Motor club AAA on Tuesday said that cases of road rage have spiked across the Upstate, days after two local incidents, including a case in which both drivers pulled guns on each other.
The incidents, which are sometimes violent and involve weapons, have trended upward over the past year, according to AAA Greenville.
On Sunday, a surveillance camera caught a case of road rage outside a Union County gas station. Deputies said two men pulled guns on each other after one of the men told the other to get his ATV off the road.
“I’m going to kill you, you S-O-B. You’re dead. If you’re old lady comes out she’s dead too,” which is what Robert Lee Young, age 38, says was yelled at him by a man who was already pointing a handgun at his face.
According to police reports, it all started Sunday when Young and his wife were in their car turning off Highway 105 onto Highway 9. As they drove around a blind curve, there was a slow moving ATV in the road.
Young told police that he yelled for Joseph Cecil Allen, age 56, to get off the road. After those choice words, Young and his wife drove to the gas station for a drink.
It wasn’t long before Allen followed and pulled a gun, according to the Union County Sheriff’s Office.
Both men ended up with their guns drawn and Allen was later charged with pointing and presenting a firearm at a person and unlawful carrying of a handgun.
Also on Sunday, Spartanburg Police said a man threatened another man with a metal pipe outside the Lowe’s on East Main Street. Investigators said the other man then pulled out a gun. Police said the whole thing started after one of the men honked his horn.
“We’ve kind of been seeing it more, I believe,” said Hannah Gossett of AAA Greenville. “You don’t have control over anybody else. The only thing you have control over is how you react to situations, and if they’re trying to start a fight, they have to have someone to start a fight with.”
Gossett said cutting someone off, driving too slowly and tailgating are the things that most commonly irritate drivers and lead to road rage. She said road rage is a factor in 56 percent of fatal accidents nationwide.
Gossett said it’s important to avoid eye contact and offensive hand gestures while driving because both can instigate road rage.
Since road rage isn’t classified as a crime in incident reports, local law enforcement were unable to retrieve statistics on the number of cases.
