggressive driving,often tailgating, of another. This subtheme appeared to consist of two separate underlyingmotivations. One of these was a genuine concern for one’s own safety while the other was moreaimed at “getting back” at the other driver. ‘Apology’ referred to how drivers modified their morenegative reactions and responses when another driver made gestures that acknowledged theirhaving made a mistake, indicated an apology, or acknowledged the recipient driver. These sub themes are discussed in relation to their implications for understanding aggressive driving andintervening to reduce it.