The Mind Behind The Wheel

Psychodynamics Of High-Risk Drivers

Road rage is a misleading term for pathological violence while driving. Rage is rage, anywhere. We enjoy our new huge crush-cage cars with air-bags. But they cannot protect us from ourselves, and while we are driving, each of us, sometimes, is a danger to ourselves and to others. Some of the danger is preventable by high-level driver training, but that training is not offered in ordinary driving schools, nor is it affordable in the defensive driving schools that do address it.

All drivers are a bit preoccupied some of the time. It is rare to see a driver totally focused who is commuting in traffic. Professional drivers like ambulance, police and fire-truck drivers responding to a call, and race-car drivers, and some accident-wise and wary motor-cycle riders tend to keep their attention more focused on the act of driving.

The rest of us, who are not professional drivers, relax, listen to music or talk shows, talk on cell-phones (rarely using speaker-phones), talk to passengers, consult the tiny print on the GPS or map. Some eat, brush hair, put on makeup, shave, and even read the newspaper. We discipline the kids in the back seat, argue with our spouse in the passenger seat, or search on the floor of the car for dropped cigarettes. Often without realizing it, we daydream.