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Pennsylvania driving lesson · Parking and Emergencies

Road rage and aggressive drivers

A 3-minute lesson from the Pennsylvania course. Read the rules and examples, follow the handbook page references, and check your understanding before you move on.

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Read time
3 minutes
Course unit
Parking and Emergencies
Checkpoint questions
4
Source pages
64

Aggressive driving kills. Many road rage incidents start with a simple misunderstanding: one driver's momentary mistake looks like an insult to another. Your job is to stay calm, let it go and get away from danger, not win.

About 60%

Of the roughly 1,500 highway deaths in PA each year, the share (around 900) attributed to aggressive driving

Handbook p. 64 ↗

Know the rule

Never take your anger out on someone else on the road, and never take it personally when someone cuts you off. Let it go and ignore the other driver.

Handbook p. 64 ↗

Know the rule

Do not retaliate or try to teach another driver a lesson. A contest with another driver is a serious distraction, and insisting on being right can leave you dead right.

Handbook p. 64 ↗

If you encounter an aggressive driver

  • Make every attempt to get out of their way
  • Don't block the passing lane; if someone demands to pass, let them go
  • Don't challenge them by speeding up
  • Avoid eye contact, ignore gestures and don't gesture back
  • Call police or 911 if you can do it safely with a hands-free device, or have a passenger call
Handbook p. 64 ↗

Know the rule

If an aggressive driver pursues you, do not go home. Drive to a police station, convenience store or other place where you can get help and there will be witnesses.

Handbook p. 64 ↗

Put it into practice

A driver tailgates and flashes high beams at you in the left lane. Signal and move right when it's safe to let them pass, don't make eye contact or gesture, and carry on at your normal speed.

Check your understanding

Read the question, decide on an answer, then open it to check the explanation. These are Roadwise study questions based on the source handbook.

According to the handbook, about what percentage of PA's roughly 1,500 annual highway deaths are attributed to aggressive driving?
  1. About 10 percent
  2. About 90 percent
  3. About 25 percent
  4. About 60 percent

Answer: About 60 percent

Roughly 60 percent, or about 900, of PA's annual highway deaths involve aggressive driving.

Handbook p. 64 ↗
An aggressive driver is following you. Where should you go?
  1. Straight home, where you're safe
  2. A police station or busy store with witnesses
  3. An empty side road to let them pass
  4. The shoulder, then stop and talk to them

Answer: A police station or busy store with witnesses

If an aggressive driver pursues you, don't go home; drive to a police station, convenience store or other place with help and witnesses.

Handbook p. 64 ↗
A driver behind you in the passing lane is demanding to get by. What should you do?
  1. Hold your speed so they can't cut in
  2. Speed up to keep ahead of them
  3. Let them pass
  4. Tap your brakes to warn them off

Answer: Let them pass

Don't block the passing lane; if someone demands to pass, let them go.

Handbook p. 64 ↗
A hostile driver pulls alongside and starts gesturing at you. The handbook advises you to:
  1. Make eye contact so they know you see them
  2. Avoid eye contact and ignore the gestures
  3. Gesture back so they'll back off
  4. Slow down to block them in

Answer: Avoid eye contact and ignore the gestures

Avoid eye contact with a hostile driver, ignore gestures and do not gesture back.

Handbook p. 64 ↗
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