So you thought you were safe just driving down the freeway . . .

[AndyS]

Are Road Rage Shootings Increasing?
Incidents involving armed motorists are far deadlier than they were five years ago, our analysis reveals.

What the data tells us

Law enforcement agencies do not release statistics on road rage shootings as a specific category of crime. But the Gun Violence Archive, a Kentucky-based nonprofit that tallies shootings in near-real time, tracks incidents in which someone in a car brandishes a gun in a threatening manner or fires at a driver or passenger in another car.

Last year, according to GVA, [link:http://|there were 728 road rage incidents involving guns ]in the United States, resulting in 132 deaths and 390 injuries. That’s up slightly from 2020, when there were 701 incidents, resulting in 102 deaths and 306 injuries.

Earlier this month, researchers at the gun reform group Everytown for Gun Safety calculated that a person was shot in a gun-related road rage incident every 17 hours, on average, in 2021. (Through its nonpolitical arm, Everytown provides grants to The Trace. You can find our donor transparency policy here, and our editorial independence policy here.)

So, the number of road rage incidents remains more or less flat yet the number of people shot has doubled in four years. Hey, we all screw up and cut somebody off or change lanes on top of another car, right? Is that something to be shot for? Why have shootings increased so much? GUNZ!! Guns everywhere! More guns!

So you say to yourself, I need a gun to protect me from the people with guns. Sounds reasonable right? Yet the facts say you are far more likely to be shot with your protection gun than be protected by it.

What is wrong with us?

The only solution is to outspend the gun industry. https://blog.greatnonprofits.org/9-organizations-making-progress-towards-gun-control/LINK
]

[Ferrets are Cool]

1. Not the least bit surprised by this

When the population can openly carry arms, and hate has been endorsed by the leaders of a cult, it was bound to happen.

[MagickMuffin]

2. And most red States are passing laws for NO PERMITS REQUIRED

No training, no concealed weapons, not IQ test.

I think our very own Greg Abbott was one of the first to declare and decided this is a good idea.


I said watch what happens and pray you're not going to be a victim.


Thanks for this informative information.

[Bayard]

3. Doesn't even have to be a traffic incident

My blacksmith was driving his truck down the interstate and someone put a bullet in his engine. He thought it came from an overpass.

[MissMillie]

4. Well, I never thought I was safe on the highway

but not because I was afraid of getting shot.


I was always nervous about other people driving poorly, or of drivers not paying attention.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. A great big fat K & R for your excellent post! n/t