Tony At 10: THE DRIVING BIRD; BLOG # 2065; DEC. 30, 2016

THE MESSAGE:

THE SELFISH DRIVER, AKA, STUPID MAN:

The most infuriating part of any day occurs when I am required to get behind the wheel of a car. The city traffic, street construction, the missed lights, the dude trying to make a right turn but forced to wait for pedestrians who ignore their signals. — it seems pedestrians, street cars, buses, city planners and condo contractors have conspired to give me hypertension and loss of control. I become anxious, impatient, angry and......well stupid.

My anger is also incited by other drivers I encounter. They range from the lane blockers to the timid or clueless knobs who don’t move fast enough to get out of my way. I’m exasperated when a dipstick refuses to allow me access to his lane, or when that same person remains oblivious to the solid line of traffic thus blocking an access for oncoming drivers.

These incidences are infuriating and my reactions to them are far from comical. My wife pouts visibly and my grandchildren, when they accompany me, tell me that I need to calm down. It is then that that I realize the need to be less selfish. Most of the daily events that upset me are not really designed to do so.

Annoying things happen. Rationally, I understand and reminded myself of this fact repeatedly.

So what if I am held up by unexpected traffic, or an accident or a police road check. Nobody does these things on purpose to cause me grief. Believing that everything revolves around yourself, is a heavy, weighted-down way to drive. Besides, what gives stupid man the right to get upset at anybody else? Whether it's the dude who needs his licence revoked, or the person who never signals, or that delivery truck blocking a lane of traffic, or the number of red lights on a busy street; they’re not carrying out some intentional disruption of stupid man's day. They’re just trying to get somewhere, and do their job.

Just settle down! Better yet! Let your wife drive!

THE BLURB:

ROAD RAGE

Road Rage Quiz on Aggressive Driving

Do you regularly drive over the speed limit, or try to "beat" red lights because you are in a hurry?
Do you tailgate or flash your headlights at a driver in front of you that you believe is driving too slowly?
Do you honk the horn often?
Do you ever use obscene gestures or otherwise communicate angrily at another driver?

Many times when a road rage incident occurs it is because the person was under stress in other areas of their life. The addition of congested traffic can add to stress, which then explodes when it is perceived someone else on the road has acted in an aggressive way, whether intentional or not.

Road Rage Statistics

66% of traffic fatalities are caused by aggressive driving.
37% of aggressive driving incidents involve a firearm.
Males under the age of 19 are the most likely to exhibit road rage.
Half of drivers who are on the receiving end of an aggressive behavior, such as horn honking, a rude gesture, or tailgating admit to responding with aggressive behavior themselves.
Over a seven year period, 218 murders and 12,610 injuries were attributed to road rage.
One scary statistic worth noting is: 2% of drivers admit to trying to run an aggressor off the road

How to Handle Road Rage

If you find that you have agitated another driver, whether the fault is truly yours or not, do not react or retaliate to the other driver on the road. This will only cause the situation to escalate. Remind yourself that the other driver is just bad at handling stress, avoid eye contact and continue to practice safe driving habits.

Unfortunately, it does not look like this problem is going away any time soon. All you can do is be a considerate, aware driver that follows the rules of the road. While it may be difficult in the heat of the moment, do not give in to feelings of anger or rage on the road. Think twice before you honk the horn or flip that finger, because you never know what may set off the person in the cars around you. Getting home safely is more important than teaching someone a dangerous lesson.

ROAD RAGE IN LITTLE ROCK, ARK.

A 3-year-old boy being taken on a shopping trip by his grandmother was killed in a road rage shooting when a driver opened fire on the grandmother’s car because he thought she “wasn’t moving fast enough at a stop sign,” police said.

The boy and his grandmother were at the stop sign in southwest Little Rock on Saturday evening when a driver apparently angry about the delay stepped out of his car and opened fire, police said. The boy was struck by gunfire at least once, they said. The grandmother, who wasn’t struck, drove away and called police from a shopping centre.

