Road rage is an increasing problem worldwide – yes, here in Australia too. How one human being can attack another over something which in the overall scheme of things is so trivial is, frankly, beyond my comprehension.
During one such recent incident in Yuma Arizona, a 24-year-old motorcyclist and his girlfriend were accosted by 51-year old driver over some perceived indiscretion. Little did the angry driver know that the much younger motorcyclist was recording the whole thing via a GoPro attached to his helmet. The resulting video footage, which quickly went viral on YouTube, brilliantly defines so many aspects of this silly behavior – please watch the video and then I’ll give you my thoughts:
I am just so impressed by the way in which the motorcyclist handles the whole situation, even after the angry older man attacks the younger man’s petite girlfriend – a cowardly act at best.
I’m not going to say too much regarding the older man’s behavior, it pretty much speaks for itself. However, the younger motorcyclist displayed a level of common sense beyond his years, he could have easily beaten the older man senseless but, to his everlasting credit, managed to subdue him with a minimum of violence.
According to the Yuma Sun, the older man potentially faces charges of disorderly conduct, endangerment, threatening and intimidating, assault, and… surprise, surprise… driving under the influence. However, I’d imagine that the worst punishment might be the public humiliation and shame, especially among his circle of family and friends.
Much kudos to the young motorcyclist for his part in this unfortunate incident. As for the older man, hopefully lesson learned!
In a world where people have little or no control over their lives, families, government, income, health, future: in a society where many feel they no longer have control over their own world the confines their automobile have become their castle. And when this last bastion of control (the steering wheel), this last private space is violated or is perceived to be violated, The human being may explode spontaneously.
24 year olds may need a few more years to be ground into slavery by the system to understand. Thankfully the one on the bike understood intuitively and didn’t pummel the offender into ground meat.