Emotional Distress
Emotional Health
Emotional health will allow you to cope with stress and other issues that people normally face in a healthy way. Feelings such as sadness, anger, anxiety, and happiness are all normal. Any major changes to life events can have an impact on your life and emotional health.
Aggressive Driving
Aggressive driving is also known as road rage and it’s becoming a big problem for drivers in Florida. These driving habits lead to injuries and sometimes death. There’s a difference between aggressive driving and road rage. Road rage is the extreme version of aggressive driving where confrontation leads to serious injury or death.
Aggressive driving such as unsafe lane changes or running red lights are traffic offenses. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) defines this behavior as “the operation of a motor vehicle in a manner which endangers or is likely to endanger persons or property.” Road rage is a criminal offense defined as “an assault with a motor vehicle or other dangerous weapon by the operator or passenger(s) of one motor vehicle on the operator or passengers(s) of another motor vehicle or vehicles precipitated by an incident which occurred on a roadway.” One Florida law is designed to remove poor drivers from the road. The law, which went into effect in 2009, forces drivers who have been found to be at fault in three crashes over a three-year period to take a driver’s education course and pass a driving test, just as they did when they first obtained a driver’s license. While the law does nothing directly against road rage, it and other measures are aimed at removing triggers that could cause road rage in other drivers.
Careless Driving
You will be guilty of aggressive careless driving when you commit two or more of the following at the same time or in succession:
- Exceeding the speed limit by more than 15 mph.
- Making unsafe or improper lane changes when passing another vehicle.
- Following another vehicle too closely, or tailgating.
- Failing to yield the right-of-way to construction workers or public transit buses, or to any others at intersections.
- Improper passing, such as to the right on the shoulder.
- Violating traffic control devices such as signals and signs.
Aggressive Driver
You may be unlucky and encounter an aggressive driver. If that’s the case, then you should follow the following guidelines:
- Do not respond to the other driver. Avoid any escalation of the conflict.
- Avoid eye contact with the aggressive driver or occupants.
- Be tolerant and forgiving. The aggressive driver may be having a really bad day and be looking for a way to vent anger.
- Be sure to allow enough room around your vehicle so that you can pull out or around if someone approaches your vehicle.
- Do not get out of your vehicle – it offers protection.
- If necessary, contact 911 for assistance. If necessary, drive to a busy public place where there are witnesses, such as a hospital or fire station. Once there, use your horn to attract others’ attention if needed.
It may be easier to prevent aggressive driving altogether. The following are tips on how to avoid engaging in aggressive driving behaviors and not allowing other drivers to become aggressive:
- Avoid conflict. It is best to assume that other drivers’ mistakes are not personal.
- Never attempt to take the right of way. It must give given to you by other drivers.
- When using high-beam headlights, return to low-beam headlights as soon as you detect an oncoming vehicle.
- Do not drive behind another vehicle with your high-beam headlights on.
- Be as polite on the road as you would be in any other social situation. You cannot control traffic, but you can control your responses to it.
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