Parking rage is a growing problem in congested urban areas, leading to illegal acts and violent confrontations. Solutions include park-and-ride options, carpooling, and larger parking garages. Drivers should avoid aggressive behavior and contact the police if necessary.
Parking rage could be called a symptom of overgrowth in urban areas or places where the number of cars exceeds the number of parking spaces. This condition manifests itself in different ways, all problems for city officials and for residents of a city. The biggest parking rage complaints seem to come from the UK, and also from cities like San Francisco.
Put simply, parking rage is the uncontrolled anger felt by drivers who are trying to park or who have been ticketed for illegal parking. This can specifically lead to illegal acts, such as assault, destruction of parking meters, or angry behavior and gestures toward city employees such as meter readers. It is not unusual for people to yell at meter readers if they get a ticket, to honk at people trying to vacate a space, or to block a car from leaving a space because it is improperly or illegally parked. Also, some people harass other drivers who have parked wrong, leave insulting notes on their car windows, or even damage cars by painting or painting them with obscenities. At its worst, parking rage can culminate in violent physical fights between two drivers or one attacking the other with his car.
Since parking lot rage has been studied, a few things have become quite clear. People tend to be slower to leave a parking space when someone is waiting for the space. Even if the person rushes, they are slower than when no one is waiting. If an angry driver in a waiting car honks or yells, the time to vacate a parking space is further increased. This should make it clear to people waiting for spaces that they should wait quietly and without any hostile attitude or behavior towards the person pulling out of a parking space.
Parking rage is clearly more common in congested traffic areas, where the number of spaces is scarce. It tends to show up when people have already switched or struggled through a large amount of traffic; therefore, it occurs more often during rush hour traffic. To avoid falling victim to someone else’s wrath, you may want to make sure you have extra time to find parking.
Another alternative that is being tested in some cities is to offer convenient ways to get to work without using cars. There are park-and-ride solutions where people park in areas with plenty of space and then use buses or trains to get to their workplace. Building larger parking garages can also help, though again, if these aren’t big enough, they can become the site of frequent parking rage. Carpooling, to reduce the number of cars on the road and increase the capacity of spaces, can also help.
If you find yourself in a situation where you make someone angry, it’s a good idea to have a cell phone handy to contact the police. Also, you can reduce your chances of getting injured by not fighting back. If you are confronted by someone who honks or yells at you, you are more likely to get into a physical confrontation and get hurt. Also, do your best to park legally and carefully so as not to anger other drivers.
With car ownership on the rise, the parking rage is unlikely to end until people rely more on public transportation or do smart things like carpooling. This is not always possible, and urban planners must work hard to find more solutions to the parking problem. In the meantime, please remember that being late does not excuse rudeness or violence towards others. Take a few deep breaths if you feel excessively angry trying to find a space or the actions of another driver. Avoiding a possible physical attack and being courteous to other drivers, while learning to be more calm and focused, has its rewards.
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