LARSOA condems motorists who give in to road rage

Too many of us are getting angry when we're behind the wheel and giving in to potentially damaging bouts of road rage according to LARSOA - the Local Authority Road Safety Officers' Association.

More than 80% of drivers say they have been involved in road rage incidents and the UK is sadly credited with being one of the worst countries in the world for road rage.

LARSOA is appealing to drivers to stay calm when they are in their vehicles. It is even more vital when the weather is bad and drivers are subject to frustrating delays.

Simon Ettinghausen, chair of the Association which represents teams of road safety officers all over the UK, says they are asking drivers to take a deep breath and not get angry: "People do annoy others on the roads, sometimes by aggressive or bad driving and sometimes just by making a simple mistake. We should all remain patient and put safety first rather than reacting negatively and possibly taking reckless action which could cause a dangerous situation to develop.

"No situation, especially one involving motoring, can be made better by reacting with anger and putting innocent people at risk."

Being inside a car gives drivers a feeling of being in a private, near-indestructible space where they are physically protected from another driver and as there is a constantly increasing number of vehicles on the UK's roads, the phenomenon of road rage continues to rise.

Simon adds: "When you're angry you tend to lose concentration and increase your speed. Suffering road rage has been likened to driving under the influence of alcohol. It means you're no longer a safe driver, you've turned into an accident waiting to happen."

LARSOA is issuing a few tips to help motorists remain calm and remind them of what action they should take if they are the victim of a road rage incident.

Drive with consideration for others

Keep your distance from other vehicles

Avoid eye contact with other drivers if you feel concerned

Stay calm and don't react with violent gestures

Keep a reasonable distance between yourself and the vehicle in front so you can move away from the aggression

Don't get out of your vehicle, keep the doors locked and windows shut

Make a note of the registration number, make and model of the other vehicle and any description of the driver you can see

Get away from the car as soon as possible but without speeding or driving recklessly

Pull over where there are other people around and report the incident to the police as soon as possible.

ABOUT LARSOA

LARSOA is a national road safety organisation representing road safety officers (RSOs) employed in local government across the UK.

LARSOA represents 185 of the 200 eligible local authorities across the UK, assisting RSOs to fulfil their statutory role to reduce the number and severity of road casualties through education, training and publicity programmes.

LARSOA publishes an up-to-date round-up of road safety news from across the UK on its website www.larsoa.org.uk .

LARSOA also aims to influence national debate - government policy and action together with public opinion. The association works to achieve national recognition for road safety issues, commissions research into behaviour which contributes to road collisions and develops national road safety campaigns.

The association assists in identifying achievable national targets to reduce the number of collisions on the country's roads.