'Don't pull over' in the midst of a road rage incident, trooper advises

An angry honk and hand gesture might be the extent of it.

But sometimes an aggressive driving situation fuels a motorist’s anger and it escalates into a potentially dangerous encounter. Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Adam Reed said such incidents can carry serious legal ramifications, ranging from a summary citation to the possibility of felony charges, such as if a handgun is used or flashed or if another motorist is hurt.

“I think somebody that’s prone to road rage is also prone to aggressive driving,” he said.

Locally, police have investigated several instances of road rage in recent months and years, including one during Fourth of July weekend in which an off-duty Oakdale police officer was killed. Authorities said he had an encounter with another motorist on Route 28 and drove to his parents’ home in Blawnox to try to get help when he was fatally shot.

A woman was hurt in November when she was shot by another driver on the Pennsylvania Turnpike near New Stanton. In both cases, the suspected shooters were arrested.

Two drivers were cited in a miles-long road rage incident in Salem in March, and the following month, a Latrobe man was arrested after state police said he got out of his car at a red light and began punching another vehicle.

In 2020 in Pennsylvania, there were 5,615 aggressive driving-­related crashes, which are defined as having two or more factors, such as speeding and running a stop light. That year, there were 91 fatalities and 401 suspected serious injuries in crashes related to aggressive driving, according to PennDOT.

Data for 2021 showed an increase in fatalities — 126 — from crashes involving aggressive driving.

There are ways to stay safe during an aggressive driving or road rage situation, Reed said. He advised motorists to not engage with the angry driver and avoid eye contact and hand gestures while staying calm.

“Don’t pull over because it’s likely that they’re going to pull over with you,” he said. “If your instincts tell you the situation is becoming unsafe, don’t hesitate to call 911.”

If that is the case, police will need a registration plate and description of the offending vehicle and its driver, he said. In instances where vehicles might be parking or coming to a stop, stay inside with doors locked and windows up.

A 2016 study from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that the majority of drivers had engaged in an aggressive driving behavior over the past year, with the most common being tailgating another vehicle, yelling at another driver or honking their horn in annoyance or anger.

Male drivers were more likely to report those kinds of behaviors than females. Less than 4% of survey takers reported escalating behaviors — exiting their vehicle to confront another driver and intentionally bumping or ramming another vehicle.

Many of those who participated in the study said they believed aggressive driving was becoming increasingly problematic. Aggressive driving played a role in 56% of fatal crashes between 2003 and 2007, according to data tracked by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

A 2021 survey conducted by insurance comparison site The Zebra showed that 1 in 4 motorists keeps a weapon or safety device in their vehicle.

Michele Mattis, director of behavioral sciences for Excela Health’s Latrobe Family Medicine Residency Program, said there can be many factors that might play into a driver’s behavior turning aggressive, and correlations between certain feelings and acting on them are being studied. Those can range from a genetic predisposition, such as anxiety or low tolerance for stressful situations, to environmental factors like an abusive past or exposure to violence, though Mattis said generalizations are difficult to make.

“These experiences may increase the likelihood of aggressive behaviors as an adult but, again, are not the direct cause of driving decisions,” she said.

There is evidence that individuals who can recognize they are driving aggressively may be able to use therapy, relaxation techniques and empathy training to stop the behavior, Mattis said. Some studies have shown that medication could be used to reduce feelings such as irritability, anxiety and impulsiveness that might fuel aggressive driving, she said.

“Do your best to de-escalate,” Reed said. “The more you escalate a situation makes for greater chances” that the other driver will as well.