Jonathan Lawrence was shot three times during a road rage incident in St. Louis in November. It began with a seemingly ordinary interaction: After arriving home, he saw a driver speeding down the street, and he yelled for the driver to slow down.
鈥淪o he stopped, and I said, 鈥楾here鈥檚 kids playing on the sidewalk.鈥� He said, 鈥業 don鈥檛 give a f鈥� about them kids,鈥欌�� Lawrence said. 鈥淪o I kind of threw my arms up, said, 鈥極K, let鈥檚 go.鈥� 鈥� And [he] aimed out his driver鈥檚 window and let off five rounds.鈥�
It was a shocking moment 鈥� but one common for local motorists. A month prior, in St. Louis County. One man was shot in the hand.
The number of road rage injuries and deaths involving guns has increased every year since 2018, according to a in March.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 frightening is everyone could have a gun,鈥� Melissa Smith Foerschler . 鈥淧eople have holsters installed on their car doors so they have easy access while driving. A mechanic told me they bring their cars in for service and forget their loaded guns in their door.鈥�
AAA spokesperson Nick Chabarria said data show that aggressive driving 鈥� which the organization defines as , weaving in and out of traffic or speeding in heavy traffic 鈥� has only gotten worse in the past five years.
鈥淓ven though we had emptier roads in 2020, ,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here were more risky drivers out on the roads during that time. So even though there was less car volume overall, the drivers that were on the roads are more likely to take risks, and therefore more likely to end up in a crash.鈥�
Aggressive driving, he added, often leads to road rage incidents. Previous AAA data found that , aggression or road rage behind the wheel.
鈥淚n cars there's a sense of immunity from the norms of polite society,鈥� said Dr. Helen Friedman, a St. Louis clinical psychologist. 鈥淣ot only that, there's objectification of others. So we see others as just a bobblehead behind the steering wheel, as opposed to someone鈥檚 mother [or] somebody's son.鈥�
She said a good first step to curbing road rage is to stop taking other drivers鈥� behavior personally.
鈥淪omebody in road rage takes somebody else's actions very personally, or makes assumptions, and then wants to seek revenge,鈥� she said. 鈥淲atch what you tell yourself about a situation. 鈥� Often, people tell themselves horrible things and rile themselves up 鈥� and anger begets anger.鈥�
Lawrence is still . He received trauma surgery on his left tibia, and today, he鈥檚 able to take a few 鈥渂aby steps鈥� without a cane. He told St. Louis on the Air that, given the chance to go back in time, he would approach the aggressive, speeding driver on his street in a different manner.
鈥淚 should have deescalated,鈥� he said. 鈥淗ad I tried a little harder to try to defuse that, I probably wouldn't be in this situation I am today."
He added: 鈥淎 saying that helped me out a lot growing up is 鈥楽eek first to understand and then to be understood.鈥� So maybe we should start giving each other a little slack on the roads.鈥�
To hear more analysis from Dr. Helen Friedman and road rage stories from across the St. Louis region, listen to St. Louis on the Air on , or , or by clicking the play button below.
鈥�鈥� brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by , , , and . is our production intern. The audio engineer is . Send questions and comments about this story to talk@stlpr.org.
