What is it about drivers that when they get behind the wheel of their vehicle, they become angry and threatening.
I have to assume that the reason this is so common is that few of them are ever charged with road rage, unless one actually rams the other. As long as the rager just cuts someone off or honks or gives hand gestures, he or she is pretty safe from prosecution.
The definition of assault, historically, has been the threat of physical injury. While battery was the completed act of physical contact, but many states no longer differentiate between the two.
However, if you pull a gun or a knife on someone, you will generally be in trouble.
So why do drivers get away with threatening other drivers with their vehicles? A couple of tons of steel moving at 60 mph is as deadly as a bullet.
And a lot more drivers threaten other drivers compared to the number of gunmen who threaten other people.
I have never been threatened by a gun or a knife. But I have experienced at least three instances of road rage in the last week.
So what is the answer? Police patrols seem to be shrinking, not growing.
Perhaps it is as easy as mounting a simple video camera/GPS on the dash of cars with a start button on the steering wheel. The camera, when activated, would automatically record the place, date and time.
In all of the instances of road rage threats against me, I could have easily video-recorded the rager driving too close and cutting me off. And, I would have had a clear shot at their license plate.