Road Bullying

ROAD bullying has been around since automobiles were invented and roads built to enable people to move around in machines. But ostensibly, road bullies don’t pick on everyone or even anyone at random. They instinctively pick out and bully the weakest – which is typical pack animal behaviour. Victims need to learn how to deal with their tormentors. Rather than protection from anyone else, what they need is education to stop being and acting like victims.

According to one study, more than half of all drivers have experienced a surge of road bullying at some point. And a lot of accidents happen each year because of aggressive driving. According a prominent psychologist, the heavy metal of a car is a safe haven and road ragers don’t think about the consequences or even about other people on the road as real people with real families.

 In addition, violent behaviour of road bullies may be due to other factors of his or her life – for instance, stress at home or with a family. The psychologist says road bullies may also be inflamed by the absent-minded or stupid driving of those talking on cell phones, adding: “This is quite common since verbal confrontations on the phone can lead to confrontations on the road. It works both ways.” On the home front, just last year, a motorcyclist was fighting for his life at the Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital in Kuantan, Pahang, after one of two men in a car stabbed him in the abdomen for unintentionally grazing their car.

The victim was reportedly heading home when his motorcycle grazed the car at a traffic light junction. An argument was said to have ensued before the two men in the car drove away. Later, the motorcyclist and the duo met again at another traffic light junction and this time, one of the car occupants reportedly alighted and stabbed the victim twice with a knife, critically injuring him, before speeding off. The suspect was later picked up near the crime scene and a knife and a machete were also seized from his car. In a recent case in Selangor, a doctor wrote a letter to a national daily, alleging that police let a road bully (a van driver) off scot-free after he had lodged a report against the latter for ramming into the back of his car. The van driver had also allegedly used abusive language. Following the doctor’s report, police traced the van based on the vehicle’s number provided in the report. And search for the van driver is on-going. The police say they are looking at road bullying as a serious offence and there will be no compromise on it. Aggressive driving and road bullying are on the rise and according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, it is one of the top concerns for many drivers today.

Road rage or bullying is defined as an aggressive or angry behaviour by a driver of an automobile or other motor vehicle. Such behaviour might include rude gestures, verbal insults, deliberately driving in an unsafe or threatening manner, or making threats. Most common-law countries prohibit common assault, which could apply to road rage or bullying where the personal safety of the victim is seen to be threatened. The common law regards assault as both a criminal and civil matter, leading to both public criminal penalties and private civil liabilities. What is important though is to try and drive with composure even under trying conditions. Another useful tip is to drive defensive. It’s pointless risking collision with a heavy vehicle even though we know it is being driven on the wrong side of the road. The consequences are always dire and should best be avoided. Invariably, discretion is the better part of valour when motoring with rogue drivers in our midst.