A look into road rage

[Liberty]

The economy is driving (no pun intended) people over the edge. A guy in the Friendswood/League City area off-ed himself the other day with a handgun in his house. His wife was pregnant (about 5 months I believe) and he had lost his job. Some people look for a way out and only hurt themselves...others want to take as many with them as possible. Terribly sad.

Most of them don't really hurt just themselves,

[BigRon]

Jeff Cooper said it best, "An armed society is a polite society." If you know the guy in the car ahead is liable to blast you if you get stupid with him, you might be more inclined to leave him alone.

[seamusTX]

I drive and ride my bicycle assuming that every other driver is an armed lunatic.

- Jim

[LaserTex]

Lost his job, bad economy, had a bad hair day, whatever. If you have decided to kill yourself, then do it - just leave everyone else out of it. Driving the opposite direction on the freeway trying to crash into innocent people is just plain chicken!!

Doug

[seamusTX]

I don't know what made this guy snap. He didn't leave a note. He had physical illness and other problems, but from what I've heard his situation was not overwhelmingly bad.

I can see how someone who feels that he has gotten the short end of the stick might want to take other people with him. Usually it's their family or ex-spouse.

This stuff never makes sense. a 17-year-old boy killed himself in Texas City last week. A kid that age can't have problems bad enough to be solved by suicide.

- Jim

[Keith B]

This stuff never makes sense. a 17-year-old boy killed himself in Texas City last week. A kid that age can't have problems bad enough to be solved by suicide.

- Jim

The big problem with teens is they can have depression issues and folks not realize it. During the teen years they can also have wild hormonal swings which affects their mood drastically. It is not uncommon for a teen to not talk to their parents, and the parents kind of leave them to themselves. Unfortunately that causes parents to miss signs that might lead them to recognize there is a serious issue and get it addressed. Also, many teens are very immature and don't really think through things. What really may be a small issue to many seems like a giant one to them and think it is just easier to end it than to try and fix the problem or ask for help.

[WildBill]

This stuff never makes sense. a 17-year-old boy killed himself in Texas City last week. A kid that age can't have problems bad enough to be solved by suicide. - Jim

Remember, this happened last November. It never seems to make any sense. http://www.texasshooting.com/TexasCHL_F ... t=+mueller" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[seamusTX]

I remember that.

- Jim

[fickman]

The big problem with teens is they can have depression issues and folks not realize it.

This brings up an interesting point. . . there is at least one anti-depressant drug that has an initial side effect (for the first six months or so) of a significantly increased tendency towards suicide.

Just a reminder for people to know what the side effects of any new prescriptions you take might be - and possibly disarm for a few weeks or months until you know for sure that you have no adverse side effects, interactions, or otherwise. Be aware (as in any case) of anybody in your household who could potentially access across your firearms and might be taking a new prescription.

I think reminding each other to keep our guns out of reach of others is as important as constantly reminding one another of the four rules. One more time won't hurt.

[seamusTX]

Saturday, an Irving motorist approached a vehicle to discuss a dispute over a parking place. Someone in the vehicle shot him with fatal results.

The vehicle was found abandoned. Police are searching for suspect.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... 85ee2.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This is what a human life is worth to some people: a parking space.

- Jim

[seamusTX]

Another case: Asheville, North Carolina, yesterday, midday -- A man was riding a bicycle with his 3-year-old son in a child seat on a busy road. A firefighter who was driving by stopped to admonish the cyclist for putting the child in danger.

The two men argued. The cyclist walked away, and the firefighter allegedly shot him. The bullet penetrated the cyclist's helmet.

The firefighter was arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder. Police said he was not under the influence of any drugs or alcohol at the time of the shooting and has no prior criminal record.

http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs. ... /907270323" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

- Jim

[mr.72]

Another case: Asheville, North Carolina, yesterday, midday -- A man was riding a bicycle with his 3-year-old son in a child seat on a busy road.

AFAIK, Asheville, like Austin, has a larger than average population of cyclists and might invite more altercations between cyclists and drivers such as this.

I think one major element of "road rage", particularly when it concerns bicycles, is pride and ego. Many drivers just cannot tolerate being passed or seeing someone else on the road find some advantage through traffic that they have not found, etc. I think this is one foundational element between drivers and cyclists, when drivers see a cyclist whiz by stopped traffic on the shoulder and they get angry because they are stuck there in their car, or they figure since they are in a car they should at least be able to get where they are going faster than a cyclist. This extends to these guys who have a car or, particularly around here, a truck that is a crutch to prop up their egos and they just are offended that some spandex-clad sissy thinks they can share the road that belongs to real men with trucks.

I also see this a lot to a lesser extent since I drive a small sports car which can be moved much more easily through traffic compared to a big truck, etc. Drivers of big trucks sometimes seem to want to feel like they can intimidate drivers of smaller vehicles so I get these knuckleheads occasionally acting out. In fact even last night some redneck decided it was necessary to pull behind me at a red light on a busy highway, turn on his high-beams and shout obscenities. I don't exactly know what his problem was. For all I know he had the wrong car. I was pulling into a gas station after the red light and I was glad he didn't decide to take his argument into the parking lot and get out of his car and try and intimidate me with a crowbar. I'd sure hate to have to shoot somebody just because he is an egotistical donkey who can't control his temper and does something stupid like trying to get even over some perceived traffic misdeed.

[Abraham]

Big Ron,

Jeff Cooper didn't originate the quote regarding an armed/polite society etc.

Mr. Cooper was quoting Robert A. Heinlein.

(heck, I thought Mark Twain originated the quote, shows what I know...)

[seamusTX]

I think one major element of "road rage", particularly when it concerns bicycles, is pride and ego.

I agree with that. I ride a bicycle. When I lived in Chicago, I had drivers do things that could have killed me, like swerve so that their mirror hit me. I just lucked out.

(Galveston is more laid back, and I know how to get where I'm going on lightly traveled streets.)

This didn't seem to be the case here, though. To be completely judgmental about it, it seems the firefighter thought he could give the cyclist unsolicited advice, and lost it when the cyclist was not sufficiently grateful.

Did the cyclist provoke the firefighter verbally? Maybe. Probably. But that is never grounds for violence.

BTW, the story says that there were uninvolved witnesses.

- Jim

[casingpoint]

Drivers of big trucks sometimes seem to want to feel like they can intimidate drivers of smaller vehicles so I get these knuckleheads occasionally acting out.

LOL. Many of them talk about it on the CB radio network to other truckers as it happens. Four wheeler drivers would be shocked if they were suddenly informed of the derogatory mind set of many truckers regarding cars. But it does seem one is under constant assault by the "little people." After a while, it's like the same car is working on you all the time. That's the point at when they start to loose it. Truckers traumatic stress syndrome? Is there a workers comp code for that?