CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) – Road rage is running rampant across the United States, according to AAA, and Central Virginia is no exception.
Aggressive driving is described as unsafe behaviors on the road like weaving through traffic, running traffic lights, tailgating and driving at excessive speeds. But road rage is one step above that. AAA says road rage can range cursing to confrontations sideswiping and even brandishing or using weapons.
“You start to see kind of a beef between drivers, and that can turn into something that it could be cursing, it could be yelling, it could be gestures, or it could be something much more violent.” AAA Mid-Atlantic Spokesperson, Morgan Dean, said.
Across the country, someone is hurt or even killed in a road rage incident every 16 hours, and AAA says this type of violence has been on the rise.
Specifically, shootings in response to road rage have doubled since 2018. In 2022, 554 people were shot in these types of situations across the country.
In Central Virginia, at least two people were shot in road rage incidents since the beginning of this year.
On April 26, a man was shot by someone he didn’t know while driving on Chippenham Parkway in the middle of the day.
About two weeks later, on a 25-year-old woman was shot in the leg while driving near Virginia State University. Two people were later arrested in connection to this shooting.
“We want to do everything that we can as drivers to avoid some of those things, and to be able to identify those people — maybe in the way that they’re driving — and get ourselves away from it,” Dean said.
AAA shared tips to help people avoid road rage altercations. They said to practice polite driving habits, stay calm and lay off the horn. They also add said to be realistic about your travel time, don’t drive under distress and to call 911 if you ever feel threatened.
One local Chesterfield driver tells 8News they’ve experienced aggressive drivers in the past and shares advice on how they deal with it.
“I’ve had people cut me off and flip me off and, you know, be angry, just things that aren’t nice,” Rachel Anderson said. “Just breathe and be calm.”
