It is vital that you never allow yourself to be drawn into conflict with another motorist.  You must not let your emotions take over, which is what causes road rage in the first place.  It’s known in advanced driving circles as ‘emotional stability and mental control’ behind the wheel
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Pulling out a gun, loaded or not, real or imitation, or for that matter any other weapon is the worst thing you can do and potentially life threatening in extreme circumstances.  Doing this may escalate the situation and allow your adversary to use equal force – everyone loses and there are no winners.

You must never react or respond to aggression on the road.  You never know who you are dealing with, what he (or she) is thinking or how he will react.  The chances are that an aggressor will react badly, and for all you know he may be a violent maniac.  And don’t forget that his car can be used as a lethal weapon.

There are better and more realistic ways of protecting yourself, such as those used by chauffeurs with anti-terrorists training.  For example:

• Lock all the car doors before driving off, and keep the windows closed – particularly in city driving.
• Avoid getting ‘boxed in’ especially when you are stationary; leave enough space between you and the vehicle in front so that you have enough room to drive away. 
• If you are followed and feel threatened, drive to a place where there are a lot of people around, like a gas station, mall complex car parking area, or police station.
• If you are harassed, attract attention by sounding then horn and flash your lights.  Don’t unlock the door, open the window or get out of the car.  Avoid ‘eye contact’, stay calm and don’t get involved in an argument. 
• Learn to drive defensively; develop awareness and keep a ‘cocoon of safe space’ around you, to protect yourself and avoid upsetting others at all costs.

The best protection of all is to avoid any potential or actual conflict in the first place.  Unfortunately, most people think that they are good drivers and don’t consider the possibility that they could be at fault.  Think about your own behavior behind the wheel and how it might affect others or be interpreted by other drivers.  Remember, for every action there is a reaction!
 
Under normal circumstances, it is only when someone thinks that you are driving in a careless, aggressive or stubborn fashion that problems arise.  Other may think or feel that you are ‘asking for it’ and set about ‘teaching you a lesson’ to remember.  Someone always causes these things to happen in the first place - don’t let that driver be you.  More often than not, if you are a victim of road rage, it means you have done something to provoke a reaction from another road user.  It’s that simple.  Staying out of trouble behind the wheel becomes second nature if you understand its importance.   Backing down from road conflict is not the action of a coward – it’s the LOVE OF LIFE!

Take care and be safe!

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