Rising road rage cases in India: A deadly consequence of frustration & neglect
India is witnessing a troubling rise in road rage incidents, with what often begins as a minor disagreement escalating into violent altercations, sometimes ending in death. Frustrations on the road, fuelled by congestion and impatience, are increasingly leading to physical confrontations. In extreme cases, these incidents have turned deadly, leaving behind a trail of victims.
Newspapers and social media platforms are replete with incidents of road rage on the pettiest of disputes or accidents on the roads. One such incident that unfolded on Sunday night in Shahdara’s GTB Enclave, 22-year-old Anurag, a resident of Harsh Vihar, lost his life, while his friend Rinku was injured. The two were heading home on a motorcycle when their vehicle grazed another bike with three riders in Dilshad Garden. The minor brush quickly devolved into a violent confrontation, with the trio attacking and stabbing Anurag and Rinku multiple times. Despite attempts by a nearby police patrol to intervene, Anurag succumbed to his injuries at the hospital, while Rinku remains hospitalised.
This is not an isolated case. Road rage is increasingly becoming a common and dangerous phenomenon across Indian cities, claiming more lives and leaving many injured. Cases like this have been reported with growing frequency, including a fatal stabbing in Gurgaon earlier this year, where a small collision led to deadly violence.
Most of the road rage incidents go unreported. They are mostly resolved between the disputing parties with or without police or public intervention or the parties just go their ways leaving it unresolved and subsequently forgotten.
Road rage, according to experts, is a sudden expression of anger triggered in a motorist in reaction to the behaviour of other motorists or pedestrians on the road. But some shocking ones come into the limelight, with almost everyone equipped with a smartphone and present on social media platforms to “spread the news” with videos of shocking scenes of violent behaviour.
Traffic congestion in India has become synonymous with road rage, where anger and frustration build up to dangerous levels, often pushing individuals to harm others either deliberately or out of sheer impulse.
These incidents, ranging from deadly assaults to brutal physical confrontations, illustrate the dangerous consequences of unchecked anger on India’s congested streets.
“I have always considered myself a calm person, someone who avoids conflict. However, there have been moments on roads where even I have found myself on the edge. It is not that I want to engage in arguments, but when someone suddenly cuts you off, honks aggressively as if they own the road, or tailgates you for kilometres, it is hard not to react. The frustration builds up and before you know it, you are raising your voice, maybe even stepping out of the car to confront the other driver. These are situations I never imagined myself being in, but the chaos on the roads seems to bring out the worst in all of us,” Mohammad Waqas, 26-years-old student of Bengaluru University, tells Media India Group.
“I have had a few close calls in terms of arguments that could have easily escalated into something physical if not for one of us backing down. It is terrifying to think how a minor incident, like someone refusing to let you pass or speeding past you recklessly, can spiral out of control. No matter how patient you try to be, the stress of navigating through this city’s traffic wears you down. Sometimes, it feels like we are all just waiting for that final straw to snap and that is when things get dangerous,” Waqas adds.
According to road safety studies, everyday 3,500 people die due to road rage globally. This means every year, there are 50 million injuries and 1.3 million road accidents deaths occur globally which are preventable. Both the long and short term implications of these accidents affect not only the person injured, but also their families and the economy.
According to a study, the economic cost associated with road traffic accidents in India is upto USD 38.81 billion which is equivalent to 1.35 pc of GDP.
According to Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, the total number of road rage and rash driving cases was 1,55,000 in 2019 and it jumped to 1,83,000 cases in 2020. In 2021 the number of cases increased to 215,000.
Netizens says road rage should be treated as a separate crime altogether and laws should be made to deal with the issue as a whole
“There is no term like road rage in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and therefore no mention of punishment or fine for such cases. The traffic police register cases that involve violence or brawl in the traffic or of voluntarily causing hurt to others under various sections of the IPC,” Anil Kumar, Traffic Inspector, Bengaluru tells Media India Group.
To provide deeper insights into the legal and societal implications of road rage, Human Rights Advocate Choudhary Ali Zia Kabir highlights the systemic issues that fuel such violent encounters. Kabir believes that road rage incidents reflect deeper frustrations embedded within social inequality and infrastructure problems. He also emphasises the urgent need for stricter legal enforcement and a broader understanding of the societal pressures that trigger such aggression.
“Aggressors could be booked for causing hurt, criminal intimidation, criminal assault, grievous hurt, and even attempted murder, depending on the severity. Offenders could also be sued for physical and emotional damages. Of course, implementation is apathetic, evidenced by unabated incidents and recent trends of flaunting about them, as we have recently seen social media reels where some car driving influencer knocked a biker, and another where a biker sprayed some foam on an elderly cyclist. Now, a road is but a reflection of society, and freer, because there is relative anonymity, whatever happen you could just drive away without looking back. So, people behave freer, express more rage, then they would in their own locality. These are not just criminal incidents, but symptoms of broader frustrations of degraded public infrastructure, social alienation and economic inequality. The cyclist abused by the biker, biker by car driver, and a car driver by the expensive car driver. People are less respectful towards taxis then private cars. Every incident of road rage violates the victim’s right to safety and dignity leaving physical and psychological trauma,” Kabir tells Media India Group.
“Law should be very seriously implemented. At the same time, we must evolve to recognise systemic pressures that precipitate these incidents, merely punishing individuals without addressing the root causes is not enough. If we address systemic inequality in society, so many of our problems would be solved. But in the more immediate we may move towards better urban planning, public transport infrastructure, and educational programmes that teach conflict resolution as part of driving education. Our failure to do so reflects a systemic disregard for the human costs of an increasingly aggressive and unequal society,” Kabir adds.
Despite attempts by the government to tighten the process of obtaining driving permits, currently, anybody can get a driving licence through middlemen with an alleged nexus with officials and driving schools. Over 30 pc of drivers of commercial and goods vehicles don’t have licences and lack basic knowledge of traffic rules and safety.
“Licenses are being handed out too easily and in many cases, individuals are driving without even having one. This lack of proper vetting and inadequate traffic education leads to drivers on the road who don’t possess basic knowledge of traffic rules or defensive driving. It is a recipe for disaster. We need stricter regulation of the licensing process and better traffic education to prevent such incidents from escalating into violent confrontations,” says Kabir.
He says that the alarming rise in road rage highlights the urgent need for stricter laws, better traffic education, and improved infrastructure. Addressing the underlying frustrations and inequalities in society is key to preventing such violent incidents and ensuring safer roads for everyone.