What started with an accident with only damage to cans, led to a fatal traffic dispute last Wednesday in Lith. An escalation that you can hardly imagine. Nevertheless, traffic psychologist Gerard Tertoolen knows that we react violently in traffic much more often: “We really behave differently in traffic than in the rest of our existence.”
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It started last Wednesday in Lith when a 69-year-old woman collided with a parked car. She went looking for the owner. The car turned out to belong to a 38-year-old woman and a 42-year-old man. When she rang the doorbell, an argument arose with all its consequences. The 69-year-old woman drove away and the 38-year-old woman was dragged by a car and did not survive.
“Of course I wasn’t there,” says Tertoolen, “but what makes it so bizarre is that it was solved very neatly in the first place. Unfortunately, there are also people who drive on and do not look for the owner of the car. In this case, that happened, but then it went wrong anyway. Something must have happened or said that caused the flame to hit the pan.”
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“It feels like something is being done to you.”
Tertoolen himself once witnessed a similar situation. “I was in a parking lot at the supermarket where a car wanted to drive away after it hit a parked car. The owners of the car then jumped in front of it. In that case the car did not drive on, but this created a very dangerous situation that can escalate quickly.”
What makes people often react so violently in traffic? “We behave differently in traffic than in the rest of our existence. This is mainly because the car evokes deeper motivations in us, which we normally suppress. In addition, we identify ourselves very strongly with our car, it is actually an extension of our ego. When your car gets hurt, it really feels like you’re being hurt.”
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“Taking a photo can be the last straw.”
People usually react very impulsively in such a situation, says Tertoolen. “At that moment you are subject to adrenaline and aggression. You can say: ‘you have to count to ten’, but that is very difficult when emotions arise.”
There is therefore no fixed recipe on how best to deal with these kinds of situations. “If someone reacts very angry to you, it may be smart to bring in witnesses. Then you may be able to disarm the aggressive person and show that there is also a different view, because other people have seen it.”
Taking pictures can also be smart. “That’s very sensible so you have evidence of what happened. But beware, because this can also backfire. If someone is already about to lash out, that photo could be the last straw.”
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“It does cost you money.”
Most people are insured for damage to their car or when they cause damage to another car. Yet people are very excited about it. Tertoolen: “There is a catch when it comes to insurance. As soon as you report damage, you lose your ‘no-claim’ status and the insurance becomes more expensive. It does cost you money and that can be quite expensive. chop in.”
Reporter Noël van Hooft tells what happened on Wednesday evening.
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