1. Find alternative ways to deal with road rage. The person in the other car cannot hear you yelling and calling names, but they can see you. You never know who is packing heat these days, and you don't know, they may have a worse case of road rage then you. Turning road rage into a game of alternately cutting off each other in traffic is not safe for you, the other driver, and the other people on the road.

Put on soothing music or listen to a good book on CD. Find something safe that will distract you from your aggravation, but not from the road.

2. Get off the phone when you get behind the wheel. I believe talking on the cell phone has become habit for some people. Like cranking the car, rolling down the window, or cutting on the radio, some people reach for the cell phone. This may come as a shocker, but back in the days before cell phones, when we used tin cans and strings to communicate, we couldn't talk on the phone in the car. Instead, we used the time to concentrate on driving, think, or have meaningful discussions with the people in the car with us. If your phone calls are work related, I have one question: Are you paid for your commute? Why not keep the phone calls at the office on company time?

3. Increase blinker use and awareness. To the right of your steering wheel there is a small lever. When depressed, or raised, this device turns on your blinker, also known as a turn signal. It signals the car behind you that you are about to make a turn. It warns the driver that you will be slowing down to make that turn. Turn signals are not optional; they are required standard equipment on American vehicles. Turn signals can also be used on the Interstate to warn oncoming traffic that you are changing lanes, or perhaps plan to exit. Blinkers are our friends, use them.

4. Take your time and take your turn. Good planning means that you will be prepared to leave for your destination in plenty of time to arrive without rushing. There is little reason to pull out in front of oncoming traffic, endangering yourself and others. It is especially ridiculous when you will both be stopped in traffic as soon as you pull out. What is the point? You have to be in a big hurry to pull out in front of traffic only to turn off within 100 feet of where you entered the road. Rules of the road are established for everyone's safety. It is not anyone's fault but your own that you are running late. Try not to put everyone else in danger in your rush to be fashionably late.

5. Don't liter. Not only is it a law, your liter makes our community look trashy. I've seen inside your car. You are carrying around three changes of clothes, all kinds of trash and paper liter the floor, but you feel the need to sling your McDonald's cup out the window littering the roadway and spattering Coca-Cola on my windshield. I have to refer myself back to resolution #1 when you throw liter out the window, because I instinctively want to drive up beside your car and throw your litter back in your lap.

For those who justify their littering by declaring, "The inmates need something to do." There is plenty of other community service they could perform if they weren't picking up behind you. Additionally, when you liter on private property the owner has to clean up behind you. How would you feel if someone threw an old Wendy's hamburger and soda in your room every time they passed by?

6. Don't darting in and out between big trucks. Perhaps you haven't thought about it, but even if you drive a one or two ton vehicle, if you have a run-in with a semi who do you think will win? It is extremely stressful for truck drivers in high traffic situations for cars to dart in and out among them. They don't leave space between them and the traffic in front of them for you to dart in and out of. The space is there to allow them adequate braking time in the event of an emergency. So, essentially, if you dart in front of semis, consider yourself driving in their emergency lane and pray they don't have an emergency.

7. Use acceleration lanes appropriately. Acceleration lanes are designed to allow you to pick up speed and merge with on-coming traffic on an interstate or other highway. You place yourself and others in danger when you roll to a stop at the end of an acceleration lane. You lose momentum necessary to safely access the interstate. You also risk being rear-ended by someone who expected you to use the acceleration lane for its purpose, accelerating onto the highway.

8. Obey minimum and maximum speeds. Speed limits and minimums are designed for the safety of you and others. Consider your speed relative to your braking distance. If have four-wheel anti-lock disc brakes you can stop a lot quicker than if you are driving a Pinto. Don't over drive your breaking speed. You never know what lies ahead.

Don't drive too slowly on the interstate. A speeding vehicle may round a turn and run over you. If you do not feel safe and secure driving on the interstate, then find an alternate route. Poking along on the interstate is not only dangerous, but can back up traffic for miles. For your safety and the sanity of thousands of drivers, drive the speed limit.