There is an extreme amount of road rage in China, as more than 17 million instances of anger-fueled accidents have been documented in the country this year alone. Most of these incidents have been committed by male drivers. These acts of road rage and aggressive driving are said to be one of the leading causes of traffic accidents and vehicular damage in China.
So far in 2015, the total number of anger-induced traffic violations has increased by almost 3% from last year. About 17.3 million total instances of road rage have been reported, and 97% of these reports featured men as the offending drivers.
Additionally, many of the cases involved distracted drivers, who were typically using their mobile phones while driving. In 2014, distracted driving caused about half of the total number of 6.5 million mild traffic accidents in China. A mild traffic accident is defined as an accident in which little damage is caused and the people involved only sustain minor injuries at most.
However, the number of distracted driving incidents in China has increased by 11% this year, as there have been 400,000 more reported distracted driving accidents this year than there were at this point last year.
But the news isn’t all bad, as the number of accidents involving drunk drivers in China has declined by 25% over the past four years. Additionally, the number of casualties from drunk driving has fallen by 39% over this time period.
Another issue that Chinese roads have historically experienced is the driving of overloaded vehicles, particularly overcrowded buses. From 2011 to 2014, there were more than 1,900 traffic accidents that involved overloaded vehicles. These accidents involving overcrowded vehicles accounted for 27% of all road accidents that resulted in ten or more casualties.
Many of the serious traffic accidents in China are caused by new drivers with less than one year of driving experience. Drivers with anywhere between six and 15 years of experience are also said to be particularly accident prone.
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