Sunday afternoon’s road rage incident in Emmarentia, where a father was killed and his wife wounded while their children watched, is shining a light on road rage in South Africa again. Outrage, shock and questionable statistics resulted but none address the root cause of the problem.
Road rage is rarely about the other vehicle. The CEO of MasterDrive, Eugene Herbert, expands: “Instead, the vehicle ahead represents emotional and cognitive overload. Congestion, deteriorating infrastructure, and the daily accumulation of stress create highly-strung drivers. By the time a minor bumper-bashing occurs, many drivers are already at capacity.
“The collision is perceived as disrespect, and when combined with a refusal to back down it triggers an aggressive response. The Emmarentia incident is testament to this exact dynamic: a minor collision quickly escalated with consequences that irreversibly changed lives.”
A preventative cognitive spiral precedes the first punch. “Driver training should include understanding emotional regulation as well. An essential part of road safety is recognising mental overload and how to disengage before perceived disrespect spirals out of control.
“When a driver perceives a threat or insult, the part of the brain that controls emotions fires before rationality can intervene. Drivers do not make a decision in that moment but are reacting. The goal of psychological driver education is to close that gap,” says Herbert.
- Awareness: drivers who identify their own emotional state before they reach the road are significantly better equipped to resist provocation. Do a simple pre-drive reset where you acknowledge your emotions and consciously choose to leave it outside the vehicle.
- Reframing: road rage is often fuelled by the assumption that another driver’s behaviour was directed at you specifically. Yet normally, they have already forgotten about you. Change the story you tell yourself to change the outcome.
- Breath: slow, deliberate breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system, counteracting the stress response. Loosen your grip on the steering wheel, relax your jaw and shoulders, and reduce your speed. These become physiological anchors that help deescalate the situation.
- Space: increase following distances. It is the single most effective physical action to deescalate because it removes you from the situation before it compounds.
Unverifiable statistics
Circulation of unverifiable figures compound the problem. “Some reports claim more than 1 000 people died in road rage incidents in South Africa in 2026, with no source cited. Another references over 1 200 deaths, likely drawn from a statistic recording 1 272 attempted murders associated with ‘road rage, arguments, or provocation.’ This is a broad category not isolated to road rage only.
“Irresponsible statistic use causes harm. When motorists absorb inflated fear-based data, it worsens the emotional and cognitive overload already being carried, making ignoring the situation that much more difficult,” says Herbert.
Emmarentia should serve as an inflection point: a moment for South Africa to acknowledge that driver training should embrace a holistic approach to road safety where emotional regulation is treated as seriously as any technical skill.