Road Rage and Faith

Yesterday, I led a Sunday School lesson on Road Rage and Faith.  I'm not sure how good a job I did, but there was some interesting information shared, and we had some good discussions.

I'm probably breaking copyright laws by sharing this, but I thought the information was good.

According to a study done by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, "aggressive driving--including road rage--was a factor in 56% of fatal crashes. Speeding is the number-one contributing factor" and "involved in nearly one third of all deadly accidents."

"Distracted driving––driving while talking on the telephone or sending a text message, for example––accounted for 3,092 fatalities and over 400,000 injuries in 2010, according to Distraction.gov, the
official federal government website on distracted driving. Today, there are a myriad of possible distractions inside the vehicle: eating and drinking, talking to passengers, reading, personal grooming, using a GPS, watching a video, and adjusting the radio/CD/video player. Eleven percent of drivers under the age of 20 involved in fatal crashes were distracted at the time, the website indicates.
Sending or reading text messages, for example, takes a driver’s eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds, or, at 55 miles per hour, the distance of a football field."

"According to a recent study by CareerBuilder.com that looked at the hazards of commuting, women are more likely to experience road rage than men. Sixty-one percent of the women surveyed had experienced road rage, while 56 percent of the men reported the same."

"The same survey found that age seems to be a factor in road rage. Not accounting for gender, the study found that 68 percent of respondents age 24–34 reported experiencing incidents of road rage, while only 47 percent of respondents 55 and older reported the same."

A few question the author asks are:

• How has aggressive driving or road rage affected you? 
• How have you responded to an incident of aggressive driving or road rage? 
• What, if anything, surprised you about the AAA Foundation report? 
• How often do you exceed the speed limit or engage in other aggressive driving behaviors?
• How has distracted driving affected you? 
• When did you last talk on your cell phone while driving? 
• Do you support a ban on cell phone use while driving in your state? Why or why not?"

The Scripture passages were: Psalm 86:15; Galatians 5:22-23; Ephesians 4:26, 31-32.
The author asks: "How does the Scripture reading speak to you about road rage and aggressive driving?"

Retrieved from Alsgaard, E. (October 28, 2012). Road Rage and Faith. FaithLink: Connecting Faith and Life, Volume 18, Number 26.