April 12, 2007
Area's Road Rage Turns Deadly
Maryland State Police are on the lookout for a green pickup truck after yesterday's crash on I-270 that killed two people. Officials say Christian Luciano, 28 and Lindsay Bender, 25, both from Harrisburg, Pa., were in a '98 Sebring when they "began exchanging obscene gestures" with the pickup driver. When the truck swerved in front of the car and hit its breaks, Luciano and Bender ran into the guardrail and were thrown from the car. Both died on the scene. Police suspect road rage was a factor in the incident.
The scenario sounds like a traveler's worst nightmare. In fact, a new survey shows that Washington drivers are more worried about road rage than any other hazard. AAA Mid-Atlantic spokesman John B. Townsend II explains:
Thirty eight percent of all motorists said they feared aggressive drivers and road rage more more than any other thing on the road, including distracted driving, surprisingly, drunk drivers, traffic conditions and even large trucks.
Is D.C. such a tense city that we unleash frustration on the road, or are drivers just paranoid about other Beltway-weary motorists? While the majority of people told AAA that traffic congestion and not poor driving skills are to blame, isn't it the mark of a good driver to calmly and safely operate a vehicle? Those surveyed also agreed that more traffic cameras would help. In a city where highways can be jammed at 4 p.m. and 4 a.m., what else can we do to alleviate each other's fears and make the roads safer for everyone?
Photo by Flickr user esshots.
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Either make people not work as much and be so wound up all the time or legalize the pot so we can all chill.
I don't know, maybe the guy in the truck just wanted the other driver to know how STUPID they were for NOT WEARING THEIR SEAT BELT! Sorry for the yelling, but reading this story doesn't make me worry about the road rage, it makes me wonder at how long people are going to continue to ignore the single most important safety feature in their cars!
I used to get mighty frazzled/enraged while driving in this area, but have adopted a simple mantra that seems to work for me...."you won't get there any faster."
Rather than letting myself get wound up on the road, I've realized that just because I am stuck behind someone driving like an idiot, at most I'll save 10 seconds by passing them. Instead I just try to relax and go at whatever speed traffic is flowing at, making lane changes only when the traffic spacing permits.
It's made my commute much easier to bear, and I can actually enjoy listening to the radio and such, rather than concentrating on how to weave in and out of traffic.
The truck driver hit the breaks, huh? Is that different than the brakes I have on my car?
Cant, I agree with you on the seatbelt thing, but all the footage I've seen shows the convertible upside down and the roof flattened (I think the top was down). At first, I thought the same thing you did, but then I saw the photos and wondered if it was possible to survive such a thing even with your seat belt on.
I think they were ejected from their seats. They died immediately.
I truly hope a witness steps forward so they can identify the truck driver. Two lives were lost in the name of "teaching them a lesson".