What is it about being behind the wheel of a car that turns an ordinary, docile citizen into a snarling, aggressive maniac?
Yet another violent road rage episode has ended tragically, with a 29-year-old father dead ― shot point-blank in the face while his three children watched from the car.
The incident happened in East Oakland on Thursday afternoon, when the father drove around a car that was parked in the middle of the street. The man in the parked car became furious and began yelling obscenities. He then followed the father’s car and rear-ended it.
The two men got out of their cars and argued, according to a news story. The suspect then pulled out a rifle from his car and shot the father in the face in front of his three young children. The father was driven by an adult passenger to the hospital, where he remains in critical, but stable condition.
While this is probably one of the most brutal examples of road rage to be seen, other ― albeit usually less aggressive ― forms of road rage make me wonder why some people turn into the Incredible Hulk as soon as they are enclosed in the protective metal shield of their vehicles.
We think nothing of letting someone through the door first, even smiling as we do it. But once we turn that engine key it becomes every man for himself. The rat race seems to magnify ten-fold, and we fume when someone merges in front of us ― as if that half-second lead means something.
I think people’s behavior changes while driving because a car is a kind of “buffer zone.”
Some people feel like they can get away with a little more ― sort of like having a personal body guard with them. You act more brazenly, more aggressively. You may feel that your accountability lowers as your identity gets blurred in a moving car.
It’s a sad trait of human nature that we do bad things when we think we can get away with them.
Flip off someone standing two feet away and he or she is likely to yell, shove, and possibly, hit. There are repercussions. But flip someone the bird in a car, drive off fast, and the only effect is a good laugh with your friend.
But beware! If you piss off someone who has innate violent tendencies, you might just get shot.
-Elizabeth Kang
Staff Writer
2 Comments
September 3, 2009 at 11:21 am
By definition, Road Rage itself is an act of violence, so it can not ‘turn’ violent. It can only intensify. Just a tip for writing headlines that don’t sound like ‘Reading leads to having read something’.
Another tip would have been to tie Road Rage into a more common, relatable scenario – what happens when you put an ‘ordinary, docile citizen behind’ the internet. The comments people will leave behind when they know there will be no in person reckoning…
September 14, 2009 at 6:23 pm
got shot point blank with a rifle?! In the face?! Umm, that dude should really have learned more self-defense, that’s properly slack.
I do not live in a country where people own guns, or drive cars habitually.
I am a citizen of the EU, I’m in barcelona right now, I’m from and reside in London.
Barcelona has NO cars. The plazas and alleys are a mixture of un-stressed bikes and pedestrians. The main focus of peoples’ attention is looking at cuties. This can sometimes result in a humorous bump into somebody else because somebody wasn’t looking where they were going. People make new friends this way.
London is a bit tougher. Drivers have smashed me off my bicycle at 40mph and I’ve lost yards of skin and a few teeth. Because I’m most english, I simply pick up my bike, and go home.
Were I to meet a parked car complete with occupant in the middle of the street just waiting for an accident, I’d skip to the pavement a block early.
Bet you that rifle dude was on crack or blind drunk.