Blame it on the irrepressible desire to surge ahead of the rest in a competitive city like Bangalore. Or blame domestic tensions and workplace frustrations. Or the explosion of vehicles on the streets which make driving a nightmare. But you cannot wish away the abusive behaviour of riders and drivers, known simply as road rage, on the City’s streets.

Picking up fights
Riders kick up fights with one another easily and openly during peak hours, presenting a ghastly and frightening sight to others, who become mere bystanders. Some angry souls use swear words, abuse violently or even go to the extent of thrashing anyone who overtakes them! Apart from revealing the rising intolerance among Bangaloreans, such freak incidents also bring to the fore public apathy towards one in trouble.    
Here are samplers that throw light on the madness on streets. These incidents took place in broad daylight on and around MG Road. One Monday morning, a few weeks ago, a scooterist attempted to overtake a BMTC bus. The driver had to screech his brakes to a sudden halt to avoid colliding. Seconds later, the driver parked his bus in the middle of the road and jumped out of his seat. He approached the scooterist with a menacing look, caught the latter by his collar and rained hard blows on him. People on the roads watched the scene but pretended to have not witnessed it.
In another incident, a puny looking guy on a motorbike sped past two hefty men on another motorbike. Lady Luck let him down when the signal, just a few feet away, turned red. The pair caught up with him there and the pillion rider who had a helmet in his hand disembarked from the bike. He then hit the puny chap with the helmet, so hard that his own helmet broke into two. But he did not stop and continued beating the chap. Mercifully, the signal turned green and the victim, too shocked to react, quietly sped away. Though the entire crowd at the junction watched this incident, none came forward to the rescue of the individual.

On the rise
A highly placed traffic official conceded that such incidents are on the rise in the City. “Each rider on the road today looks at another as a kind of imaginary competitor,” he explained. The official also recalled noticing three such incidents during his rounds of important streets on different days. He made sure that those involved were booked for Law and Order offences for disrupting public peace. Such cases can be booked under Section 160 of the Indian Penal Code, he said.
“There are two categories of road rage. Overspeeding is one and display of arrogance is the other. The latter, which goes to the extent of fighting on the streets, is a definite offence and those involved must be penalised for it,” he said.

Booking cases
Earlier, the police used to help the warring parties arrive at a compromise.
“Now, we book a case against every offender who behaves aggressively on the streets,” the official informed.  Statistics relating to this kind of road rage are being documented now.
Professor of Psychiatry at NIMHANS, Dr C R Chandrashekhar attributes road fights to a competitive mindset among public. “With each passing day people are getting more and more frustrated. They are comparing themselves with others and the majority are unhappy. There is much mental depression and anger. These emotionally disturbed people give vent to their emotions on any occasion.” 
To add to it, in present day life, everyone is always in a hurry. “There is also a general lack of respect as well as a feeling of contempt towards one another,” he lamented. Whatever happened to the peace-loving city that Bangalore was not so long ago?