MEMPHIS, Tenn. (localmemphis.com) — Is road rage becoming a growing issue in Memphis? Some say yes.
Local 24 News found at least 11 incidents this year where a driver pulled and fired a gun at another driver. All but one occurred on the interstate.
Police have said, in many of those cases, suspected road rage is to blame.
Memphis drivers have seen more police on the road this week after a deadly interstate shooting of a motorcyclist over the weekend.
The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and Tennessee Highway Patrol are also lending a hand to increase presence on the interstates.
Road rage is a problem according to Max Maxwell, president of the Maxwell Motorsports & Driving School. It’s something he and his driving students have had to experience too often.
“We’ve had stuff thrown at us and we’ve had guns pulled on us because we didn’t turn fast enough. We’ve had people cut us off,” Maxwell said.
He says they’re seeing more cases of violent road rage over the years.
“For some reason, it’s just gotten worse. People seem to have shorter fuses than they used to. They resort to violence from what I’ve seen a little bit quicker than they used to,” he said.
Maxwell says his best advice to his students is to not engage with an angry driver.
“You have to ignore it. You don’t want to confront it because it’s probably just going to go bad. The time that we had a gun pulled on us and pointed at us, all I did was hit my break and back out and we took a mediate side street,” he said.
Maxwell says it’s sometimes unavoidable to get caught in road rage. If it happens, he says the best way to de-escalate the situation by ignoring them and exit the road.
“Try and not take offense to people. You know, they pull over in front of you when we’re student drivers we’ve had them pull over and break us, break check us, and it’s hard, again, to not get upset but I’ve got to tell the students you’ve got to back off. You’ve got to back off. You just can’t engage,” Maxwell said.
Maxwell has also worked as a reserve police officer. He said if a gun is pulled it’s time to call 911. It’s important, he said, to know where you’re at and the upcoming cross sections so that you can tell police during the call.
He adds that you should then start driving towards a police or fire station for help.
