General News
10 April, 2024
Raging drivers too common
THE prevalence of aggressive drivers on Queensland roads has increased year on year, according to RACQ’s latest Road Safety Survey.
The club’s road safety and technical manager Joel Tucker said 82.6 per cent of survey respondents believe on-road anger had increased in the past 12 months, up from 74.1 per cent in 2020.
“According to Queenslanders, impatience, displaced emotions and lack of respect or awareness are the main drivers behind increasing road rage,” he said.
“Aggressive driving has no place on our roads and only makes driving more dangerous.
“Last year 277 people died on Queensland roads and 297 the year before that. We need to seriously change our road safety culture and start taking care of our fellow motorists, not intimidating and threatening them.”
Motorists listed tailgating as the most common aggressive driving behaviour, followed by using the horn, hand signals, and cutting in front of other drivers and slowing down.
On the other hand, Mr Tucker said it was promising to see a large portion of drivers choosing to de-escalate dangerous situations.
“When asked how they respond to aggressive driving, 60 per cent of motorists said they ignore them and 55 per cent said they avoid them which is encouraging to see,” he said.
“If you find yourself being targeted by an aggressive driver, try to stay calm and not respond aggressively as this will only make matters more dangerous.”
RACQ also reminded aggressive drivers that their actions can have very real consequences, including jail time if they take things too far.
“Almost one in four motorists own a dashcam and more than 70 per cent said they’d be happy to hand footage to police, so the chance of aggressive drivers being caught is high,” Mr Tucker said.
“You can’t control the actions of others, but you can control your own. Take a breath, calm down and let it go instead of doing something you will regret.” The reasons for the increase include impatience, anger and stress, lack of respect, more vehicles on the road and driving under the influence.
