HOW TO REDUCE ROAD RAGE
Men's Health editor Ross McCammon, who travels 35 miles a day to New York City, the trip can take anywhere from one to three hours depending on the traffic. Here's McCammon's advice on controlling road rage:
Religious use of the turn signal
This is the one traffic law to obey without fail. It will separate you from the guy who's just weaving in and out of lanes with no apparent spatial awareness. The signaling will make you feel smug. And you can't be angry and smug at the same time.
Classical music, preferably German
Take Braham's Requiem. It's mournful but not depressing. Anthemic but not overwrought. It turns a slog into a spirit-stirring odyssey. Any classical music will do. McCammon carpools with Johannes.
Braking your brain
George Mason University psychology professor John Riskind's method for decreasing anger: Imagine your rage level on a speedometer. Above 90: explosive; 75: irate; 55: mad; 45: frustrated; 35: calm . Slowly let off the gas until you've settled down.
Carless drivers
Imagine all these people, including yourself, moving down the highway at high speed or low in a seated position without their vehicles surrounding them. Weird but effective.
Babies
That guy who just cut you off? Former baby. His mother loved him. Sigh might not love him now. And who can blame her? But at some point, he was loved. So imagine him in that state, and just like that, tenderness displaces rage.
Religious use of the turn signal
This is the one traffic law to obey without fail. It will separate you from the guy who's just weaving in and out of lanes with no apparent spatial awareness. The signaling will make you feel smug. And you can't be angry and smug at the same time.
Classical music, preferably German
Take Braham's Requiem. It's mournful but not depressing. Anthemic but not overwrought. It turns a slog into a spirit-stirring odyssey. Any classical music will do. McCammon carpools with Johannes.
Braking your brain
George Mason University psychology professor John Riskind's method for decreasing anger: Imagine your rage level on a speedometer. Above 90: explosive; 75: irate; 55: mad; 45: frustrated; 35: calm . Slowly let off the gas until you've settled down.
Carless drivers
Imagine all these people, including yourself, moving down the highway at high speed or low in a seated position without their vehicles surrounding them. Weird but effective.
Babies
That guy who just cut you off? Former baby. His mother loved him. Sigh might not love him now. And who can blame her? But at some point, he was loved. So imagine him in that state, and just like that, tenderness displaces rage.
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