Every driver gets annoyed. The guy in front is driving slow in the fast lane. Someone cuts you off and then immediately slows down. It happens to all of us. But at what point did simple frustration turn into outright insanity?
According to Barrie Police, a motorist travelling with his children and mother in the car was being tailgated by a Jeep on Hwy 90 on June 13. When both vehicles stopped at a red light at Dunlop and Ferndale, the Jeep driver allegedly pulled alongside, began yelling, and threw a pop can through the open rear window of the family vehicle, striking the motorist’s 14-year-old kid in the face. Think about that for a moment. A moment of road rage escalates so badly that a kid got a can on Monster thrown at their face.
Police haven’t caught the Jeep driver yet, but his vehicle was not some anonymous blob in traffic. It was reportedly a dark grey 2010 to 2015 Jeep Wrangler equipped with oversized mud tires, large yellow KC-style spotlights mounted beside the hood, and a tall roof-mounted radio antenna, like the old CB radios people used to run. That is a pretty distinctive Jeep. It is probably only a matter of time before someone in Barrie recognizes it and makes a call.
What is wrong with people? What was the original “sin” that set this driver off? Was someone driving too slowly? Did they miss an advance green? Did they fail to move quickly enough for the angry man in the lifted Jeep? Whatever happened, there is no excuse for turning a family’s drive into a police investigation.
The road is not a battlefield. A minivan full of people is not the enemy. And there is something deeply wrong with anyone who gets so angry behind the wheel that throwing a can at a child seems like a reasonable next step. Most drivers have lost their patience at some point. Plenty of us have muttered, shouted, honked, or said things from behind the wheel that we would be embarrassed to repeat later.
We have all got somewhere to go. But maybe a little patience would go a long way. Because no momentary inconvenience is worth frightening a family, injuring a kid, or ending up as the subject of a police manhunt.
It’s very bad here too. It seems that Covid took away the ability of many people to think rationally while behind the wheel. I see “monster” trucks and quite a few cars going close to 100 MPH weekly. Extreme road rage is the also at an all time high here!
Be safe out there!
I think it starts with the little things. People being inconsiderate to other drivers. Then it escalates.
For example, I was sitting at the intersection of a small residential street and a large through street, waiting to make the right. I could see a cap approaching in the curb lane, so I waited. When the other guy reached our little intersection, he turned right. No signal, no indication that I could have gone 30 seconds earlier. Not a big deal, but it boiled my blood.
But what’s more common is drivers in large, heavy, invincible vehicles (electric or trucks) that make irrational driving decisions—endangering the other guy. Wild lane changes, cutting off in traffic, etc. But throwing a can at a person is a whole ‘nother level.
Maybe Karma or the law could act soon, or it’s going to get much more tragic.
Imagine throwing a can in anger, and hitting a little kid in the head! That anger wasn’t justified — but you just shudder to think how that could have turned out.