Greater Miami in Another Top Ten List
The Road Rage problem hit close to home over the weekend, when one of our readers was intentionally hit by an enraged driver in West Miami. We were again shocked on hearing of a similar incident in Boca, as well. In both incidents, police came to the scene and left without giving a ticket or considering a charge.
The South Florida Bike Coalition is seeking partners to help plan a peaceful gathering of people on foot, on bike and in cars to bring attention to a perceived lack of law enforcement that may be fueling acts of road rage by condoning them. Here is an excerpt:
It is not tourists or old people, immigrants or kids that make our streets the worst in the nation; it is a culture of speed and fear coupled with lack of law enforcement. Driving in South Florida is scary. How many of you have not been in an collision of some kind? Distracted, drunken, aggressive, illegal driving are all commonplace here. Police seem to be focused on bigger or worse crimes but this driving behavior is spawning another increasing trend: Road Rage.
Road rage is not distracted or aggressive driving. Road rage happens when someone becomes so unhinged that threatening to kill another person and/or attempting to harm another with a deadly weapon (typically one’s car) feels normal, justified and okay.
Read the full story at SouthFloridaBikeCoalition.org. Comment here below or join the discussion at facebook.com/SFBikeCoalition.
Is Road Rage one reason why you maybe support transit? What can be done to calm the people who literally go crazy behind the wheel? Is this anywhere near as important as ineffective road design that encourages speeding and discourages paying attention? Perhaps the two are intertwined?
2 Responses to Repost: Responding to Road Rage
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There are two great columns by Bob Mionske on road rage in Bicycling magazine:
http://bicycling.com/blogs/roadrights/2009/07/23/what-is-road-rage/
http://bicycling.com/blogs/roadrights/2009/07/30/how-should-you-respond-to-road-rage/
His advice boils down to:
1. Refuse to engage in conflict.
2. Get contact information for witnesses, document the incident with photos, and report what happened to law enforcement.
3. If you are under physical attack or an attack is imminent you are entitled to defend yourself but do not give away your legal rights or the moral high ground by giving in to violence.
4. Be an ambassador for cycling with non-cyclists, drivers, pedestrians and law enforcement.
Although every incident is different, you should imagine in advance how you might respond if you are ever the victim of road rage so you can act effectively.
Cars make people crazy, i do not think its about the pedestrian or bikers per say. Have you ever been in a car for too long (which everyone in Miami does every single day)?
It drives (literary) one mad. From screaming at someone who cut you off to stressing about being late to work because you keep getting red lights, automobiles are bubbles of stress inducing isolation.
I bet there are very few (if any) drivers who do not scream or sigh at one thing or another on a regular basis. Pedestrians and bikers unfortunately, are easy targets of road rage…