I used to have really bad road rage. It sounds bad, I know; and believe me, it was bad. Luckily, I’ve been clean for the past two years now! Have you ever gotten so frustrated with other drivers around you that you felt physically compelled to yell at them? Has your heart ever started to race because you found yourself becoming frustrated with another driver who was driving their car too slow (despite the fact that they might’ve been doing the speed limit)? If so, you may have had a brush with road rage too.
I can remember driving down the highway and feeling myself becoming hot all because the people in front of me were in the “fast lane” but were driving as if they should’ve been on the shoulder. I would follow them a little too closely until they got the message that they were probably in the wrong lane upon which I would then speed around them in an angry flurry. If you asked me where I was heading back then, I couldn’t even tell you- probably to the supermarket or to a friend’s house. All I knew was that other drivers couldn’t match up to me. How wrong I was to think this.
Looking back on how recklessly I used to drive (people with road rage issues drive recklessly the majority of the time), I am both ashamed and embarrassed. So, what changed my thoughts on road rage and how did I become “cured”? Gas prices. That’s right. When I bought my first car a couple of years ago (a small-sized SUV, which I now regret), shortly afterwards gas prices shot up. I looked around online and did some research to figure out how I could cut back on the cost to fill up my car, and it turned out that driving slower significantly reduces the amount of gasoline you consume. It’s not just driving slower that helps you save money though- it’s the way in which you drive. Obviously, you don’t want to drive ten miles per hour under the speed limit on I-95 where the posted speed limit is anywhere from 55mph to 70mph, but ridding yourself of road rage is a sure way to save hundreds of dollars at the pump. What do I mean by this?
When a person has road rage, they tend to drive erratically. There is a lot of stopping and starting, speeding up and slowing down because nine times out of ten, you’re weaving in and out of lanes and following other people too closely. A lot of people will also play the game where the accelerate really fast to get from one red light to another. What they don’t realize is that all of this starting and stopping is causing their gas tank to go down more quickly. However, the more calm you are behind the wheel, the more evenly you will drive. If you’re worried about making it to work on time, give yourself a few extra minutes in the morning to get on the road earlier, this way you don’t feel as rushed. By cutting back on stress, you cut back on road rage, which will then cut back on how much money you throw out each month to gas expenses.