Drivers in the Washington area have new options to express disgust with fellow drivers, including obscene signs and an Internet site to post insults.
ADVERTISEMENT
Former cellist and now entrepreneur Mika Larson told The Washington Post the idea to print signs to hold up came to her during a fit of rage and she now markets them with messages such as "Get out of the fast lane, Moron!" and "I hope your cell phone gives you cancer."
Fairfax, Va., computer consultant Mark Buckman went high-tech with his venting process, opening a Web site, platewire.com, where angry drivers can post a bad driver's license plate number along with insults, the newspaper said.
Leon James, a professor at the University of Hawaii and co-author of "Road Rage and Aggressive Driving" told the Post neither idea is very healthy.
"Venting reactivates the original stress hormones. It keeps you obsessively focused on proving the other person wrong," James said. "What kind of help is this?"
Fairley Mahlum, spokeswoman for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety agreed, telling the newspaper, "By responding and reacting, you are being just as aggressive."