The more problems a person has with alcohol the more likely they will be a victim or a perpetrator of road rage according to a study recently released by Canada’s The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). The study entitled "Alcohol Consumption and Problems among Road Rage Victims and Perpetrators" found that road rage is more common among those individuals who are heavier drinkers, and that the odds of road rage behavior increases with greater alcohol problems.
Road rage is understood as an incident in which a driver or passenger attempts to intimidate, injure or kill another driver, passenger or pedestrian or to damage another person's vehicle.
The study suggests that the same underlying factors that cause a person to have problems with alcohol, may be similar to those that can cause road rage. Another possibility is that alcohol problems may somehow contribute to road rage behavior. "A reason for the overlap between road rage and alcohol problems may be because these individuals are more likely to have low self-control with frequent rule breaking behavior and a general disregard for legal sanctions," says Dr. Robert Mann, Senior Research Scientist at CAMH. "This can manifest itself in a variety of different ways including the abuse of alcohol and road rage." Previous studies on perpetrators of road rage behavior have shown that it most frequently involves young people and men living in large cities.
If your business involves drivers and transportation, a workplace policy can be critical to reducing your risks and injuries that you may be liable for.
The study's findings are published in the April 2004 issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol.
For information on how to establish a drug-free workplace, can be found on our website, www.dfwp.org.