How to do it
- Practise off the road first. The tested version was eight sessions, not a trick at the lights.
- Long breath out, then let your hands go loose on the wheel. Relaxation was one of the two programmes.
- Give the other driver a second reading. Late, lost, didn't see you. Rethinking was the other half.
- If you're too wound up to drive well, pull over when it's safe and do the reset there.
How the drive heats up
- The other carcuts in
Someone tailgates, cuts in, sits in the fast lane. You read it as aimed at you.
- Your bodyrevs up
Across 154 studies, calming the body down cut anger and aggression. Revving it up, like hitting a bag or running, didn't.
- Your readgets a second one
The tested programme paired relaxation with work on how drivers read other drivers.
- Youdrive calmer
After eight sessions, driving anger and hostile, aggressive expression fell. Whether one reset on one drive does anything is a guess.
Why it works
Anger on the road runs on the same revved-up body as anger anywhere. Across 154 studies, things that bring the body down cut anger and aggression. Evidence: decent For drivers, the best evidence is a trained programme, not a trick: drivers who said anger was a problem for them had eight sessions of relaxation, or relaxation plus rethinking, and ended up less angry and less aggressive at the wheel than drivers who had nothing. Evidence: decent
So practise it before you need it. What one reset does on one drive hasn't been tested. Evidence: worth trying
The long readEvery step of the chain, each study with its numbers, and what's still unproven. 2 min read.
What happens in your brain
This chain is behaviour, not brain areas. Nobody scanned the drivers.
The other car cuts in. Something on the road that you read as aimed at you.
Your body revs up. Anger runs on arousal, how revved up your body is. Across 154 studies with 10,189 people, activities that brought arousal down, like slow breathing, relaxation and mindfulness, cut anger and aggression. Ones that raised it, like hitting a punching bag or running, didn't on average. Evidence: decent
Your read gets a second one. One of the tested programmes combined relaxation with work on how drivers thought about other drivers. Evidence: decent
You drive calmer. After eight sessions, both programmes beat no treatment on driving anger and on hostile, aggressive expression. The one that added rethinking also cut risky driving. Evidence: decent Whether a single reset in traffic does any of this is a guess. Evidence: worth trying
The proof
- Drivers who identified themselves as high-anger got eight sessions of relaxation, or relaxation plus rethinking, or no treatment. Evidence: decent
- Both programmes beat no treatment on driving anger and on hostile and aggressive expression. Evidence: decent
- Relaxation plus rethinking also cut risky driving. Evidence: decent
- 154 studies, 10,189 people: calming activities cut anger and aggression; venting and running didn't, on average. Evidence: decent
How to do it
- Practise off the road first: the double breath, once or twice a day. The breathing tool paces it. Evidence: worth trying
- At the wheel: long breath out, then let your hands go loose.
- Give the other driver a second reading. Late, lost, didn't see you. Give it a second reading has more on that.
- If you're too wound up to drive well, pull over when it's safe and do the reset there.
Watch out
The evidence is an eight-session programme for drivers who said anger was a problem for them, compared with no treatment. Evidence: decent A single reset in traffic hasn't been tested, and nor has loosening your grip. Evidence: worth trying
If you're too angry to drive safely, pull over when you can. If the anger is turning physical, or it frightens the people around you, or you're afraid of what you'll do next, step away. Then get help: a doctor, or a programme for men who want to stop being abusive, where one exists.