Automobile driving and aggressive behavior have had an extensive association. Themes of dominance and territoriality have long been part of automobile driving, which has also involved flagrant assaultive actions. Recent episodes of roadway violence in metropolitan areas have raised community concern about aggressive behavior in driving, although common beliefs about why such violence occurs can be seen as pseudoexplanations. Various themes in the psychology of aggression are presented as they pertain to automobile driving. Convergent factors in contemporary urban life that influence roadway aggression are discussed, and it is asserted that such behavior is more prevalent than commonly recognized.

Aggression and the automobile have had a long standing association, yet research on aggressive behavior has neglected the roadway context. This chapter reviews existing work which has included archival analysis, field interview studies, personality research, and field experiments. Among the recurrent themes have been the relationship between aggressivity in driving to accident liability and to violence in the larger social context. Validity issues in road aggression research are discussed, and a typology of roadway aggression is presented. The typology maps a range of contemporary forms, most of which have never been investigated scientifically and have received sparse academic attention otherwise, despite having high social and scientific relevance. Disinhibiting influences that heighten the probability of roadway aggression are discussed.