"Road Rage" and the Service Contractor

by Caryn Wheeler

From The Construction Zone: July 2000

"Road rage leaves teen dead."

A frightening headline from a Las Vegas newspaper in June, but just one of many in a growing problem on the nation’s highways.

How does road rage affect service contractors and their employees?

The Southern Nevada Air Conditioning Refrigeration Service Contractors Association (SNARSCA) had a presentation on road rage by Federated Insurance’s Mike Cox in May.

Cox presented a video on the subject and some startling statistics: There are some 2 million episodes of road rage annually, and 83 percent of commercial drivers will be involved in a road rage incident.

A contractor’s general liability insurance is directly affected by such incidents, according to Cox. Companies with poor loss history with their auto insurance can expect higher increases than those with better records. Some carriers will even choose to non-renew the policy entirel, forcing the contractor to find another carrier.

Cox said that a service contractor’s employees often have problems with road rage incidents due to the fact that they: 1) have a limited view of other drivers; 2) drive box vans; 3) and are often looking for addresses.

He suggested that not only must we educate our employees on not becoming a victim but also educate them on the kind of liability is involved if one of our employees participate in a road rage incident.

There are now criminal and economic penalties as a consequence of road rage.

Cox said that Federated Insurance also promotes a safe driving seminar for association members and employees. The insurer reports great success in curbing aggressive and dangerous behavior.

Cox challenged service contractors to take a road rage test to determine our level of hostility toward other drivers.

Are You An Aggressive Driver?

Do you Always, Often, Sometimes or Never:

1. Get angry with other drivers?

2. Get angry with slow drivers?

3. Get angry when someone cuts you off?

4. Get angry at stop lights that malfunction?

5. Get angry at traffic jams?

6. Have a spouse or friend that tells you to calm down?

7. Get angry with tail gaters?

8. Get impatient at stop lights?

9. Get impatient waiting for a parking space?

10. As a passenger, get impatient with the driver?

11. Get impatient when the car ahead slows down?

12. Get impatient if you are behind schedule or late for an appointment?

13. Get impatient driving in the far right lane for slow traffic?

14. Get impatient at a street with pedestrian’s crossings?

15. Compete with other drivers?

16. Challenge other drivers?

17. Block cars trying to change lanes?

18. Ride on another car’s tail?

19. Brake suddenly to punish a tail gater?

20. Get angry at road construction?

Scoring:

3 points for every ALWAYS, 

2 points for OFTEN,

1 point for SOMETIMES,

0 points for NEVER,

Score______

High Hostility Level: 25–60 Points

Moderate Hostility Level: 14–24 Points

Low Hostility Level: 0–13 Points

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