Thousands of road rage incidents happen in Colorado every year.
If you find yourself in this situation are you prepared?
News 5 spoke with Sergeant Jason Jones of the Colorado State Patrol to find out what people can do to keep themselves safe. A simple thing Sergeant Jones recommends is paying attention to what you’re doing on the road. However, the biggest thing he wants to convey to all drivers is to never engage in any type of behavior that’s going to lead to violence.
Sergeant Jones said, "These things can blow out of proportion very quickly and lead to dire consequences."
In his 13 years working for CSP, Sergeant Jones has heard his share of road rage calls.
"I can say that it’s fairly common. It happens on a daily basis."
In fact, since 1998 when the Colorado State Patrol’s Star CSP (*277) aggressive driver program was implemented, CSP has received more than 230,000 reports of aggressive drivers.
"Unfortunately we just have a lot of people that…really aren’t driving with due regard for all the other motorists out there and some people will just take that to the extreme, and unfortunately in occasions like what we saw yesterday it’ll get to the point of violence."
On Thursday, a road rage incident occurred that led to a deadly shooting in Westminster.
"It’s very concerning and we never want to see anybody get hurt all because they’re upset with somebody else’s driving behavior."
So here are some simple steps you can take when dealing with hot heads on the road:
"Don’t make eye contact…if someone believes that they’re being followed, they feel that their life is in danger, they need to call 911 in that situation. We need to get them in touch with emergency personnel, law enforcement as quickly as possible."
He says personnel will then try and guide you to a trooper on the road or the closest police station.
"We wouldn’t recommend that you stop and put yourself in a situation where a confrontation could happen. We don’t ever want it to escalate to the point of violence."
If you’re dealing with an aggressive driver, CSP says you should not try and snap a picture of their car while you’re driving. Instead, try and memorize the plate number and relay that information to law enforcement. To report an aggressive driver simply dial *277.
