Steering Clear of Road Rage in Southeast Asia

It’s hard to escape road rage. Here’s how technology can help make the road not only safer, but friendlier, for everyone.

Honking, tailgating and even being chased down by a car - every driver has encountered some form of road rage. One in five drivers in Australia admit to flying off the handle, while four out of five in the U.S. do, making road rage a fairly universal human experience.

With car ownership growing in many parts of Southeast Asia, the region is finding itself increasingly plagued by road rage. Bone-chilling examples have even been caught on camera, such as the motorcyclist fatally gunned down by a driver on a road in Manila and the enraged motorist who emerged from his car wielding a machete in Johor, Malaysia.

Tempers can flare easily on roads, especially after sitting in the notoriously congested traffic of Southeast Asian cities like Manila, Jakarta and Bangkok. The accelerating pace of life also contributes to aggressive driving, says Jake Nelson, director of traffic safety advocacy and research for the American Automobile Association.

If you’re driving in busy Southeast Asia, road rage can be a problem. But there are a number of ways to lower its likelihood or avoid it altogether. Subaru can help calmer heads prevail by reducing triggers that lead to dangerous flare-ups on the road.

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Negate the tailgate

One of the main causes of road rage is tailgating. Many drivers have experienced another car riding on their tail, especially on the highway. Similarly, we may have tailgated someone else, whether intentionally or not, especially if we were rushing to get to an appointment or momentarily distracted. Tailgating is more than aggressive bumper-to-bumper behavior — it is one of the leading causes for car crashes worldwide.

One way to ensure you don’t become the cause of tailgate road rage is by keeping your distance from the car in front of you, which can be easier said than done on a busy highway when cars are constantly changing speeds. Subaru’s EyeSight Adaptive Cruise Control is particularly useful in helping to maintain a safe highway-cruising gap with the car in front. Another benefit is you no longer have to keep your foot on the accelerator pedal, saving you from driver fatigue. It also ensures you don’t become what the U.S. National Safety Council terms as an “ignorant tailgater” on the highway.

Signal intentions clearly

Lane switching is another behavior that incites road rage — especially if you don’t signal properly. You may be clear about your intention to switch lanes, but without signaling first, other drivers won’t be on the same page. The simple act of switching to another lane can thus be seen as an aggressive maneuver, putting other drivers on the defensive and potentially making you a target for road rage.

Subaru’s One-Touch Lane Changer makes signaling a breeze, so there’s little excuse for you not to signal your intentions, especially if you’re driving in Singapore, where failing to signal is a chargeable offence. With a gentle tap, the blinker activates and cancels after three consecutive blinks. This ensures that you don’t risk confusing or in some cases annoying other drivers who can’t tell if you plan to switch lanes or not.

Driving defensively on busy roads is all about second-guessing what might happen. The car in front of you might swerve and suddenly reveal an obstruction in the road, requiring you to stop quickly. In situations like these, Subaru’s Emergency Stop Signal will warn nearby drivers of your emergency braking. This not only reduces the likelihood of you becoming a victim of road rage, but more importantly, can prevent a dangerous collision from occurring.

Subaru can help calmer heads prevail by reducing triggers that lead to dangerous flare-ups on the road.

Helping you be a safer driver

Finally, road rage can be triggered by drivers simply failing to adhere to basic road rules. These include not drifting into an adjacent lane without signaling, maintaining a consistent speed when traffic allows, always maintaining a safe distance from the vehicle in front of you and ensuring you’re not the cause of a bottleneck by failing to move forward when other cars have begun to accelerate.

In these instances, Subaru’s EyeSight Driver Assist Technology helps keep an eye on the road and traffic for you, making sure you drive safely — and preventing you from enraging other drivers. It can be a lifesaver on days when your focus isn’t what it should be, like when you’re sleep-deprived or thinking about something other than the road ahead of you.

Should you start to doze off or stray from your lane without realizing it, Subaru’s EyeSight Lane Departure Warning keeps you from endangering other drivers by reminding you to stay safely in your lane. Meanwhile, if you find yourself caught in Jakarta’s infamous two-hour traffic jams driving from Bogor to the city center, Subaru’s EyeSight Lead Vehicle Start Alert lets you know when the vehicle in front of you has begun moving so you don’t annoy the driver behind you by failing to follow promptly.

No one is immune from a touch of road rage from time to time. But to keep everyone on the road as safe as possible it’s important we all stay as calm as possible. Subaru understands that, ultimately, we’re all in this together.