A questionnaire survey on road rage and anger-provoking situations in China

This paper surveys the reactions of Chinese drivers when encountering anger-provoking situations, including traffic congestion, pedestrians crossing the street illegally, being flashed by the high beams of cars traveling in the opposite direction, aberrant overtaking by other cars and when the car ahead drives slowly. A questionnaire survey found that 69.4% of participants wait when encountering traffic congestion and that 71% of drivers tolerate pedestrians crossing the street illegally; moreover, 61.3% of drivers are "angry but tolerant" when encountering aberrant overtaking. However, 51.3% of drivers become enraged when flashed by the high beams of cars traveling in the opposite direction, and 34.1% of participants turn on their own high beams to fight back. Moreover, 61.4% of participants are dissatisfied when the car ahead drives slowly or fails to move when a traffic light turns green, and 53% of participants honk or flash their lights to prompt the driver of the car ahead. The results show that males become irritated more easily than females in all situations, except those in which pedestrians cross the street illegally. Age is a factor only when drivers are flashed by high beams or overtaken by other cars illegally. Driving experience has an effect when drivers encounter traffic congestion, are flashed by high beams, or are overtaken by other cars illegally or when the car ahead drives slowly; novices with fewer than two years of driving experience display greater tolerance for these events. The occupation of a driver acts on his/her responses when he/she is overtaken by other cars illegally or flashed by high beams or when pedestrians cross the street illegally. For the most effective measures to prevent road rage, 53.64% of participants chose "plan the trip in advance", 57.14% chose "strengthen law enforcement", and 71.5% chose "improve public transportation". Females, young people, and novices pay more attention to these measures.