The Kentucky Derby Festival kicks off this weekend with Thunder Over Louisville! For many people this means outdoor fun, an airshow, and one of the largest firework displays in the world! For others, this means hours of traffic and fighting off the urge to get angry at fellow drivers. At The Schafer Law Office, we would like to urge you to resist the tendency to let road rage get the best of you and be patient and courteous when stuck in traffic. Here are some tips to keeping road rage contained this weekend or anytime you find yourself stuck in a traffic jam:
- Before driving, know that you are susceptible to road rage. Just knowing that you have road rage from time to time can make you more aware of the problem and more likely to resist road raging on fellow drivers.
- Once you feel anger building up, be in control and ask yourself “Is it worth it?” Once you know that you are susceptible to road rage, you are more capable of controlling it when it does arise.
- Find another outlet for expressing how you feel. This can be anything from taking deep breaths to turning up your favorite music.
- Resist the urge to retaliate. When two drivers with road rage come into contact with each other on the road, their rage feeds off of one another. If another driver is angry with you and wants to escalate the situation, remain calm.
- Keep your distance from the driver that you’re angry with. When road rage takes over, many people begin to tailgate the driver that has upset them. This kind of behavior is just asking for an accident to take place.
The Schafer Law Office’s Take
Thunder Over Louisville is known nationwide for the firework show and it is almost as well known locally for the frustrating traffic that it causes all around downtown. At The Schafer Law Office, we have seen our fair share of cases evolve from a road rage incident. We get it, sometimes our fellow drivers can do some pretty ridiculous things. But, we ask you to give them the benefit of the doubt and remain calm because in the end it’s just not worth it to get angry. Everyone be safe if you are making the trek down to Thunder Over Louisville and welcome to Kentucky Derby season!