Mad car disease

It was in the summer of 1992 that Britain’s two main motoring organisations, the RAC Royal Automobile Club and the AA (Automobile Association), started to issue warnings about an increase in aggressive behaviour on the roads.

The RAC noted that more and more drivers were losing their temper behind the wheel, and there were reports of fights between motorists.

In Wakefield, West Yorkshire, a 78-year-old man died after he had been punched by a driver half his age during a dispute at a set of traffic lights. In another incident a pedestrian who forced a van driver to brake suddenly was beaten senseless by a vehicle’s two occupants.

(Adapted from Speak Up # 9)

GLOSSARY
to issue warnings – divulgar advertências

“... more and more drivers were losing their temper behind the wheel”, means that drivers