Road rage and car accidents - going together like peas and carrots

What is it with British roads that turn people into crazed lunatics as soon as they get behind the wheel?

Only this morning I was driving into work when someone cut me up on the motorway. But why did I feel the need to honk my horn, drive three feet from his rear bumper whilst simultaneously performing an obscene hand gesture? I wish I knew.

And I wish I knew why it then became a matter of honour that I overtake him before swerving back into my rightful position in front of him, all the while still gesticulating like some drunken hooligan on a football terrace instead of a supposedly well-educated and well-mannered young man in a suit and tie.

I'd never consider acting so abhorrently if someone in the supermarket pushed in front of me. I wouldn't ram them with my trolley, scream insults, chuck bean cans at them and then force my way back ahead, still pointing and gesturing like a demented psychopath. And if I did I'd probably get a clip around the ear before being carted off by security and arrested.

So why do I do it when I'm behind the wheel and cocooned in my car? Maybe it's because of that, the caged in thing. I'm safe there in my little metal box. Nobody can touch me. The fact that I'm flying along at 60mph, inches from someone else's back end, so consumed with rage that I'm not exactly concentrating on the road doesn't seem to enter my head. Talk about asking for a car accident.

But that's exactly it. I'm not safe simply because I'm inside my car; far from it. Not only am I increasing my chances of a road accident by becoming enraged, driving like a loon and not concentrating properly, but the chances are that I could become the victim of someone who takes it all to a whole new level.

Shouting, swearing and tailgating someone is bad enough but there are people out there who feel the need to get a bit closer to the person that's just 'dissed' them on the road. Probably the most famous example of such behaviour was demonstrated by the infamous Kenneth Noye back in 1996 when he stabbed and killed a fellow motorist who had wound him up on the M25. That things can go so far is absolutely ridiculous; one man's life wiped out in an instant for no other reason than he swerved in front of someone else on the motorway.

I've never actually wanted to physically kill someone, no matter what heinous crime of the road they've committed. I may have wanted them to know how angry I am and how much of a bad driver they are, and I might just have secretly hoped that they get pulled over by the police around the next bend for speeding. But actually dragging them out of their car and slaughtering them at the roadside has never seriously crossed my mind.

The psychologists have started to take an interest in road rage and numerous studies and books have been published trying to explain the phenomenon. There have been hundreds of conflicting opinions concerning the reasons for it but it is now generally agreed that the problem is caused by a syndrome known as intermittent explosive disorder (IED).

Apparently 16 million Americans suffer from IED and it is defined as a 'disorder of the brain characterized by explosive outbursts of behaviour that are disproportional to the provocation.'

Basically, as far as I can see, that means being unable to control oneself. Or maybe I'm just being unsympathetic.

It seems it can take place anywhere and can be fuelled by a whole host of different circumstances but it is the car that provides a fertile ground for it to fester and then boil into an eruption of furious and unstoppable anger.

There has been medication prescribed to people who use it to justify their outrageous behaviour and counselling is also available for those whose lives it impacts upon. For the rest of us, however, we just need to take a deep breath and realise that it's not worth getting worked up if someone cuts us up or drives too close to our rear bumper.

You don't know who they are, you're likely to never see them again and the chances are that if they carry on driving like that then they'll end up being involved in a car crash. And who's the winner then?

Maybe I should take note and maybe you should too. Easier said than done but if stopping to think and taking that deep breath really can prevent a needless car accident then it's got to be worth it.

As my dear old mum used to say, "Reacting just makes you as bad as them."

And I guess, like always, she was spot on.