Guns, Stress and Politics: Road Rage Turns Dramatic in America

When a speeding driver cut him off abruptly on a California highway in May, Joanna Cloonan made a rude gesture at him. In response, a passenger from the other car picked up a pistol and fired at her vehicle. He killed his six-year-old son who was riding in the back seat.

Last week, a Texas woman was shot in the back while protecting her seven-year-old daughter from shots directed at her vehicle. In another episode, a Kentucky driver is recovering from gunshot wounds sustained after an argument over a parking space.

These types of incidents, dubbed “road rage” or road rage, have not stopped increasing since 2018, but reached their peak in 2020 in USA, with 403 killed or injured by firearm, according to an Every Town for Gun Safety report released in late June.

The non-profit organization that advocates against gun violence predicts that, at this rate, in 2021 a historical record will be broken with some 500 victims of violence on the road.

The data shows that trafficking skirmishes that end the use of firearms have been on the rise since 2018, and the report notes that, “if current trends continue, 2021 is on track to be the deadliest year in the world. that there is a record ”in this sense.

The pandemic, which introduced many new sources of stress into people’s lives, has also seen a record rise in gun sales and shootings in the United States, Everytown said.

Privilege ”and“ narcissism ”

Ryan Martin, a psychology professor who researches anger at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, explained that “the mere existence of a life-threatening illness puts people on the edge,” leading to responding in ways more extreme in the face of “frustrations that would have been mild two years ago.”

In a country where the right to bear arms is fiercely protected and guaranteed by the Constitution, the omnipresence of guns magnifies the problem, according to Martin.

Firearms are “a driving factor in many ways, because they offer a lethal mechanism for externalizing that anger,” he said.

“The data also shows that carrying a gun in the car makes you more prone to anger. It’s called the Gun Effect ”, he said.

The individualistic attitudes of Americans may also be partly to blame.

“The individualism that we see in America probably exacerbates many angry responses. There is a sense of privilege, that you are entitled to something, that comes with the way Americans tend to think about freedom, ”Martin said.

Both Martin and emotional management specialist Pauline Wallin suggest that deep political divisions also contribute to violence.

Wallin, a Pennsylvania-based psychologist, said that as Americans are increasingly politically polarized, a person who cuts you off in traffic is more likely to be viewed as an “enemy” than a “nuisance.” .

“We are more likely to blame other people for what happened,” he said. “It’s always someone else’s fault … it’s about narcissism,” he considered.

Even security measures against the pandemic, such as masks, were framed in a political debate under former President Donald Trump. And the divisive messages did not go away with the end of his administration, Wallin said.

“Frustration mismanagement” is to blame for most road rage incidents, according to the psychologist.

“You have to breathe deeply. You have to calm down because it is not possible to think logically when you are very upset, “he advised. Ask yourself: Will this be important tomorrow? Within a week?”.

Martin said drivers have to realize that aggressive and hostile driving “is never going to show a positive result.”