Alarming new data reveals an alarming number of Australians feel compelled to carry a weapon behind the wheel to fight potential road rage attacks. .
This frightening and sometimes deadly trend is on the rise in Queensland, drivers recently confirmed in RACQ’s annual road safety survey. More than 84% of motorists surveyed believe aggressive behavior on state roads (and sometimes their own) is getting worse, up 10% from 2020. The answer was yes.
Joel Tucker, RACQ’s road safety and technology manager, said the problem was becoming more serious, with a “particularly worrying” 7.6% of people confessing to having a weapon in their car. This is a significant increase from last year’s 4.8%.
The majority of drivers still use their cars as weapons, with the most common act of aggression experienced by drivers being aggressive driving, followed by the use of horns and hand signals.
“More and more people are acknowledging aggressive behavior,” Tucker said. The data revealed a “significant” increase in people cutting in front of other drivers, slowing down, getting out of their cars and approaching on foot.
Data reveals a significant increase in people admitting to cutting in front of other drivers and getting out on foot to approach drivers. Source: RACQ
While the majority of people try to ignore and avoid angry drivers, 9% say they would respond in the same way, an increase of 5% from last year.
Following the alarming response, Mr Tucker warned Queenslanders “there is no room for attack on our roads”. “The roads are already dangerous enough even without road violence and drivers need to work together to keep themselves, their passengers and other road users safe,” he said.
“We all get stuck in traffic, we all have our places, and we all make mistakes from time to time. It is important to stay calm and not overreact to what happens on the road. Because the results can be life-changing.”
Woman horrified after horrific street assault with Yute
Emma Evans, from Caboolture in Brisbane’s north, said in an interview with the Courier-Mail that she was still haunted by the traumatic 30-minute ordeal she was involved in with an irate motorist on the Bruce Highway last year. .
“I was driving down the highway and a car literally came out of nowhere and I was sitting in the 100 because I was still on the Bruce Highway and the next thing I knew he was at my door. “He was coming,” she said, claiming the man had swerved. To her car over and over again.
Angry behavior is known to contribute to crashes and traffic deaths. Source: Facebook
Footage released by the Courier-Mail reportedly shows the car swerve into Mr Evans’ vicinity, following closely behind him and eventually exiting the motorway.
“My partner was trying to help me get control of the car. If he hadn’t been there, I probably would have rolled the car,” she said. Police are investigating the incident.
Road rage is ‘dangerous and selfish’
In a Finder survey released earlier this year, 74 per cent of respondents across Australia admitted to engaging in risky behavior known to contribute to crashes and road deaths.
In June, a 27-year-old Sydney man was hit by a white ute and dragged across the road before dying in an alleged road rage incident. In January, a Queensland mother was driving with her young son and teenage cousin when she got into an altercation with another driver, leaving her with both legs broken.
Diane McMurtry, president of the Hannah’s Blue Butterflies road safety awareness group, previously told Yahoo News: “Road violence is futile, dangerous and selfish.”
“Every time I put in the key, [in the] During ignition, we are riding a loaded weapon,” she said.
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