How does your tendency to succumb to road rage compare to other Newcastle drivers?
One cannot deny that Newcastle has seen its fair share of road rage incidents.
Is road rage a survival response to other drivers frequently breaking the rules of the road and potentially causing a collision, or is road rage more often than not exhibited by selfish motorists with narcissistic tendencies, who adopt poor, potentially life-threatening driving habits themselves?
Either way, the intensification of road rage incidents sometimes leads to physical altercations, serious injury and even death.
One cannot deny that Newcastle has seen its fair share of road rage incidents.
On November 4, 2016, a 60-year-old woman was beaten bloody by a man she confronted for ‘stealing her parking space’ on Scott Street.
Coverage in the Newcastle Advertiser described the assault as ‘horrific’.
“All I remember is he kept punching me,” said Lorna Murdoch-Eaton, the victim of the attack, who said the man continued to strike her even after she fell to the ground.
ALSO READ: ‘What he did to me, I won’t forget’ – Lorna Murdoch-Eaton
Less than a month prior to that incident, the 32-year-old witness to a fender bender on Faraday Street was shot and killed.
Sifiso Sithole intervened when he saw an altercation begin between the driver of a Sentra and the driver of refuse removal truck, over who was responsible for the collision.
He was shot in the back as he was walking away from the scene, after voicing his view that the driver of the Sentra was responsible.
ALSO READ: Road rage leads to shooting
The driver was subsequently convicted for murder and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Last week, Aloyius (Bucks) Kalan was found guilty of murder at the Newcastle Regional Court. Bucks stabbed local businessman, Greg Ihlenfeldt nine times in an incident of road rage on Paterson Street.
Greg’s wife, Jenny conceded Greg did demonstrate driver aggression at times.
“I know the guy (Bucks) cut him off and so Greg was angry. Shouting at him and swearing was definitely the kind of thing Greg would have done. Seeing other people driving badly and putting lives at risk gets frustrating, but Greg would never have killed someone over it,” said Jenny.
“Expressing your anger is not worth a life. When you drive, you have to anticipate people are going to do something stupid. One does get angry but you should not react. Ask yourself if venting that anger is really worth it. Just take a deep breath and let it go,” she advised.
How does your tendency to succumb to road rage compare to other Newcastle drivers? Take our online survey to find out. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/S99LR8K
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Email: Reveshni Douglas (Editor) at reveshni@caxton.co.za
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