People here are pretty well-behaved on the freeway, and people have learned to keep their cool. Tip of the iceberg Reports of road rage incidents increased nationwide nearly 7 percent per year, growing from 1,129 cases in 1990 to 1,800 in 1996, a second AAA study shows. People have been shot because they drove too slowly or played the radio too loud. On Sunday, a Central Texas road rage shooting left a man with gunshot wounds to his face and throat. This could happen to anyone.
Road rage is much more common than experts originally thought it to be.
Dangerous driving Road rage is increasing because there's more traffic, more stress and more demands on people's time, said Arnold P. Nerenberg, a California psychologist and road rage specialist. Some Texas cities, like Arlington, have programs where police have tried to bring more attention to aggressive drivers. A motorist call-in program has been implemented in Arlington to help reduce frantic driving, according to the study. Countries including Australia, Ireland and Japan are addressing road rage, the AAA study shows. Japan's Ichihara Prison was founded to punish dangerously irresponsible drivers such as those guilty of drunken driving, fleeing the scene of accidents and similar crimes.