Citation

Cavacuiti C, Ala-Leppilampi KJ, Mann RE, Govoni R, Stoduto G, Smart RG, Locke JA. Violence Vict. 2013; 28(6): 1068-1084.

Affiliation

University of Toronto.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Springer Publishing)

DOI

10.1891/0886-6708.VV-D-12-00068

PMID

24547681

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To gain an in-depth understanding of road rage incidents from the victims' perspectives. METHODS: The data consisted of 30- to 60-min in-depth semistructured phone interviews with 29 self-identified victims of road rage. Twenty of the participants were in a motor vehicle, whereas 9 were pedestrians/cyclists. A qualitative Grounded Theory approach was used to inductively code and analyze the transcripts. RESULTS: Victims reported a correlation between their vulnerability and the perceived intensity/severity of the road rage incidents. The most vulnerable victims (pedestrians and cyclists) were the least likely to view road rage incidents as a random event and the most likely to feel that they were specifically targeted. Road rage incidents tended to evolve more rapidly when there was a greater real or perceived power imbalance between the victims and perpetrators. The most vulnerable victims were the most likely to have long-term physical and mental health consequences from the incident, and to significantly modify their behavior after the incident. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis suggests that issues of victim vulnerability play a major role in determining the intensity, severity, and psychological consequences of road rage incidents. This seems particularly true for the most vulnerable of road users, such as pedestrians and cyclists.

Language: en