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Keller @ Large: Road Rage Virus Is Spreading

BOSTON (CBS) - The website Expedia has released its annual road rage report, and it includes many disturbing findings.

Rude, dangerous behavior by drivers is appallingly common. Eighty-percent of drivers surveyed reported witnessing others weaving in and out of traffic; 77-percent have seen "dangerous speeding"; and comparably large percentages are spotted multitasking behind the wheel, cutting others off, and aggressively tailgating.

No wonder road rage is so common. Close to half of the respondents say they've been hit with "hostile hand gestures," more than a third have been cursed or yelled at, and nearly 15-percent have been confronted by a driver who left their car to express themselves.

We're all trapped in a vicious cycle.

Incompetent, irresponsible, and distracted drivers are so common, they've got us all on edge. Patience wears thin, and vulgar or violent behavior results. The more it happens, the less incentive there is for the calm, responsible driver to remain so. Driver's ed schools may be turning out students with good road manners, but how long will they stay that way?

You know things are really bad when four other cities - New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington - rank ahead of Boston as home to the least courteous drivers. Washington? Really?

Boston drivers always used to be seen as the worst, with good reason. Our instinct for discourtesy was the toxic frosting on a cake baked out of bad weather and bad roads.

But now it seems the road rage virus is spreading all over, even in places with plenty of freeways and no rotaries. Driver-less cars can't get here soon enough.

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