Citation

Smith RG. Trends Iss. Crime Crim. Justice 2006; 311.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, Australian Institute of Criminology)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Over the past ten years, there has been considerable discussion of what is often called 'road rage'. Articles appear regularly in the academic literature and the press, and governments have been prompted to take action to control what seems to be a growing incidence of violence associated with motor vehicle use. This paper considers how best to define the problem and to quantify its extent. The principal sources of data which have been relied on to quantify the nature and extent of road violence include victimisation surveys, official police statistics, and analyses of media reports. However, although a good deal of research has been carried out into road rage and associated activities, the quality of research has been marred by poor definition of terms and concepts and by inadequacies in the recording of official statistics. Serious forms of road violence continue to arise and although they are not as prevalent as other crimes involving physical violence, there remains a need to document their extent more precisely. Once the evidence base has been improved, efforts can then be made to devise appropriate strategies to reduce the extent of the problem.