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Road rage is morphing in Jozi
20/12/2007 10:48 - (SA)
Carina van Wyk, Beeld
Johannesburg - While fewer motorists seem to be flashing their lights, hooting or showing rude signs, it seems that road rage is making more drivers get out of their cars.
A road-rage survey conducted by Johannesburg research company Synovate, said 9% of respondents reported this month that in the preceding 12 months they'd seen drivers get out of their car, because of road rage.
In May, the corresponding figure was 8% of respondents.
Kate Slade, Synovate's marketing manager, said typical incidents would be where someone got out of the car and threatened another driver or hammered on the car's window.
But, in general, there had been a drop in the number of motorists displaying aggression towards others and the number of victims of road rage.
The first survey was done in August 2005, the second one in May this year and the most recent one, this month.
In August 2005, 67% of respondents had experienced a form of road rage in the preceding 12 months.
In May, the figure was 54% and this month 50%.
This month, 41% said they had had lights flashed at them or been hooted at in the previous 12 months, compared with 48% in May.
The number of gestures or verbal abuse of fellow-motorists also declined in this period from 26% to 23%.
Slade said 1 999 motorists in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town had taken part in the survey.
Minibus taxis
The drivers of sports cars showed the most-aggressive tendencies, such as physical assault or using firearms.
"Minibus taxi drivers flashed the most 'signs' at other drivers, with about 50% admitting to this behaviour," said the report.
Lorry drivers were most often targeted, with 71% of them being given verbal abuse or rude signs.
Advocate Johan Jonck, who developed Arrive Alive's website, said although traffic jams could lead to road rage, inconsiderate motorists who didn't observe the rules of the road were the real sinners.
"The public gets frustrated when other people inconvenience them by disregarding the rules of the road. That causes more people to want to enter the fray."
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