Forget 'road rage'… people now have intersection rage

Recently, I was turning in an intersection and the car behind me was right up on my bumper. As soon as we completed the turn, the other driver raced around me and shouted obscenities as he passed, and was quick to point out that I didn't turn fast enough for him.

Strange, because I estimate that I got through the intersection in probably three or four seconds. Even if I was a slow driver (which I'm not) I would have still cleared the intersection in less than ten seconds. Unfortunately, the driver behind me suffered from what I call "Intersection Rage". It's a subset of Road Rage that seems to only spring up around intersections.

Intersection Rage can be triggered by any combination of the following ten problems:

1. The lights take too long to turn from red back to green
2. Other cars that slow down too slowly
3. Other cars that slow down too quickly/too close to the intersection
4. Other cars that stop too close to the car in front
5. Other cars that stop too far from the car in front
6. Other cars that run a yellow light
7. Other cars that jump the light (by going before it turns green)
8. Other cars that accelerate too quickly
9. Other cars that accelerate too slowly
10. Other cars that that take too long in the intersection

 Do any of these drive you crazy? I think most of us suffer from some sort of Intersection Rage because I suspect that most of us are annoyed by a handful of these problems… although I think it's probably different for each person. I don't care so much if someone slows down far from the intersection but I'm driven crazy by people who feel the need to jam on the accelerator as soon as the light turns green.

Which of these drives you crazy?

The problem is, you can't do a lot about how other drivers drive. In fact, if you look at these ten problems, none of them are things you can personally control (and maybe that's why they make us bonkers).
But let's take a minute and assess ourselves: How many of these issues are REAL problems that should annoy us?

I think that there are two things we need to do to eliminate Intersection Rage from our driving habits.

First, we need to be a little more courteous to other people. It's not a contest out there… it's just driving.

Second, we need to revisit our ability to tell time. Yes, this probably sounds funny but I think it's a significant cause of the problem: We get upset if someone clears an intersection in six seconds instead of four seconds.

We get impatient if the light is red for 2 minutes instead of 1 minute.

Don't let an intersection get the better of you. Master your Intersection Rage!

If an intersection gets the better of you and your car is wrecked in the process, bring it in to Boyd Autobody & Glass. We'll fix it up and make it safe for your family once again.