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From Journal Online - Motoring

October 11, 2007 05:19 PM Thursday
Road rage By: Junep Ocampo
A stressful lifestyle plus the worsening condition of motor vehicle traffic in Metro Manila is resulting in a higher incidence of road rage among Filipinos, a ranking official of the Department of Health said.

In an AAP-sponsored seminar for public utility drivers at the University of the Philippines , Dr. Cecille Gatan Magturo, head of the Road Safety Program of the DoH, said more and more Filipino drivers are exhibiting signs of road rage mainly because of the stress they get from every day driving.

Dr. Magturo said this is the main reason why a lawyer shot and killed two people after a traffic altercation in Pasig City recently.

Atty. Manuel Hernandez was driving his white Toyota Corolla and was about to exit Barangay San Antonio in Pasig when he almost collided with the Nissan Cefiro of Edgardo Canizares. Canizares was traveling on Shaw Boulevard with his employee, Katherine Palmero.

Angered by the near mishap, Canizares went down from his car and began hurling invectives at the lawyer who decided to simply ignore the matter and drive on.

However, Canizares did not stop and started kicking Hernandez’s car which caused the lawyer to blow his fuse and in a fit of rage took out a 9mm pistol and began shooting Canizares. He also shot Palmero when the latter went out of the car to help her boss.

Dr. Magturo said the incident was typical of most road rage cases all over the world. “A bad temper and a loaded gun make a lethal combination,” she said.

According to Dr. Magturo, road rage is common at times when motorists are exposed to a higher-than-normal degree of stress.

“The large volume of vehicles causes traffic, which in turn causes frustration, then stress, then anger, then hostility, then violence. It’s a chain reaction. Oftentimes, the only thing lacking is an incident that would ignite the fuse and the bomb inside the stressed-out motorist would explode,” she said.

But Magturo said road rage is like a disease that manifests itself in various symptoms. The most common symptom, she said, is aggressive driving or when a motorist becomes selfish and bold and operates his or her vehicle in a pushy manner without regard for the rights or safety of others.

Signs of aggressive driving include impatience and inattentiveness which make a motorist beat the yellow light, cut corners, follow too closely, or drive over the speed limit.

“A motorist showing such signs is easily irritated and would easily hurl insults once provoked. If he is truly mad, then this motorist would tailgate, cut off other cars or brake suddenly to retaliate,” the DoH official said.

Magturo noted that if these symptoms are not addressed, the emotional condition of the enraged motorist would worsen to the point that he or she would pursue the offending vehicle and confront its driver.

She calls this point as the Mayhem Zone where the angry motorist goes out of his/her car, beat or batter the offending party, or shoot and kill this person.

Just what happened in the Pasig case.

And Magturo said that in cases like that, nobody wins.

To help motorists overcome road rage, Magturo advises drivers to avoid anything that would give them stress. Among her pointers are:

1. Allow a longer time between appointments so you won’t be in a hurry.

2. Listen to calming music or audio books while driving.

3. Leave domestic problems at home.

4. Always have a good night’s sleep.

5. Avoid caffeine or alcohol.

And, finally, 6. Be more understanding and forgiving of others.

“If someone is tailgating you, you might want to give way, thinking that the other driver may be having an emergency. He might even thank you later on for being considerate,” she said.