hen driving to work do you ever feel you are surrounded on the road by idiots, jerks, morons and maniacs? You aren't alone, says Leon James, Ph.D., a psychologist at the University of Hawaii who specializes in the study of road rage. The other drivers feel the same about you. Not only do most drivers have a low opinion of those around them, James warns that up to 25 percent have violent fantasies about getting even with people who cut them off, drive aggressively or just slow down to gape at an accident. "Sadly, it's the age of rage," says James, aka Dr. Driving, who urges a massive re-education of drivers to quell their anger and teach them to "drive with the aloha spirit."

Some of the reasons for widespread anger and aggressive behavior behind the wheel are obvious. More vehicles crowd the roads now than 25 years ago, drivers log more miles per year and everyone seems to be in a hurry. "The traditional concept of driving is that your car is a bullet, and you shoot yourself through traffic. You can't do that on today's congested roads," says James, a 61-year-old Romanian immigrant. What isn't obvious to most is that they learned this aggression as children, hearing their parents berate other drivers for being "jerks, idiots, morons" and worse over minor infractions. Those who become parents teach their children the same behavior. "I call it the culture of territoriality," James says. "As soon as you're in your car, it's okay to express hostility. When you get out of the car, you have to smile and be nice again."

Cage the Rage
James confesses he was a road warrior himself until his wife, Diane Nahl, Ph.D., pointed out some 17 years ago that his aggressive, careless driving made her and her mother fear for their safety as passengers. "I call myself a 'rushing maniac.' I am always rushing even when I'm not in a hurry," he says. "I thought I was such a savage at first, and then I saw that everyone else is like that, too." Nahl, a computer sciences professor at the University of Hawaii who collaborates with James on road-rage research, still chastises her husband for lapses into rage, an ongoing struggle between Dr. Driving and Dr. James. "People don't realize how they react to little things," according to James. "Diane will say, 'Fix your face, Leon,' and when I look in the mirror I'm surprised at the angry expression I have."

James borrows from the self-help movement in recommending a three-step program to control rage. First, you have to acknowledge you have a problem. Second, you have to witness your own behavior — writing down examples of your rage, recording it on tape or having someone else relate how you behaved (such as your spouse, for example). Finally, you have to modify your behavior and become a "reformed driver," one who exercises control, good judgment and reacts appropriately. James's three-step program can make it easier to cope with the stresses of driving and help you make smarter decisions behind the wheel. Some techniques are as simple — and silly — as barking like a dog or bleating like a goat to let off steam instead of swearing and tailgating an offending driver in ahead of you. "You have to overcome your desire to punish the other person," James advises.

Arrive Alive
James's own struggle with road rage is what led him to study traffic psychology and driver education, and in 1996 he posted his findings on the Internet under the name Dr. Traffic. He soon was threatened with legal action by someone who held the Mr. Traffic domain name, so he became Dr. Driving. James has been collecting motorists' opinions on his Web site for the last three years — reading their comments is an eye opener. For example, one irate motorist says this about drivers who slow down to gawk: "These are the people who should be dragged out of their cars and choked on the spot." Says another, "Conditions can never improve if we just keep jamming more and more stupid drivers on the road." Another frustrated driver predictably concludes, "I'm fine. It's the idiot in front of me."

The Dr. Driving site overflows with information with every click. The results of a survey on driver attitudes is entertaining and informative (with surprising results geographically), as are the comments of participants about others on the road. The site also includes an ongoing survey that measures drivers' personalities, chapters from a soon-to-be-published book on road rage, cartoons and recommendations for Quality Driving Circles and other measures to improve driver education. Best of all, browsing Dr. Driving's site can provide valuable insight into the idiot, jerk or maniac who is behind the wheel of your car.

Reported by Rick Popely for cars.com

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