Road Rage

After allegedly taunting and bumping another driver, two women were killed when their car made a U-turn into traffice on an Interstate 5 offramp. Some people called it another example of "road rage" plaguing Southern California freeways. Why do driving's daily frustrations suddenly escalate into homicidal confrontations for some drivers? JIM BLAIR talked with a psychiatrist and a California Highway Patrol officer to find out. SGT.

There are from time to time little nudges that we get from somewhere within our periphery that remind us to pay attention to the nuances of our lives. I bumped into this truth a while ago while reflecting on a traffic upset in which I'd been involved. Homeward-bound after an especially intense workday, I was at a stop sign wearily but patiently waiting my turn to turn right. There were cars in front and in back of me. It was a difficult corner, offering minimum visibility.

What would you do if another motorist pointed a gun at you on the freeway? It may be unlikely, but it does happen. Last week, Marlon Gordillo Sical, a 20-year-old Los Angeles man, was fatally shot while driving his white Honda Accord at 8:15 a.m. on the Ventura Freeway. He lost control and crashed, his car slamming into a freeway center divider and then a sound wall. Of all the bizarre ways to die on the road, getting shot has to rank up near the top.

Authorities say road rage appears to be the motive behind the shooting of a motorist on Interstate 8. California Highway Patrol Officer Marc Hale said Wednesday that the shooter opened fire Tuesday on a 22-year-old motorist after one of the drivers apparently cut the other off. Hale said the victim, whose identity was not released, was shot in the head but managed to pull his car into a parking lot. Hale said the person is in serious but stable...

A Van Nuys man has been charged with assault for allegedly punching out a car window and attacking a woman in a vehicle that cut the car he was riding in off in traffic, an incident witnessed by a deputy police chief, the city attorney said Wednesday. Pedro Hernandez Rios, 26, was a passenger in a car traveling on Beverly Boulevard near Rossmore Avenue on March 7 when they passed another vehicle and blocked its path, according to Deputy City Atty. Jerry Baik.

Prosecutors filed criminal charges Wednesday against a Tarzana man who allegedly punched a woman in the face and threw her on the hood of her car during a case of road rage, according to the Los Angeles city attorney's office. James Earl Hamlin, 42, was charged in Van Nuys Municipal Court with battery and false imprisonment in the Oct. 1 evening rush-hour incident.

Armed with everything from firearms to Perrier bottles, pepper spray and the occasional egg, America's drivers are taking their frustrations out on each other in startling numbers. It was road rage that led two drivers to chase one another in rush-hour traffic on the George Washington Memorial Parkway in McLean, Va., reaching speeds of 80 mph before crashing into oncoming traffic. The four-car crash left three people dead. Another example: Near Cicero, N.Y.

A Turlock truck driver accused of road rage was released Wednesday after 16 months in the Stanislaus County Jail when a jury acquitted him of two charges and deadlocked on a third. John Fagundes had been accused of using his big rig to run down Stockton motorcyclist Michael McLatchy after what the California Highway Patrol called a 20-mile case of road rage. Fagundes was cleared of attempted murder and aggravated mayhem charges in the July 5, 2000, incident.

A Santa Rosa man was killed and another man was jailed after a fatal highway crash blamed on road rage. Kenneth Neil Hanson, 53, died Wednesday in a head-on collision with a Windsor woman. The CHP said the wreck occurred after Chris Karate, 21, of Santa Rosa jumped into the bed of Hanson's truck and smashed his rear window with a shovel. The dispute allegedly began when Hanson cut off Karate's car.

Los Angeles police officers were investigating whether road rage was a factor in a five-vehicle accident Saturday in Watts that sent seven people to a hospital, but none with life-threatening injuries. The accident was reported at 2:08 p.m. at South Central Avenue and 114th Street, said Brian Humphrey, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department.