By Marcia Moore
Police and state Transportation Department officials say it’s not clear if road-rage incidents are more common now or if they are just easier to report because more people have cell phones in their cars.
Sgt. Fred Dyroff, of the state police at Selinsgrove, said, “Road rage is very broad, and there’s no way to verify it, but we’re not seeing a trend.”
What’s taking place is that most motorists now have cell phones and often pick them up when they witness a violation, Dyroff said.
“We do get a lot of calls about drivers playing cat-and-mouse on the ‘Strip,’ ” he said, referring to the three-mile stretch of Routes 11-15 between Shamokin Dam and Selinsgrove.
Several recent confrontations on local roads have been attributed to road rage by police.
On Sunday, Dane C. Bamford, 23, of Coal Township, was charged with simple assault and recklessly endangering another person for allegedly pointing a loaded revolver at another motorist on the Veterans Memorial Bridge in Sunbury.
In July, Jay Ravert, 56, of Mifflinburg, escaped serious injury after being shot in the face by a disgruntled motorist who was trying to pass the vehicle Ravert was riding in on Route 104 in Liverpool Township near Snyder County.
The alleged shooter, Christopher M. Rapp, 36, of Shermans Dale, is facing charges of criminal attempt homicide, aggravated assault, simple assault and reckless endangerment.
Trucker jailed
In Columbia County Court a few weeks ago, Gregory B. Moore, 30, an independent hauler from Sunbury, was sentenced to eight months to 23 months in county jail for using his rig to run a vehicle off Interstate 80 in August 2007 and injuring three men.
Judge Thomas A. James called Moore’s crime “appalling” and said it “smacks of road rage.”
In one of the worst cases of road rage, 62-year-old Peter Venditto, of Milford, N.J., crashed his car and died last June while traveling on Interstate 78 near Allentown after apparently playing “chicken” with another motorist.
Police said the deadly crash occurred after he chased a Lehigh County woman who admitted she had earlier made an obscene gesture at Venditto when he suddenly hit his brakes and forced her to swerve.
Since most road-rage cases involve crimes ranging from harassment, assault, and even homicide, state police don’t sort them as a single category and don’t keep statistics, said Capt. Mike Patrick of the state police Bureau of Patrol.
There is a distinction between road rage and aggressive driving, according to PennDOT safety press officer Michael Hess.
Aggressive driving is defined by speeding, frequent lane changes, illegal passing, failing to yield to traffic signals and other traffic violations.
“Road rage is another level. It’s aggressive driving out of control,” Hess said. “It’s escalated by someone who perceives a wrong has been done by another driver.”
In response to the perceived “wrongdoing,” a motorist displaying road rage will use the vehicle or a weapon to try to assault another individual.
Like the police, PennDOT doesn’t keep track of road rage, but Hess said more cases of aggressive driving are being reported.
In 2008, there were a total of 923 aggressive driving crashes and 22 related fatal crashes in Northumberland, Snyder, Union and Montour counties.
“People are more conscious of it,” Hess said, attributing this enlightenment in part to PennDOT’s efforts to curb it through a $3.77 million aggressive driving enforcement and education project .
Whatever the situation, Capt. Patrick said motorists who witness a serious traffic violation should report it as soon as possible.
“Don’t try and confront them or get involved,” he said.
