Outline for Presenting the Road Rage Rangers/Riders Program
Team Leader,
Please follow the 7-lesson program presented in this outline.
Road Rage Ranger Road Rage Rider
Lecture: Hey, kids! Have you ever heard about highway bullies? They are drivers who use their cars or trucks to take advantage of others. I am a driver, and I see it all the time. When people drive too fast, or swoop in and out of lanes, or tailgate, or sometimes drive too slow so that others cannot pass, they are using their cars to bully others.
Discussion: What kinds of behaviors have you seen on the highways?
Lecture: This bully-like behavior is called aggressive driving. When a driver purposefully tries to endanger others, it is called road rage. Road rage and aggressive driving are patterns of rude behavior. It is an epidemic in our country, and it’s against the law.
Discussion: Have any of you kids ever been in a car and a Road Rage Rudee was driving? (Leader, be aware that parents often are the Road Rage Rudees in a child’s life.) We have a new program to help stop road rage and aggressive driving and to promote courtesy on our highways. It’s called the Road Range Ranger program, and it was started by a martial arts instructor. In the next few lessons, we’ll learn more about the program and how you can become a Road Rage Ranger. Note that teenagers in the program are referred to as “Road Rage Riders”
Lecture: If you feel frightened or uncomfortable, or you feel like a victim, when an adult exhibits behaviors including yelling at other drivers, driving too fast, tailgating, running red lights, and swooping in and out of lanes, then you need to voice your opinion.
Tell the adult driver that you studied this type of behavior in class. We call aggressive driving or angry drivers Road Rage Rudees. Say to the driver, “You’re becoming a Road Rage Rudee.” When confronted with a bully or a rude person, never keep your feelings inside. Talk to others about how that type of behavior makes you feel.
iHow does the rude and dangerous behavior make you feel? (Note: Discussion might naturally include school or neighborhood bullies, etc. The leader should consider all discussion valid, but return to the topic of highway bullies.)
Assignment: Keep a list of driving behaviors which you feel are scary or uncomfortable. Observe other drivers, and keep a list of times when other drivers act aggressively.
Finally, ask your parents or other drivers if they have ever been the victims of a Road Rage Rudee.
Leader: Be prepared to collect any list presented, and discuss the results in the next class.
The Problem: How to Respond to Road Rage
Lecture: After reading your lists and talking to you, we can all agree that it is sometimes dangerous on the highways when drivers become Road Rage Rudees and drive aggressively. Did you know that road rage and aggressive driving are considered an epidemic?
Discussion: What can we do to stop Road Rage Rudees and dangerous aggressive drivers?
Lecture: Laws have been passed to make acts of road rage a criminal offense. Police have been schooled in how to identify aggressive drivers, but what can we do as individuals?
A study was conducted at Radford University (Radford, Va.) in which participants were asked to focus their attention on being courteous drivers and away from aggressive behaviors.
Drivers in the Radford University study were instructed to use their hazard lights as a communication tool to say to other drivers, “Please,” “Thank you,” and “I’m sorry.” A professor designed a code in which one blink means “Please” (used if you are trying to merge into traffic, for example). Two blinks means “Thank you.” (This was the code to replace waving your hand to gesture after mistaken for aggressive intent.) You can use the code for “Thank you” when another driver slows to let you in the same lane or when someone allows you to merge or gives up a parking space for you.
If you make a mistake like almost pulling into someone’s lane or not slowing down in time, give the code of three blinks for “I am sorry.”
Leader: Distribute the Road Rage Rangers/Riders decal. The Road Rage Rangers are kids who help instruct adults to demonstrate, look for, and reward courteous acts on the highways.
Assignment: Ask mom or dad to demonstrate the use of hazard lights in your car while parked. Teach them the National Highway Courtesy Code: 1 = Please; 2 = Thank you; 3 = I am sorry; and 4 = Please send help now. Place your Road Rage Rangers/Riders decal on the back window of your car to let people know that you are in training to become a courteous driver.
