“In France, aggressiveness at wheel is all more disturbing since it is subject of an unsaid”

If we consider the behavior of French driving as a precipitate of their general attitude in society, we can worry about our ability to live together. Almost two out of three motorists recognize that they can insult other drivers (more than other Europeans), and 88 % admit that they have already been afraid of the aggressive behavior of other road users, according to an Ipsos poll for the company Vinci Autoroutes. Besides the high rise in road mortality since the loosening of health restrictions, and the poor performance of France In terms of safety, aggressiveness at the wheel appears as a specific calamity, all the more more disturbing than it is the subject of an unsaid.

In the United States, Walt Disney has made a spell for irascible drivers for a long time. In 1950, the cartoon Motor mania Scene An ambivalent dingo: exemplary and respectful citizen as a pedestrian, he turned into an uncontrollable monster as soon as the wheel of his Lincoln Zephyr convertible yellow, using other motorists at the slightest annoyance.

With this Bon Kingle Satire of the emerging automotive jungle, we were far from Road Rage , “anger at the wheel”, a phenomenon identified and mediated by the Americans since the late 1980s after a series of shootings on highways. For a fish tail, a speed deemed insufficient, a moved gesture, it is a pileup or a brawl which ends in a tragedy. More recently, the vogue of on -board cameras aroused the internet a flowering of videos of road rage scenes, as well as a series of video games where driving becomes a combat sport.

plus ” same person “

In France, the regulation on firearms fortunately prevents the same outburst of fatal violence. And the access of Road Rage is not subject to any statistics or the least debate. But the experience of the road, the aforementioned survey as well as multiple various facts attest to the reality of the phenomenon.

Thus, on June 23, the driver of a dump truck who deliberately overthrew then passed to Tobacco a cyclist on a narrow road of Charente-Maritime was sentenced by the Criminal Court of Saintes to three years in prison including a farm . “I’m going to put you on a scoundrel,” warned the driver leaving his truck, furious at the gesture that the cyclist had made to ask him to slow down. Exceptional, this condemnation could only intervene thanks to the victim’s reflex, which started the camera he wore at his jacket and produces a video that has become viral .

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/Media reports.