DATE: Friday, July 18, 1997                 TAG: 9707180617

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: HEARST NEWSPAPERS 

DATELINE: WASHINGTON                        LENGTH:   46 lines

``ROAD RAGE'' IS A KILLER, HIGHWAY OFFICIAL WARNS HOUSE PANEL

Most fatal auto crashes result from aggressive driving - ``road rage'' - and the danger of being killed by angry or frazzled drivers will increase as congestion worsens on U.S. roads, transportation officials told Congress on Thursday.

``Aggressive driving is taking its toll on America's highways, and these drivers must be stopped,'' Ricardo Martinez, head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, told a House transportation subcommittee.

Road rage, or stress-induced aggression behind the wheel, has contributed to an increase in highway deaths over the past four years, reversing a steady decline earlier in the decade, Martinez said.

In 1996, one-third of total crashes and two-thirds of auto deaths were attributed to road rage, he said.

Stressed-out drivers are more likely to speed, tailgate, fail to yield, weave in and out of traffic, pass on the right, make unsafe lane changes, run stop signs and red lights, make hand and facial gestures, scream, honk or flash their lights, he said.

Allan Williams, senior vice president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, reported that at a typical Arlington, Va., intersection, a car runs a red light every 12 minutes. During rush hour, a motorist runs a red light every five minutes, he said.

Most aggressive drivers are ordinary people who undergo a psychological change when they get behind the wheel and experience stress, said David Snyder, a lawyer for the American Insurance Association.

``The anonymity that a car provides shields these drivers from having their identities readily revealed,'' he said.

Because traffic jams are the predominant cause of road rage, worsening congestion on American roads is likely to lead to more aggressive driving, Martinez said.

Since 1987, the number of miles logged by drivers has increased by 35 percent, while the number of miles of road has increased only 1 percent, according to the Department of Transportation.

The result: Many more drivers are competing for highway space.

Martinez urged building new roads and adding lanes to existing highways to reduce congestion and driver stress. He also recommended harsher penalties for aggressive drivers, public service announcements and additional police surveillance.

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