Uber Road Rage

Here in Spain we have recorded one of the worst cases of road rage there is. It seems that a car driven by a Moroccan man clipped a BMW driven by an off-duty police officer. Unfortunately the driver did not stop. He was chased by the officer who eventually caught up with him, and in a fit of rage put five bullets in the man's head.

I heard somewhere that the first two seconds following an incident are critical in determining what your response should be. I learnt that a long time ago and I have used it since and it has served me well.

First I turn to ice. I let all the energy go out from me while I consider even what has happened. Someone does something that is dangerous or stupid, or that causes inconvenience to me, and I turn cold and allow for developments to take place and I respond appropriately towards resolving the problem. No, it's not easy to control my temper, but somehow I manage until after its all over. Then I go off by myself and stump and swear. The other thing that I do which is even more important is to anticipate what people will do.

As a result I find that I am able to avoid a lot of situations that could flare into confrontations. It's amazing how predictable people can be. For instance, let's say that I am  following a car that indicates that it is taking the next exit. I could choose to then increase my speed now that he is out of the way, but I have seen so many drivers have last minute change of mind. They really intend to take the following exit, so what do they do? They re-enter the motorway, and in doing so they would run the risk of colliding with me.

So, I usually hold my speed while keeping an eye on that car for any sign of a change of mind. I also conduct myself in the full knowledge that other people are using the roads and I place my car where is should be before I see the oncoming vehicle. In doing so that avoids last minute emergency movements.

There can be no excuse for killing a person because of a minor incident. The offending driver should have stopped and sorted out the situation, but equally his actions did not merit a death sentence.

Two people's lives irretrievably damaged and lost because neither considered the two-second rule.

What a shame!

Copyright (c) 2016
Eugene Carmichael