You really don’t know what someone is like until you’ve been on a road trip together. The tension and boredom of a long drive, coupled with differing needs for rest (or bathroom breaks and meals) can create tensions that seem to escalate with the miles.
That may be what ultimately led to a motor vehicle accident that claimed the life of an involved motorcyclist — who just happened to be in the wrong place when a driver let his frustrations pour over and got into an accident through his own deliberate actions out of road rage.
The 56-year old driver was traveling with family members in several cars on a long trip on the way to Louisiana. Apparently, he somehow ended up in a heated argument with others on the trip — even though they were in another car. Eventually, he put his Chevy into high gear, pulled past the car belonging to another member of his family and abruptly hit his brakes. The chain reaction he caused involved several other passenger vehicles and two motorcyclists who were traveling together. Only the car immediately following the angered driver was actually part of his traveling party.
A woman who was riding as a passenger on one of the motorcycles died at the site of the accident and the driver had to be taken by airlift to a nearby hospital with serious injuries.
The driver who caused the accident has been charged with manslaughter because his actions were inherently dangerous and showed a total recklessness toward the consequences of his actions on human life.
While not every argument turns into an incident of extreme road rage like this, it isn’t impossible for even a relatively mild argument to distract a driver and cause a car accident. It’s only a lot worse when a driver acts out of deliberate malice because of anger. That’s why it’s important to make sure that you only travel with people who understand that there’s a time and a place for everything — including arguments.