ROAD RAGE ON HIGHWAY 401 IN MISSISSAUGA

This incident ended in a fiery crash, a woman being knocked unconscious and a man being taken to hospital. Andrei Sisu, 22, of Kitchener, was granted bail in Brampton court in relation to that case. He has been charged with drug possession, dangerous driving, breaching recognizance and a number of Highway Traffic Act offences.

The female occupant of the car said this, “The six bikers cut right in front of my boyfriend's vehicle. Everyone was honking, honking, honking for them to go but they would not, so we pulled into the emergency shoulder and told them to move and he said F- you to me.” She went on to say, "The two kept arguing as they drove down the highway at about 100 kilometres-an-hour." At one point, she noticed the biker was inching closer to her vehicle. He then smashed her side mirror and left it dangling off the car.

The woman said at that point, her boyfriend was able to head off the highway using the Dixie Road off-ramp with the motorcyclists on their tail. Despite her boyfriend urging her not to, the woman got out of the car to confront the bikers. That’s when the tension escalated into violence.

“I got out of the car and went up to one of them and asked who had hit the mirror,” she said. “I looked around, no one would give me any information. None of the bikes had license plates except one. Only one license plate out of six bikes. They’re all wearing black.”

She said she finally recognized the biker who broke the mirror, went up to him and grabbed him by the back of his neck, demanding to know his name. That’s when she was punched in the face and stumbled to the ground unconscious.

Police say a woman and man in Volkswagen Golf tried to move around a group of motorcyclists who were stunt riding and popping wheelies when there reportedly was an exchange of words between the occupants of the vehicle and at least one of the motorcyclists. A witness reported that someone in the vehicle threw a plastic drinking cup at one of the motorcyclists.

There was damage to the vehicle as a result of “mischief” from one of the motorcyclists and a brief altercation occurred when the motorcyclists and the car took the Dixie Road exit. It appears that the woman who had been driving the vehicle was assaulted after she left her car and argued with one of the riders. She was reportedly punched and knocked unconscious.

The male in the vehicle then either chased the group of motorcycles or was being chased by them. The car crashed near Aerowood Drive, rolled over and burst into flames, according to reports. The male driver was taken to hospital with head injuries and fractured shoulders by Peel Region Paramedics. He was later charged by the OPP who continue to look for the motorcyclists involved in the incident.

WINDSOR, ONTARIO ROAD RAGE,

On August 22, 2012, 52-year-old Windsor, Ontario, resident Allen Lucier and his 82-year-old friend were out driving around. They encountered a red Pontiac that cut them off. The 82-year-old, who was driving, honked his horn in response.

Both vehicles stopped at an intersection near Tim Hortons. The Pontiac was blocking the crosswalk, where an elderly man in a wheelchair was trying to cross. The men in the Pontiac started yelling at the pedestrian. Lucier yelled back at them to leave the man alone.

At that point, the Pontiac’s passenger got out and approached Lucier, yelling and swearing at him. He came up to the window, reached in, grabbed Lucier’s coffee, and poured it all over him. Lucier got out of his friend’s minivan. He was then tackled, picked up, and thrown to the ground. After a short scuffle, Lucier was able to pin the man down.

His 82-year-old friend came over to de-escalate the situation, but he was hit in the head by the driver of the Pontiac. The driver and passenger then began to attack Lucier, kicking him as he lay on the ground, curled up in a ball in an attempt to protect himself. The men ran back to car and fled the scene.

The attack left Lucier with a cut to his right eye and bridge of his nose, as well as scrapes on his back and elbow. His friend suffered a swollen face and deep scrapes to his elbow and knees. Acting on a tip, police were able to locate the suspects, 30-year-old Wayne Schreiner and his 21-year-old brother, John. Both were arrested and charged with two counts of assault. They were sentenced to 60 days in jail followed by two years’ probation.

Hobart Austin was a passenger in a SUV in Atlanta with a woman and three children, when they got into an altercation with a driver in a blue Taurus. The Taurus followed the SUV to a nearby mall and the driver opened fire. The shots blasted through the windows, and tragically killed Noah, a German Shepherd. Witnesses say had Noah not been in the car, the bullets would have hit the children, so at least he died a heroic death

THE QUESTION: