Free Essay About The Effects Of Guns And Cameras On Road Rage Incidents

Recently, there have been news reports about road rage, and how guns and camera phones are intensifying conflicts on U.S. roads. The term road rage is used to describe angry and hostile behavior by motorists, including reckless threatening driving, obscene language and gestures, and even motorists following each other and getting into physical altercations. American motorists are increasingly reporting road rage incidents to police and recent news articles and scientific studies have examined this trend. A recent CNN report “Road rage: Cameras and Guns Only Add to the Problem,” focuses on a Las Vegas mother of four who was killed after a man followed her home and shot her in the head after a road rage incident.
The article suggests that cameras and guns are making road rage more deadly. As more motorists are carrying guns and using cameras to record other drivers, there seems to be increasingly dangerous road rage incidents. The cameras are being used to record dangerous driving, which angers the suspected motorists. On top of this dynamic, there are increasing numbers of motorists carrying firearms. With cameras and guns in the mix, a simple road rage incident, which usually involves swearing or giving a verbal gesture, can quickly escalate into something much more deadly. Motorists carrying guns and cameras are escalating road rage situations, resulting in more violent encounters.
According to CNN, Americans are reporting more road rage encounters than ever before (Payne and Sidner). A survey study published in the International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine showed that one-third of Americans reported a road rage incident. A Washington Post newspaper poll had even more surprising conclusion. Americans report feeling “angrier” on the roads. More than ten percent felt “uncontrollable anger toward another driver" (Payne and Sidner). However, road rage in one form or another has been around since motorists first started sharing the roads. There are two newer societal developments and elements that make road rage more dangerous. First is social media, and the constant use of cell phone to record daily events. In the past, if a motorist cut another driver off, there was usually no way to document the transgression. Today, a motorist can film another driver being aggressive or reckless. This, however, does not seem to be decreasing road rage incidents. In fact, motorists seem to become even more outraged when they are being filmed. Experts advise motorists not to film road rage incidents, and just get away from the scene of the hostility safely. Filming the situation seems to intensify the anger and escalate the encounter in general.
The second societal development that is helping to escalate road rage is guns, which are “just slightly less ubiquitous than cameras these days, drivers face a second far greater risk in road rage incidents” (Payne and Sidner). Obviously, guns do not usually help to defuse hostility or calms drivers down. Using their cameras, motorists have filmed the gun waving drivers. There are multiple videos online that show motorists waving guns, pointing guns and shooting at other cars. In these videos, the suspects often pull out the guns when they see people filming them. The three actions of driving, filming, and waving a gun, turns a road rage situation into an even more incredibly dangerous situation for everyone involved. Everyone involved is at danger, and often the aggressor is arrested or worse. There is a road rage incident available online that shows a motorist confronting another driver who turns out to be Evander Holyfield, the former heavyweight boxing world champion. It is obviously fake, but it sends the right message that you never know who is out there and what they are capable of doing. It also highlights how the issue of road rage is becoming a national problem.
The reasons why cameras and guns make road rage worse are clear. Because road rage is already a volatile situation, guns and cameras just make it worse. Road rage usually involves behavior that is aggressive, consequently, a gun only makes it worse. Furthermore, reckless drivers do not want to be filmed breaking the law, so recording them only infuriates them more. Common sense dictates that drivers should not be waving guns or making live action videos, particularly in the middle of an angry confrontation. According to law enforcement the American Automobile Association spokesperson, what does help to diffuse road rage or keep an incident from escalating is staying calm and leaving the scene as quickly and safely as possible.

Work Cited

Payne, Ed, and Sarah Sidner. "Road Rage: Cameras and Guns Only Add to the Problem - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network, 18 Feb. 2015. Web. 19 Feb. 2015. <http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/18/us/road-rage/>.