Dear Mr. Mike Tharp,
I am responding to your editorial in the New York Times about road rage.
[I'm sure their have been many times where drivers have been caught in the middle of road rage.] I myself have been caught up in it too. It was the 14 of June 2003 and I was driving north on the saw-grass expressway when a black, dark tinted, two door truck began tailgating me. I began to speed up to avoid him getting closer. Granted the speed limit was sixty-five miles per hour and I sped up to seventy-five miles per hour to get him off my tail. But he still insisted on following too close. So, I switched lanes and he pursued and switched lanes right in back of me. By this time I began to get scared. I switched lanes one more time hoping he would get the hint to back off.
Road Rage (album)
Road Rage (novel)
Roadrage 2003But he didn't get the hint to back off. He began tailgating me even more and he got so close that he hit the back of my car bumper. I lost control of my car and headed straight down the grassy median. I hit a brick barrier and my car flipped four times. Luckily, I survived after being in critical condition and going through intense physical therapy.
Violent aggressive driving is rising. Aggressive driving is an increasing phenomenon that so far is defying attempts to defy it. [Tailgating, giving the finger, just outright violence are how Americans are taking out their frustrations on their fellow drivers.] [Mental health, meaning whether or not you are actually capable of driving on the road, safety, undriveable cars, driving while on the phone and stress are all aspects of road rage or violent driving.]
[Aggressive driving is now the most...