936,000 Expected To Cram Onto Jersey Highways

What do you get when you add: Rising temperatures, a holiday weekend, and increasing traffic? You get Memorial Day weekend at the Jersey Shore.

AAA Mid-Atlantic predicts that approximately 936,000 New Jersey residents will travel more than 50 miles this weekend, and most are expected to travel by automobile. 

“The majority of New Jerseyans, 841,000 plan to travel by automobile, this figure is down slightly (.9%) from the 848,000 that drove to their holiday destination last year,” according to Tracy E. Noble, spokesperson for AAA Mid-Atlantic. 

 With gas prices averaging $3.81 a gallon across the Garden State many will find a 'stay-cation' at the Jersey Shore. "Gas prices are keeping a lot of people closer to home. Of course there will be a lot of congestion as there usually is on the Memorial Day Weekend," Noble said.

 With an increase in motorists tempers are bound to flare, and this could result in a bit of road rage. "There will be a lot of people on the road. So everyone should enter the roads with a mindset that is prepared to sit in traffic this weekend," Noble said in a phone interview. "Pack your patience, and pack tools to keep the kids occupied."

AAA Mid-Atlantic is also advising motorists to plan ahead.  They suggest having a GPS system of a map with you that may allow to avoid major highways. "Taking a scenic route may take a little longer, but in the end it may help you keep your cool," Noble said.

Stress and Wellness Expert and Speaker Beverly Beuermann-King has studied road rage for years, and believes road rage is not caused directly by heavy traffic. "Road rage frustration and aggression are not caused by traffic, no matter how heavy. Road rage is a learned cultural habit of retaliation," she said.

Legislation working it's way through the New Jersey statehouse calls for an amendment that would make road rage a third degree criminal offense. Violators would face up to 5 years in jail.  The bill loosely defines "road rage" as including any actions or maneuvers of aggression.

According to King there are four stages of roadway based anger that we need to be aware of:

• The First Degree is a single gesture, curse, or grimace delivered as punishment to another driver.
• The Second Degree involves repeated exchanges of the same, together with diminished awareness of other sensory input, plus impaired judgment.
• The Third Degree involves "highway madness" harassing the other driver through high beams, tailgating, retarding the progress of their vehicle, edging them over, or abruptly stopping in front of them.
• The Fourth Degree is the infliction of intentional injury to the other driver's vehicle or person.

The worst thing you could do is to have confrontation with another driver according to King. "To protect yourself and others, you have to get control of your emotions. It is choice that we need to exercise," she said.

King recommends choosing a safer tactic to overcome your frustration including, "Learning to breathe deeply and often when driving, and acting generously or forgiving on the roads because people do make mistakes," she said.

If you find yourself in a situation with an outraged driver, AAA Mid-Atlantic advises motorists to get out of the other person's way. "Even if you have to sit in a parking lot and let them pass you, or if you feel really unsafe you can always drive to a police station." she said.

Motorists can dial #77 from their cell phones to report agressive driving to the New Jersey State Police.  The #77 Aggressive Driver System should be used to report aggressive or erratic driving that poses a risk to other motorists on the roadway.

King says that the trick to avoid frustration this weekend is to remember you cannot control the drivers around you, "but you can control the way they affect your well-being. Be calm and drive safely," she said.

Motorists seeking the latest traffic alerts are encouraged to call 511 from their mobile phones.