Road Rage Warning As Virginia Drivers Pack Highways

WASHINGTON, DC — Mix a record number of Virginia and Washington, D.C., families on the highways for the next two weekends with the region's already congested transportation grid and you have the perfect recipe for road rage, says AAA Mid-Atlantic. Some 107 million Americans will travel as the year comes to a close, marking the highest year-end travel volume on record.

A total of nearly eight million people living in Virginia, Maryland, and the Washington metro area will travel 50 miles or more from home during the Christmas/New Year's Holiday travel period. Of that number 7.2 million of those travelers will drive to their Christmas and New Year's Eve holiday destinations.

Forty-four percent of the Washington metro area's 6,131,977 residents plan to take a trip for the Christmas/New Year's holiday travel period with 91 percent of them traveling by vehicle. It is an exodus of Biblical proportions, says AAA Mid-Atlantic. But all that traffic and congestion on the highways could bring out the worst in people, including increased stress, aggression and harassment behind the wheel.

All that brake-checking, cursing, loud honking, and cutting others off at the exit ramp during the busiest time on the roads. Drivers must remain mindful of road rage during busy holiday travel periods, experts warn.

“Minor frustrations have the potential to turn deadly if drivers act out their anger on the road,” said John B. Townsend II, AAA Mid-Atlantic’s manager of Public and Government Affairs. “Travelers should be sure to pack their patience and remember to be respectful when behind the wheel this holiday season.”

With a third of the populace traveling, the roadways can become what Townsend calls "powder kegs" this time of the year. Nearly 80 percent of drivers expressed significant anger, aggression or road rage behind the wheel at least once in the past year, according to a study from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. Two regional examples from recent years:

• Last Christmas Eve, the Metropolitan Police Department responded to a shooting involving two drivers a block from the old Walter Reed Army Hospital. Reportedly, detectives investigated the incident as a “possible road rage.”
• On Christmas Eve 2015, the Maryland State Police arrested a driver for waving and pointing a gun at a mother and her two young children who were riding in another vehicle on Interstate 95 in Harford County.

AAA offers these tips to help prevent road rage:

• Do Not Offend: Never cause another driver to change speed or direction. That means not forcing another driver to use their brakes, or turn the steering wheel in response to something you have done.
• Be Tolerant and Forgiving: The other driver may just be having a really bad day. Assume that it is not personal.
• Do Not Respond: Avoid eye contact, don’t make gestures, maintain space around your vehicle and call 9-1-1 if needed.

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