Violence rage between drivers has risen to dangerous numbers across the country. Texas has seen numerous homicides due to road rage incidents.
“Aggressive driving has unfortunately become commonplace, which has led to aggressive acts such as criminal mischief, assault, aggravated assault, and murder,” said Senior Corporal Brian Martinez of the Dallas Police Department.
Martinez said many cases of road rage that escalate are due to drivers taking matters too personally and that we should learn to have more consideration for one another.
“Responding to aggression with aggression is one thing. When drivers escalate the situation and take matters personal that is the recipe for road rage. We must, as a society, be more considerate and forgiving with one and other if we want to put a stop to this,” said Martinez.
Just last week, a teen, 17-year-old David Xavier Castro, was killed while riding in the car with his family leaving a Houston Astros game. He was with his two brothers and father. After a back and forth between the father and the man in a Sedan that involved obscene sign language, the driver of the sedan followed behind the family before opening fire on the truck.
It’s a continuous cycle of murder that the Dallas Police Department is seeing too much of.
“Any murder is too many. With that said, argument/conflict is a primary contributing factor to our current murders rate. Of that, we account for three of those murders where road rage was a factor,” Martinez said.
The Dallas Police Department is working to stop these homicides due to road rage by increasing their presence out on the roads, Martinez said. They are cracking on offenses that could turn into road rage incidents such as drunk driving, speeding, and aggressive driving.
“Stepped-up enforcement of the state’s Transportation Code is a key component of the Dallas Police Department’s goal of creating safer roadways and decreasing the number of victims of road rage-related incidents,” Martinez said.
When asked how drivers can prevent road rage incidents, Martinez gave some tips:
· Don’t tailgate
· Don’t cut a car off
· Don’t do brake checks
· Don’t speed
· Don’t change lanes with signaling or when it is unsafe to do so
· Don’t drive through red lights and stop signs
According to the Texas Department of Transportation Road, rage and aggressive driving could cost you $200 for each separate violation committed. That should be incentive enough to drive with a positive and calm attitude. Yet, police departments throughout the county are still so many of these occurrences.
“Many police departments across the country are seeing an uptick in road rage incidents. So, it is very important to do your part and remember to try and avoid the situation if at all possible. An angry driver can become a dangerous driver with a blink of an eye. Diffuse the situation and don’t let it get to you. It is not worth your life,” Martinez said.
