Understanding Road Rage: Insights from a Synthesis of Research

Abstract

Road rage has been a serious problem and is worthy being paid attention by drivers, road managers, and researchers. This paper aims at providing a general overview of four research methods commonly used. The study covers the definition of road rage, introduction, and evaluation of four research methods. It concludes that the questionnaire survey method is applicable to the studies on impacts of different variables including demographic parameters of drivers. Driving simulating method mainly focuses on the driving behavior in specific driving scenarios. Case analysis method can provide researchers with a better understanding of the certain pattern of road rage. Field experiment method concentrates on target factors by designing suitable field experiments. It is revealed that different research methods have their own applicable conditions and proprieties. Consequently, a suitable research method according to the research objective and the research capability is proposed for the road rage studies.