Customer Reviews

Terror on the Highway: Rage on America's Roads

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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