Road rage serious safety threat to all

It’s summertime. People are in a hurry. They’re hot and they’re irritable, and sometimes their bad attitude puts other drivers in danger.

According to the Washington State Patrol, aggressive driving has become a serious public safety threat. Citizens can help, troopers say.

If you see an out-of-control driver, report it.

“Calling 911 is the only way people can get right through to our dispatcher, especially if it’s a road rage incident or a DUI. That’s pretty serious because those things can lead to assaults or possibly collisions, and that affects all of us,” said WSP trooper Jim Hays.

If you have witnessed or been a victim of multiple incidents in one area, you can report aggressive driving online at www.wsp.wa.gov/traveler/agdrvng.htm.

Hays gave this example: Every day you drive to work at the same time, on the same road. On Monday, a blue car cuts you off in traffic. Nothing on Tuesday, but on Wednesday the same car does the same thing to other drivers. You make a note of the car’s color, model and license number and report it.

“We document that and then we have an idea of where folks are seeing the problems. We have the ability with our unmarked cars and our motorcycles to be in places that are more likely to address the aggressive driver issues,” said Hays.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration defines aggressive driving as, “The commission of two or more moving violations that is likely to endanger other persons or property, or any single intentional violation that requires a defensive reaction of another driver.”

It defines road rage as “An assault with a motor vehicle or other dangerous weapon by the operator or passengers of one motor vehicle on the operator or passengers of another motor vehicle caused by an incident that occurred on a roadway.”

Hays said there are pretty significant differences between aggressive driving and road rage but that road rage often begins with aggressive driving.

“When we say ‘road rage collision’ that’s what’s happened. Say someone’s made an improper lane change and the guy behind got angry and did the flying signal finger. Then we see that they follow too close and for some unknown reason somebody hits their brakes and there’s a collision and then there’s an assault – that’s a road rage,” said Hays.

The Washington State Patrol describes these road rage and aggressive driving symptoms:

•Mentally condemning or thoughts of violence toward other drivers.

•Verbally expressing condemnation of other drivers to passengers in your vehicle.

•Not obeying traffic safety rules because you don’t agree with them.

•Engaging in aggressive and risky driving such as following too closely; speeding; weaving in and out of traffic; speeding up to beat a traffic light; cutting between vehicles to change lanes; using the horn excessively; flashing headlights excessively at oncoming traffic; braking to get others to back off your bumper and passing traffic and then slowing to teach the other driver a lesson.

The best thing you can do when you witness this type of driving is to find a safe place to pull off the road, let the person drive by, and then call 911.

Hays said he’s not sure if there are actually more incidents of road rage and aggressive driving during the summer but more people are on the roads and there’s more traffic. Because of this, more people call in with reports, and this brings the problem to light.