Road Rage - two words that can send shivers down your spine and turn any pacifist and a peace loving person into a killing machine. This form of aggression is now surprisingly seen in teens in India. Boys as young as 16 years are seen driving expensive cars. The power of money can prove fatal; more often than not. The sudden thrill of driving a new posh car gets them all excited and in an effort to look macho is front of their peers, they react in a way that they shouldn’t when they encounter a stressful situation.
Alarm Bells
Recently, there have been cases in Delhi, where teenage boys have resorted to road rage and run over pedestrians or have even taken revenge on their classmates. This makes it a very dangerous situation to deal with. Teenagers usually loose control quickly over their emotions and have the urge to blow off steam by doing something furious. Driving is considered a stress-buster, but when it becomes a living time-bomb, ready to blow off innocent people, it calls for an urgent check.
The Blame Game
Parents are partly to blame for this. Since most of them are employed in full time jobs, they believe they can make up for the lost time by providing kids with expensive gifts such as cars. With no proper adult supervision, these kids vent out their frustration by taking onto the road. Quite often, it proves to be fatal. They must be taught to be calm and composed while driving and must be sent to proper driving schools for attaining a license.
Is There a Solution?
We usually scream when a rowdy bus driver takes his bus speedily through the traffic and call him uneducated. Ever wondered what “educated” teenagers from “well-to-do families” are doing? They are being no less rustic and ill-mannered than the uneducated bus drivers. At least, the drivers have the excuse of being uneducated. What do the teenagers hold up as their excuse? Schools must be equipped to teach teenagers the right attitude to be followed while on the road. They must learn to be more responsible, not just for themselves, but for others too. Instead of grabbing car keys to blow off steam, it is better if they just take a walk around to cool themselves. Always keep one thing in mind – With more power, comes more responsibility’.
