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Avoiding Road Rage

If you've ever felt enraged at other drivers when behind the wheel, then you know how dangerous this can be. In this post by Jim Ackney in Edmonton, you'll learn tips on how to stay away from road rage.

Road rage is a phenomenon that takes place when a driver becomes incredibly and, at times, explosively enraged at the other drivers, people, and situations on the road. Often times, this rage is completely disproportionate to what's happening. For example, a driver may scream and honk aggressively because another took a bit longer to go at a green light. The thing with road rage is that it can be very dangerous (to you and to others). Not only can it make you react impulsively and neglect safety measures when behind the wheel, but the stress and frustration you feel can take a toll on your mental well-being. To learn how to stay away from road rage as you're driving, the post below has some ideas.

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How to Avoid Road Rage

Plan Your Drives Effectively

The first tip in order to avoid road rage is to plan out your drives effectively. If you have a clear direction and objective, you can feel more in control of the situation. To that end, it's recommended that you:

leave for your destination with plenty of time, so you that you don't feel as pressured if you find a lot of traffic or another unforeseen circumstance on your way there.
if you know there will be a lot of traffic, try your best to opt for calmer routes to get where you need to go. Even if it takes you a bit longer to get there, you won't have to be sitting in traffic, fighting with other drivers.
the extreme heat can actually make people more prone to road rage, so try to avoid it. Though not always possible, if you drive before 11 am or after 5 pm, you won't be as hot and bothered.

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Make Your Vehicle a Zen Place

A lot of times, you will find that the world around you is complete chaos (traffic, cars honking, extreme. heat, and more). But, if you want to avoid road rage as much as possible, you should make it a point to create a zen environment inside your vehicle. To make that happen:

play music that you find soothing and happy. After all, singing your heart out is a thousand times better than yelling at others. Just make sure that the music won't distract you too much.
as stated a few times, the heat can make people crazy. To ensure it won't affect you, turn the AC on. A cooler environment will help you have a cooler attitude.
if you feel the anger bottling up at times, use the time you're stuck in traffic to meditate or practice breathing exercises. These can calm you down and release some of that frustration.

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Let a Few Things Go

Lastly, remember that while you can't control others and their road rage, you can control how you react to them. That's why, instead of raging out at someone, you should just let a few things go. You may need to honk from time to time to alert another driver of something. However, you don't need to abuse your honk if someone is going at a slower pace in your lane. Likewise, if you find that someone else is raging out at you, don't engage at all. Take a chill attitude and keep going, even if they honk, yell, or make rude gestures at you. Of course, if you did something wrong, you should apologize and correct your behavior behind the wheel. But other than that, try to avoid all of those unpleasant situations that could make you mad and could ultimately ruin your day. ;