By Steven Symes 
We’re seeing road rage shootings often lately, with yet another in Florida. This time a grown adult is accused of shooting a vehicle after a road rage incident, hitting an innocent teenage girl inside, landing her in the hospital.
Road rager runs over his former employer.
As a result, 37-year-old Rasool Hakeem has been charged with attempted murder, among other crimes. He’s lucky he’s not facing more serious allegations, and so is the teenage girl.
This went down in Hillsborough County with the local sheriff condemning the violence. “There is absolutely no reason for an innocent 16-year-old to be in the hospital because of a road rage incident,” said Sheriff Chad Chronister.
We couldn’t agree more. While authorities are investigating the incident and exactly what led up to it, we can’t see any reason to shoot into another vehicle short of someone in that car shooting at you.
But it sounds like this was just an argument on the road, maybe over tailgating, someone not using a signal, or who got to go first at a four-way stop. We’ve seen people come unglued over the most trivial things on the road and are sure you have, too.
But this nonsense has got to stop, especially when innocent people are being shot, run over, beat unconscious, and otherwise seriously harmed. People lose control, stop thinking clearly, and treat a minor infraction on the road as if it were a life and death situation.
There are many ways to help curb this trend. One state has passed enhanced charges for anyone engaging in road rage. Exactly how that new law plays out remains to be seen. Another is to raise awareness about how dangerous and selfish road rage is. If the overall societal attitude toward road rage turns unfavorably, we might not see much of it anymore.
But something has to change.
Image via Fox 13 Tampa Bay/YouTube
Follow The Auto Wire on Google News.