Stay calm and avoid road rage
JOBURG - Following numerous road rage incidents in Fourways and Sandton, ER24 is urging motorists to keep calm and carry on.
On 20 November, ER24 paramedics responded to an accident scene at the corner of William Nicol and Sandton Drive and found Sandown teacher, Suzanne Leyden, lying in the middle of the road.
She had sustained multiple injuries to her head and chest. It is believed that the incident occurred when she stopped her vehicle to exchange details with another driver after a collision.
The driver sped off, dragging Leyden under the vehicle for some distance. Also on 20 November, a motorist was allegedly assaulted with sjamboks at the side of William Nicol Drive in Fourways after he tazered a taxi driver and broke the back window of the taxi because the taxi driver had cut him off in traffic. In July this year, a man was caught on camera intimidating a motorist who had hooted at him on Witkoppen Road.
Henning Jacobs, trauma support co-ordinator at ER24, urged people to stay calm and do as little as possible if provoked. Jacobs has counselled families of victims who died as a result of road rage incidents. He said road rage incidents are preventable if people do not act out of anger. Jacobs urged people to enter their vehicles in a peaceful frame of mind prior to driving. “Music helps some people,” he said.”Breathing exercises can also help you stay calm.”
According to Jacobs, road rage is linked to people experiencing personal or work-related problems. “When people experience trauma or stress, they are flooded with feelings and emotions,” he said. “When people do not vent their feelings or do not have coping mechanisms in place, these feelings and emotions build up. An incident on the road can trigger all of these emotions at once.”
He added that road rage can be prevented if people have coping skills in place and methods to help vent their feelings. “Road rage may be prevented if people obtain proper help for their mental or emotional problems,” Jacobs said. “See a counsellor or psychologist.”
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