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  3. Road Rage All the Rage To many people the term "Road Rage" describes a relatively modem concept of drivers "getting worked u

Road Rage All the Rage To many people the term "Road Rage" describes a relatively modem concept of drivers "getting worked u

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问题                       Road Rage All the Rage
    To many people the term "Road Rage" describes a relatively modem concept of drivers "getting worked up due to some incident whilst on the road and resorting to physical violence or damage to property". Most people would say that this has only really become a problem in the last five years or so. It has certainly attracted great media interest in recent times, but it has, in fact, been part of motoring for quite some time now.
    A psychologist, employed by the Royal Automobile Club (RAC), defines "Road Rage", thus: "unchecked behavior designed to cause harm to another road user; behavior which is not normally in the behavioral repertoire of the person. Road Rage’ is an altering of an individual’s personality whilst driving caused by a process of dehumanization. This dehumanization is caused by road use frustrations and an artificial sense of isolation, protection and empowerment provided by the car. This leads the person to behave in a way de signed to cause harm or endanger other road users."
    Most motorists can remember an occasion at some time in their motoring career when an impatient, or shorttempered driver has "cut them or someone else up" with an aggressive display of driving, forcing the victim to take evasive(逃避的) action to avoid a collision. At the time, they probably thought: what a dreadful piece of driving; and mentally clapped themselves on the back for being such controlled, calm drivers. Media attention, focused on particularly horrible incidents, has been paid to a certain notoriety(恶名昭彰的人) on this sort of driving. As a professional driver in inner London and a motorcycle instructor, I have witnessed such driving all too of ten over the years.
    The 1996 Lex Report on motoring, published by Lex Service PLC, the UK’s leading vehicle retailing and leasing group, provides us with some startling statistics. In the last 12 months, there have been: 1.8 million instances of people who have been forced to pull over or off the road; 800,000 instances of people being physically threatened; 500,000 people in their cars being deliberately driven into corners; 250,000 people having their cars deliberately damaged by another driver. A survey also carried out by Lex confirms that up lo 80% of motorists have been the victims of "Road Rage" and that driver confrontation(对抗) is on the increase.
    The RAC has also much to say on the topic. One of their surveys reveals that as many as 90% of motorists have suffered at the hands of seriously antisocial drivers and that the effects upon them have in many cases been wholly disproportionate(不相符的) to the level of threat or actual violence suffered.
    The examples are both chilling and many; a driver had his nose bitten off following a row with another motorist; a 78 yearold man was killed after being punched by a man half his age; an RAC patrolman, flagged down on the motorway by a motorist, was violently assaulted and verbally abused by the motorist. The list goes on and on...
    The 1991 Road Traffic Act takes a very dim view indeed of dangerous and careless driving and, as with assaults, provides stiff custodial(监禁) sentences for those guilty of such crimes. To date, however, there is no such offence in the statute (成文法) books known as "Road Rage". There can be assaults or criminal damage, followed or preceded by dangerous driving, but no offence that incorporates both—a change in the law which the public are demanding for in the face of increasing anarchy on the roads.
    Conversely, the Association of Chief Police Officers denies that "Road Rage" exists; or, indeed, that there is a trend. There have been suggestions from the ,same quarter that "media interest and reporting are, in fact, creating the problem by causing unnecessary anxiety in the minds of the motoring public in a direct analogy with fear of crime".
    Most of us probably imagine violence on the road to be an entirely male preserve, as men are naturally more competitive and aggressive, especially when it comes to driving. Melanie Flowers of Oxford Brookes University, however, has the following to say, "Women can be more aggressive in cars than they ever would be when they are out of their cars, often feel they can even things up a bit when they are behind the wheel. When you are driving you’re judged by your car rather than your physical attributes. It makes some women feel stronger than they really are."
    An interesting study, but how often do you see women fighting at the roadside or kicking in body panels?
If all this is a general reflection of the driver of the 1990s, then the professionals have an uphill struggle. But they are tackling the problem head on. The RAC and Auto Express, a motoring journal, have joined forces in a Campaign Against Rage (CAR). They aim to promote driver courtesy, offer advice on avoiding "Road Rage", and even Rage Rehabilitation for violent offenders in an attempt to avoid reoffence.
    The courts are looking at stiffer penalties. And the RAC is suggesting that signposting be improved to try and stop city drivers losing their way, a constant source of annoyance and aggression, and they have also proposed the introduction of variable message signs that can help improve driver behavior. Some police traffic control cars are now equipped with these message signs on the roof or rear of their vehicles.
    And the future? The Autoclass survey, published in 1997, shows that parents are creating the next generation of roadragers. The research among 1016 yearolds found that 62 per cent of fathers and 55 per cent of mothers get angry while driving.
    One thing is certainty: the Road Rage phenomenon is not going to disappear overnight, even after stiffer sentencing or improved driver draining.
______ are being considered by the law courts.
选项
答案Stiffer penalties/Stiffer sentencing
解析 本句答案在倒数第三段的第一句话或全文的最后一句话中。
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