WASHINGTON: In May, a speeding driver suddenly cut him off on a highway in California. Joanna Clunan He pointed mercilessly towards the car. A passenger grabbed a pistol and opened fire at his vehicle, killing his six-year-old son in the back seat.
A woman in Texas was shot in the back last week while shielding her seven-year-old daughter from bullets toward her vehicle, and another driver in Kentucky recovered from gunshot wounds after an argument involving a parking space. Used to be.
According to a recent report, gun-related road rage incidents in the United States have been responsible for record levels of injury and death since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. every city For Gun Safety, a non-profit organization that advocates against gun violence.
The data shows that firearms-related traffic clashes have been on the rise since 2018, and the report notes that “if current trends continue, 2021 is well on course to be the deadliest year on record.”
Everytown said the pandemic, which introduced many new sources of stress in people’s lives, has also seen a record increase in gun sales and shootings.
Ryan Martin, an anger researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay told AFP that “simply the existence of a life-threatening illness puts people on edge, when they faced despair two years ago.”
According to psychology professor Martin, in a country where the right to bear arms is heavily protected, the ubiquity of guns only exacerbates the problem.
Firearms are “a driving factor in many ways because it gives you a lethal mechanism to let go of that anger,” he said.
“The data also shows that having a gun in the car with you is more likely to make you angry. This is called the weapon effect.”
Individualistic American attitudes may also be partly to blame.
“The individualism we see in America probably triggers a response to a lot of anger. There is a sense of entitlement that comes with the way Americans think about liberty,” Martin said.
Martin and Emotional Management Specialist Pauline Wallin Both suggest that deep political divisions also contribute to the violence.
Wallin, a psychologist based in Pennsylvania, said that because Americans are increasingly polarized, a person who cuts you off in traffic is seen as an “enemy” rather than an “annoyance.”
“We are more apt to blame other people for what happened,” she said. “It’s someone else’s fault… It’s all about narcissism.”
Even as a political debate under the former president framed pandemic safety measures like masks Donald Trump, and the divisive messages did not disappear with his administration, Wallin said.
According to the psychologist, “poor management of frustration” is to blame for most road rage incidents.
“You have to take some deep breaths. You have to calm yourself down because when you’re very upset you can’t think logically,” she said. “Ask yourself, will this be tomorrow? In a week?”
Martin said drivers have to realize that engaging in an aggressive, hostile way is “never going to have a positive outcome.”
A woman in Texas was shot in the back last week while shielding her seven-year-old daughter from bullets toward her vehicle, and another driver in Kentucky recovered from gunshot wounds after an argument involving a parking space. Used to be.
According to a recent report, gun-related road rage incidents in the United States have been responsible for record levels of injury and death since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. every city For Gun Safety, a non-profit organization that advocates against gun violence.
The data shows that firearms-related traffic clashes have been on the rise since 2018, and the report notes that “if current trends continue, 2021 is well on course to be the deadliest year on record.”
Everytown said the pandemic, which introduced many new sources of stress in people’s lives, has also seen a record increase in gun sales and shootings.
Ryan Martin, an anger researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay told AFP that “simply the existence of a life-threatening illness puts people on edge, when they faced despair two years ago.”
According to psychology professor Martin, in a country where the right to bear arms is heavily protected, the ubiquity of guns only exacerbates the problem.
Firearms are “a driving factor in many ways because it gives you a lethal mechanism to let go of that anger,” he said.
“The data also shows that having a gun in the car with you is more likely to make you angry. This is called the weapon effect.”
Individualistic American attitudes may also be partly to blame.
“The individualism we see in America probably triggers a response to a lot of anger. There is a sense of entitlement that comes with the way Americans think about liberty,” Martin said.
Martin and Emotional Management Specialist Pauline Wallin Both suggest that deep political divisions also contribute to the violence.
Wallin, a psychologist based in Pennsylvania, said that because Americans are increasingly polarized, a person who cuts you off in traffic is seen as an “enemy” rather than an “annoyance.”
“We are more apt to blame other people for what happened,” she said. “It’s someone else’s fault… It’s all about narcissism.”
Even as a political debate under the former president framed pandemic safety measures like masks Donald Trump, and the divisive messages did not disappear with his administration, Wallin said.
According to the psychologist, “poor management of frustration” is to blame for most road rage incidents.
“You have to take some deep breaths. You have to calm yourself down because when you’re very upset you can’t think logically,” she said. “Ask yourself, will this be tomorrow? In a week?”
Martin said drivers have to realize that engaging in an aggressive, hostile way is “never going to have a positive outcome.”
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