Road rage reaching new realms

I’m more and more distressed and saddened by the pervasive and ever-growing sense of aggressiveness and hostility I see everyday in this country, our city and in particular, our roadways. Everyone has heard of and or experienced some level of road rage at some point in their life.

I never engage in it, period. Unfortunately, I have experienced accelerated aggressiveness on the I-90 freeway between Spokane and Liberty Lake in the past few weeks. Semi trucks, large pickups in particular, ride up behind me at dangerously close proximity. They then flash their lights and when finally around me, they greet me with obscene gestures.

I travel in the center, “travel” lane at 60-65 MPH consistently. As stated in Section 3, page 16, paragraph 3 of the Washington State driver’s guide; “On a road with 3 or more lanes and with a lot of entering and exiting traffic, use the center lane.”

Rudeness and even anger directed at me rolls off my back pretty easily, but what most concerns me is the dangerousness of these aggressive actions. I’m afraid though that this is just another example of the increasingly uncivil nature that permeates today’s society.

William (Bill) Bancroft

Spokane