Road rage in Sri Lanka: prevalence and psychiatric distress.

INTRODUCTION

Road traffic accidents are a major public health concern in Sri Lanka. Aggressive and reckless driving is an important contributor to the high rate of road traffic accidents.

OBJECTIVE

We studied prevalence, nature, determinants and associated psychiatric morbidity of road rage among motorists in Sri Lanka. Methods Data were gathered from 238 randomly selected motorists in Sri Lanka using a modified questionnaire regarding road rage and the 6-item version of Kessler's psychological distress scale.

RESULTS

While 98.7% participants reported being victims of road rage, 85.3% were involved in offending behaviour. However actual physical assault (0.8%) and damage to vehicles (2.5%) were rare. Male gender, young age, increased traffic density and driving a three-wheeler or bus were associated with daily road rage victimisation and perpetration. Psychiatric distress was associated with being a victim of road rage.

CONCLUSIONS

High prevalence of road rage in Sri Lanka and significant psychiatric distress associated with it indicate the necessity of interventions at least for target groups.