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Yes, I just hadn't picked that up. My perception of 'road rage' was coloured by remembering the murder (on a motorway somewhere) that I think brought the term into the collective consciousness. As it was such a big and scandalous story at the time, it didn't occur to me that it wasn't representative of what perhaps is the more common perception of 'road rage'.
Oliver Schick-
Hmmm - I can see why that would shape your perception! I suppose the trouble is that it's one of those assumed universals that actually turns out to differ wildly depending on who you talk to and where you are. We're too used to the idea that you might happen to get into a yelling match with someone that you're near - can you imagine if it happened on foot with such regularity?!
In any case, speaking as someone who drives occasionally and rides a bike regularly, you've just got to take a deep breath and try to avoid falling into the trap of thinking of it as permissible I suppose...
p:m:h
I suppose in the same way that the term 'accident' became commonplace for crashes / incidents involving cars, since it absolves a lot of the need to imply responsibility to an individual for what's gone on.
If I recall, there's a growing trend to stop being using 'accident' and instead use 'incident' (I think). It makes it sound a lot less like crashing into one another is somehow a given...