Incidents of driver violence increasing on Anna Marie D'Angelo News Reporter dangclo@news.com ROAD rage is driving some irrational motorists out of control, North Vancouver RCMP Set. Bob Beaudoin: says: the incidents of road rage are on the rise in the community. Beaudoin heads the traffic see- tion and says he gets as many as four calls a day from concerned people reporting aggressive and erratic drivers with road rage. Beaudoin advises motorists to try to avoid trouble when encountering rage on the road. “You give them some space. And you report them to the police and be prepared to put your money where your mouth is and give (court) evidence if required,” said Beaudoin. Road rage is a trendy expression thar was likely coined about five years ago in the United States where aggressive motorists have often used guns to resolve their driving differences on clogged roads. Beaudoin says road rage is not gender specific and can happen on any street. Beaudoin gave an example of a motorist who had her baby in a van car seat. The van driver cut in and out of traffic and was clocked at 96 km-h in a 50 km-h zone near a school, “You manage to pull her over and give her a ticket and she is still so excited about where she needs to be thar she takes it out on the police man,” said Beaudoin. Beaudoin responded to that motorist by agrecing that he did indeed have nothing better to do than issue her a traffic ticker. Beaudoin believes that road rage is caused mainly from crowding on roads. He said that a motorist may feel threatened from “a great distance” when an aggressive driver is “closing in” at 130 km-h. Beaudoin said motorists become frustrated on crowded roads when they feel it is taking too long to Sunday. Apri! 18, 1999 - North Shore News ~ 3 north shore news SUNDAY FOCUS ‘ get somewhere. Beaudoin said road rage can happen as soon as a driver makes an aggressive move or gesture. A road rage gesture may include, swearing, hand symbols and threats. A motorist with road rage can use his car to run another motorist off the road. North Vancouver traffic section Mountie Cp]. Dave Ritchie, notes that it takes two motorists to make one road rage incident. “One motorist pushes and the other pushes back,” said Ritchie. While working for the Squamish RCMP, Ritchie investigated a road rage incident on the Sea-To-Sky Highway in which a gun was allegedly pointed at a motorist. No one was injured in the incident. Beaudoin said that although the term “road rage” is relatively new, aggressive driving has always been around. Sometimes, a road rage incident results in a crimi- nal charge. NEWS photo Terry THE term “road rage” was probably first used in the U.S. about five years ago. NEWS graphic Norisa Anderson N. Shore Last Dee. 16, 0 North Vancouver provincial court Judge J.K. Shaw ordered a 21- year-old man to take road mage counselling as part of a proba- tien term order. Da Vasquez Eliot, of North Vancouver, received nine months’ probation after he pleaded guilty to threatening Lisa Coyne during a road rage incident on East: Keith Road near the Grand Boulevard. According to the North Vancouver RCMP, Coyne was travelling up the hill with her dog in the car's passenger seat during the carly afternoon of July 31, 1998. The woman hit the brakes to avoid colliding with Eliot's car. Coyne — reportedly yelled, “What are vou doing, you jerk?” Eliot followed the 34-year-old North Vancouver resident, yelling profanities at her. He told the woman to pull over. Police say Eliot tailgated the woman’s car. He passed and cut off the woman’s car in a residential area. Coyne’s dog was barking. An angrv Eliot got out of his car and issued a string of profane and vulgar comments. He threatened to kill the woman. Some of the comments Eliot said includ- ed, “Who do you think you are? If you don’t shut that f...ing dog up, I will stab her.” According to probation term orders, Eliot was to have no contact with Coyne “or her dog.” A local probation officer said that while there is no such thing as specific road rage counselling, a convict- ed person would likely have to take anger management counselling. ICBC spokesman Dean Pelkey said road rage is 4 mental state that occurs before ill-mannered or dan- gerous driving behavior. “With more and more traftic on the roads, people become less tolerance of others. There is more of a‘ me first’ attitude in our society,” said Pelkey. “Road etiquette and politeness has fallen by the wayside,” he said. Local tales of traffic terror IT seems as though almost every North Vancouver Mountie who has worked patrol has a road-rage story to tell. North Vancouver ROMP Const. Heidi Hottman came att patrol dunies te the media liaison job in December, She remembers a read: rage incident last fall which feft one victim with sutches to his face, “There was no alcohol involved. [twas LOO% testes rerone,” said Hoffman. Two men, deseribed as being in their carly 20s or late teens, were driving behind cach other up the Cut section of the Trans-Canada Highway. Hoffman said the motorist in front repeatedly sped ap and slowed down which infu- nated the motorist behind. Within no time, the drivers became aggressive cowards cach other in an almost “chicken” type game on the hill. The mororist in front would not allow the other motorist to pass. The motorist in front continued to drive erratically, “The other guy was geuing madder and madder,” said Hoffman. The angry motorist fol- lowed the erratic driver off the highway and all the way to a parking lot at William Griffin reeCentre on Queens Road. The driver in the rear, now desenbed by Hottinan as “the suspect,” jumped out of his car. The motorist in’ front, now called the “victim” had his driver's side window open. The angry driver landed one giant punch, connecting with the other motorist’s nose and eyes. Hoffman said the injured driver decided to leave guick- ly. He put his car in reverse and floored it. The angry driver had time to hurl a glass drink bortle ar the victim as the victim drove out of the parking lot. The glass bottle shattered the victim's back window. The victim drove to the hospital where he received numerous stitches to his face. Police were called. The suspect was not found. The victim had obtained only a partial licence plate. “The victim knew he was being followed. He should have come to the detachment. You can never really know if there is going to be a prob- lem, but he knew the suspect was following him,” said Hoffman. Hoffman said she has noticed an increase of road rage incidents in the last few years, but she would not go as far to say that road rage is a problem in the community. — Anna Marie D'Angelo