Lecture: The first lesson in martial arts is courtesy. In class we engage in symbolically dangerous skills that, if not controlled, could result in injury and even death. On the highways drivers engage in common behaviors using their vehicles to turn, pass, and stop. These behaviors, if not controlled, can result in injury or death.
In martial arts we practice courtesy as our code of behavior. To improve our safety on the highways and to stop road rage and aggressive driving, we must learn to practice courtesy!
Discussion: How many of you can remember a situation in which the driver was courteous?
Assignment: Now that you have shown mom or dad (or both) the National Highway Courtesy Code, encourage them to be on the lookout for any act of courtesy (for example, when someone lets them merge into traffic, etc.) and “Say two for thank you.”
Lecture: Courtesy requires a response. If I am courteous to you, then I expect you to say “Thank you.” Have you ever done something nice for another person, like stopping to open a door, and the person says “Thank you”? How does it make you feel? Very good, right? Because the person said “Thank you” (that is, they repaid your courteous behavior with the grateful gesture of saying “Thank you”), it make you want to do it again. We learn to open doors for others, assist others in simple tasks like helping someone into a car or carrying in groceries or sharing an umbrella. When we are nice to others, others are nice to us. Courtesy is catching!
When you practice courtesy you serve as a model to others who, in turn, become courteous.
Discussion: Describe courteous acts that you have performed. On the highways we can sometimes say “Thank you” by waving a hand. However, at night this method doesn’t work. The National Highway Courtesy Code was developed to solve this problem.
Assignment: “Pay It Forward.” Many people remember a popular movie entitled, “Pay It Forward.” The theme of the movie was to do something kind for someone else. Our mission as Road Rage Rangers/Riders is to teach others to be courteous on our highways. Start an e-mail list, and tell others that you have found the Road Rage Rangers/Riders. Your mission is to teach others how to use the National Highway Courtesy Code. Remember, courtesy requires a reward. It becomes your responsibility as a Road Rage Ranger/Rider to teach others to be courteous and to reward courteous acts by using the National Highway Courtesy Code.
Note to Team Leader: As you have taught this program you no doubt have engaged in the process of becoming a courteous driver. To recognize your commitment to changing the way we drive from aggression and danger to courtesy and safety, you are awarded the official Certified Courteous Driver decal. Place it on your back window.
Instruct the kids in your program to keep records of confirmed courteous acts on the highways. As soon as an adult driver has participated in a minimum of 10 acts of courtesy (including incidents in which they have been courteous or have been the recipients of courteous acts and then used the National Highway Courtesy Code to say “Thank you”), they may receive the Certified Courteous Driver decal to place on the rear window of their vehicle.
Assignment: Begin to record all acts of courtesy on the highways, and submit the names of adult drivers whom you feel deserve the Certified Courteous Driver award.
True Stories About Courtesy:
A driver was stranded along the side of the road. His car was disabled. A man and his wife drove by, saw that the driver needed assistance, and helped the man get his car fixed. The driver offered to pay the man and his wife, but they refused. “Thank you” was all that they required. A few weeks later, the man and his wife who had helped the stranded driver were notified that someone had completely paid off the mortgage for their home. It was the driver whom they had helped. The driver’s name was Donald Trump. When we are kind to others, kindness always finds its way into our lives.
A driver was traveling on a busy Interstate highway. It had been raining most of the day. It was about dark, and it was hard to see the highway signs clearly. At the last minute the young driver saw the sign for his exit. He was in the left lane, and the right lane was filled with bumper-to-bumper traffic. He was nervous about getting into the other lane to make his exit. A courteous driver, seeing the young man’s dilemma, slowed and motioned for him to merge. The young driver made the turn and was thankful. He threw up his hand to say “Thank you,” but it went unnoticed. The rain and darkness made it impossible to say “Thank you.” The young driver never forgot that act of courtesy. He went on to develop the National Highway Courtesy Code and present this program. His name is Jerry Beasley.
