While law enforcement does not document crimes specifically as “road rage” or “impulsive rage” the way they do, for example, “hate crimes,” there is general agreement, and concern, by police and experts on violence that while the frequency of random rage incidents might not necessarily be spiking, the societal triggers and the chance that a firearm will be involved are indisputably on the rise.
“There used to be a huge divide between going through a situation and thinking, ‘Boy, I sure would like to kill that guy,’ which is kind of a natural human deal, and actually making it happen in the moment,” Fort Worth defense attorney Greg Westfall said. “The truth is, I think the overarching deal is that the practice of resolving disputes short of violence or some kind of a real crescendo of emotion, is dead.”
