More people in Kentucky and across the country are driving dangerously and aggressively. Reports indicate that road rage incidents, especially violent ones, are on the rise. This trend has been continuing for some time, but several serious occurrences have drawn attention to the problem. One woman attempted to shoot another vehicle but accidentally shot her husband, and a family with children were injured when fireworks in their car exploded after another driver shot at their vehicle with a gun.
In the past decade, deadly car accidents linked to road rage and aggressive driving have risen by 500%, says the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. While there were 80 such crashes in 2006, that number rose to 467 by 2015. According to one anti-gun violence organization, there were 247 incidents of drivers brandishing or firing guns at someone else on the road in 2014. By 2016, that figure rose to 620; in the first half of 2017 alone, there were 325 such incidents, pointing to an ever-increasing incidence of gun-related road rage. Drivers even admit to angry, aggressive behavior when behind the wheel, and they often feel justified due to other drivers' reckless or careless behavior.
