Drivers must be made to obey rules of the road

Officials from the public security bureau of Hengnan county, Hunan province, inspect on Tuesday the three-wheeled vehicle that plunged into a creek while taking 20 children to school on Monday morning. The accident killed 14 children and injured six. [Photo/Xinhua]

A video clip posted by the Shenzhen traffic police on social media showed a recent accident in which one driver deliberately crashed his car into another by turning into it at a junction. Sznews.com commented on Thursday:

This incident once again sparked concern and discussion about road rage, with some internet users calling it an intentional assault.

The roots of road rage lie in people not obeying the traffic regulations. But a lot of people regard road rage as uncivilized behavior but are rarely aware of the legal issue behind it.

According to a survey by Shenzhen traffic police, every year about 20 percent of car accidents can be attributed to road rage mischief.

Rushing or lack of sleep may cause road rage but the most common cause is aggressive driving. In the poll of 2,027 people by Shenzhen traffic police, 66 percent of those surveyed said they displayed angry behavior, such as overtaking at random or cutting into a lane－all of which are defined as road rage triggers as such behavior is likely to spark anger in other road users.

Since it involves violating the rules of the road and may cause harm to others and public security, road rage behavior should also be punished in order to reduce its occurrence.

But drivers should be made aware of the importance of obeying the traffic regulations and respecting the rights of other road users.