Why is it that some people’s personalities change so radically when they get behind the wheel of a car?… We have all heard of it and maybe even been subjected to it, but to me it is a very strange and curious phenomenon….I have been doing a lot more driving lately than I used to, so I have been able to observe this behavior with my own eyes once again, and frankly it just baffles me…

Like on the freeway, I can be sailing along in the fast lane at 75, 10 miles over the posted speed limit, but c’mon, everybody else is doing it and the cops don’t seem to really care, when I will invariably notice in my rear view mirror some stubborn driver who has crept up on me and is tailgating me, forcing me to go 80, which is too fast even for me…..I must yield by moving over a lane or risk getting  hit!

I am a naturally slower driver, a defensive driver, and I was a professional truck driver for 20 years, so I have had ample opportunity to observe this kind of irrational behavior, over and over again…….For some unknown reason, when certain drivers slip behind the wheels of their favorite ride, especially guys, I am sorry to report, it flips the STUPID switch on in their brain….

They become ravening drooling caricatures of themselves, speed freaks in the original sense, intent on passing everybody on the road, weaving in and out of traffic, cursing and flipping people off, acting the fool, taking unnecessary chances and demonstrating every wrong driving technique in the DMV manual,… They should be featured in a short warning film by the DMV film as exactly the wrong person to emulate…

According to my Google sources, this is a growing problem in our society, and we are supposed to “Back off from aggressive drivers” and further, “You must realize that you can’t control another driver’s behavior, but you can control your own. When another driver cuts you off, how you react will determine what happens next. If you are able to back off, take a deep breath, and remain calm, then you can defuse a potentially violent situation.

True, you might need to vent about the driver tailgating you all the way from town or the overly cautious motorist who consistently drove under the speed limit. Venting your frustration is normal and healthy, so long as you vent appropriately. Talk to a friend or family member about the driving experience―telling the story can relieve your stress. Some driving clubs or online discussions offer members a chance to vent their frustration.”

“Aggressive drivers routinely:

• Tailgate
• Use their horn
• Flash their headlights
• Change lanes quickly and often
• Gesture to other drivers
• Talk on their cell phone”

This is how you can recognize them, but to me the best way to deal with them is just to get out of their way, since these people seemingly cannot get out of their own way….I know it is maddening, frustrating, and certainly self destructive, so try not to get too emotionally invested in their own peculiar form of temporary insanity….

I always pull over to another lane and let a tail gating speed freak driver pass me by, or myself pass an overly cautious, slow driver…..Sometimes you just cannot move fast enough and to have to watch these maniacs pass you on the right side and then cut back right in front of you! This can be hard to swallow, and is always downright dangerous for both drivers, but they seem to be like the people in that Eagle’s song “Life In The Fast Lane”….“They were rushing down that freeway, messed around and got lost, they didn’t care, they were just dying to get off, life in the fast lane…”

It is like these road rage drivers are channeling into their inner Mario Andretti (a reference for my fellow baby boomers) or overcompensating for whatever personality inadequacies or problems they have in real life, and that the faster and crazier they drive they are at least, for a short time in their miserable lives, THEY are in control instead of being jerked around…

All I can say is that a car is meant to be a convenient means of transportation, and should not be used like you are Charleton Heston in a chariot race to hell every time you get behind the wheel…For the rest of us, just take a deep breath, count to ten and try to stay out of their way….

There is no logical way to deal with a person intent on playing the fool, especially when they are behind the wheel of a car, just don’t add any fuel to their road rage….In a perfect world, they will get what’s coming to them….In this world, they will probably just get by, this time….Next time, who knows?

Just try not to get sucked into the vortex of their madness, people that give in to road rage are truly on “The Road To Nowhere”….(Talking Heads)….