Road Rage: Relationships with Borderline Personality and Driving Citations

OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this study were to determine: (1) the prevalence of self-reported road rage in a primary care sample; (2) the relationship, if any, between road rage and borderline personality disorder (BPD); and (3) whether those with road rage have a greater prevalence of different types of driving citations compared to those without road rage. METHOD: Using a consecutive, cross-sectional sample of primary care outpatients, we surveyed 419 individuals. RESULTS: The prevalence of self-reported road rage in this sample was 35.3%. BPD was significantly more prevalent among participants with road rage (24.8% vs. 9.8%). Compared to those without road rage, those with road rage reported statistically significantly higher numbers of different types of driving citations, including moving and non-moving violations, as well as having had a driver's license suspended. There were no differences between the groups with regard to vehicular crashes or driving while intoxicated. CONCLUSIONS: About one-third of individuals reported road rage. The prevalence of BPD was significantly higher among those with road rage compared to those without road rage, and is likely to be one of the contributory variables to reckless driving. Individuals who reported road rage appear to be less disciplined drivers and are subject to more types of driving citations, although they do not report greater rates of vehicular crashes or driving while intoxicated.