[Author’s Name]
[Institution’s Name]
Essay on Driver Aggression and Forms of Treatment
Two out of every three of us admit to driving aggressively basically using a vehicle as a weapon instead of a conveyance. So it's no surprise that highway safety experts say we fear aggressive drivers more than drunks behind the wheel. The state's traffic code, however, fails to recognize aggressive driving as a unique violation. That would change if the state Senate follows, as it should, the lead of the House and ratifies a bill making aggressive driving a specific charge with a four-point penalty against a violator's driver's license. Under the bill, the defendant must first be speeding and then break at least two other traffic laws.
North Carolina would become the seventh state in the nation to define behavior that too often escalates from minor driving offense to serious criminal act. Existing traffic statutes cover reckless driving and other motoring misdeeds but don't single out the abhorrent behavior that too often ends in road rage. Quite simply, the state could use a bigger stick to go after aggressive drivers. As always, consequences must be sufficient to act as a deterrent. Levying stiffer fines and encouraging insurers to raise rates substantially for offenders also need a closer look.
Aggressive driving boils over when tempers and temperatures rise. Congestion, endless highway construction projects, longer commutes and tight schedules too frequently lead to obscene gesturing, confrontation and retaliation. Civility on our roads will return only when the price of outrageous behavior is so steep that short-tempered hotheads think twice before they endanger innocent bystanders. A similar tough approach mandating suspension of driving privileges for those convicted of drunken driving has been effective. Beyond that, the curriculum for court-ordered driver education courses that emphasizes defensive driving should be expanded to include how to recognize report and react to aggressive behavior on the road......
