Terror on the Highway: Rage on America's Roads [Paperback]

Paul Eberle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 30, 2006

A doctor chases then assaults an elderly woman after she cuts in front on his BMW; a teenager shoots another driver because the driver 'looked at him with disrespect'; one man kills another because 'he was driving too slow'. These a few of the many examples of extreme road rage documented by Paul Eberle in this shocking look at the havoc caused by angry people in their cars. He makes it clear that young and old, men and women, and all socioeconomic classes are involved in this epidemic of rage and violence on our highways. In 1998, the California Highway Patrol recorded 209 incidents of Assault with a Deadly Weapon in which a car was the weapon used. And in the same year, the media reported more than 4000 stories on road rage nationwide. And the problem is getting worse. The author lists the warning signs of potential road-rage drivers, suggests ways to avoid such dangerous individuals, discusses the psychology of the car as a 'holy icon' and the effects of traffic congestion on 'mad car disease', expresses scepticism about psychologists specialising in aggressive driving, and proposes ways to reinvent our cities to make them less stressful, dangerous places. Complete with graphic pictures showing the dire consequences of driving while enraged, this book should be mandatory reading in all driver education classes.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Paul Eberle (Woodland Hills, CA), a journalist and former talk-show host, is the author, with Shirley Eberle, of The Abuse of Innocence: The McMartin Preschool Trial.

Product Details

• Paperback: 285 pages
• Publisher: Prometheus Books (June 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591023793
• ISBN-13: 978-1591023791
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,747,240 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Recommended! Very insightful book on modern dueling..., November 30, 2007

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rickzz "rickzz" (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Terror on the Highway: Rage on America's Roads (Paperback)

This is a very insightful book that explains the true causes of road rage- better than any other book or article I've seen. The author, a journalist, isn't an "expert" but he has lots of practical life experience on the subject, having driven in Los Angeles for decades. (As described by the author, LA must be one of the worst hot spots for road-rage in the USA because of its congested roads and lack of public transportation.)

Basically, Eberle says road rage is a manifestation of the reptilian part of the human brain...driving simply brings out the worst in us. RR is due to our inherent competitive nature and "fight" response to a perceived threat: it's an emotional, adrenaline-laden affair that inevitably escalates out of control unless one stops the reaction immediately at the onset by not responding to the other driver (regardless of who's at fault)- this is FAR easier said than done. Eberle also believes driver education will only be effective if it explicitly shows the consequences of road rage (all the graphic, horrific footage that is never shown on the TV news). Unfortunately, there are no easy answers for this problem- the author even suggests that one of the reasons we as a society allow it to continue to happen (despite the fact that it's a factor in tens of thousands of deaths and injuries per year in the US alone) is because we (secretly) enjoy the violence... a la JG Ballard's Crash? (On a side note, extreme liberals tend to live in urban areas like NYC with public transportation. Perhaps because they don't drive much or at all, they're in denial about the ugly side of human nature esp. within themselves?)

Despite the book's positives (especially the last chapter), I have to take off 1 star because of poor editing and organization. This book is ~270 pages long only because it has very large font. Some of the text is repetitive (esp. on types of road ragers), and several of the 14 chapters should have been combined to make it better organized and avoid redundancy- not sure if this is the author's or the editor's fault.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A pick for any college-level collection, April 19, 2007

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Terror on the Highway: Rage on America's Roads (Paperback)

TERROR ON THE HIGHWAY: RAGE ON AMERICA'S ROADS considers all socio-economic classes involved in incidences of road rage on the highways, listing the signs of potential road-rage drivers, suggesting how to avoid problems, and covering the effects of traffic and tension on developing such drivers. From ways of making highways less stressful places to understanding human aggression and what encourages a hostile environment on the road, TERROR ON THE HIGHWAY is a pick for any college-level collection concerned with social issues and public safety - and for many a public library.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch