Yuba-Sutter is reflective of California’s road-rage ranking

Appeal-Democrat (Marysville, CA)

Nov. 06--An insurance group recently listed California as one of the top states for incidents of road rage.

The InsuranceQuotes analysis measured the number of Instagram posts in each state with the hashtag #RoadRage from 2013 to 2016.

The top five states with the most aggravated drivers are: Hawaii, with 5,872 posts per 100,000 drivers; California, with 3,506 posts; New York, with 2,200 posts; New Jersey, with 2,129 posts and Nevada with 2,004 posts.

"Road rage, in one form or another, affects every driver in every state -- and, in today's social media age, filled with photos and videos and hashtags, we wanted to gather insights from the social sphere that we could present to drivers and communities," said Laura Adams, senior insurance analyst at InsuranceQuotes, in a press release.

You might question a survey based on Instagram posts. But there are plenty of other surveys out there ... California is a frequent flyer. And locals have noted the issue.

Almost 80 percent of drivers admit expressing anger, aggression or road rage at least once in the previous year, according to a survey released last year by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

Lt. Jim Runyen with the Yuba City Police Department said most road rage incidents he comes across usually involve yelling, honking car horns and drivers raising arms. Swerving and more serious actions aren't too common.

California Highway Patrol Officer Jodie Beck said road rage is nothing new but the increase in population has exacerbated the issue.

"Road rage has always been an issue. We get road rage all the time on Highway 70 because everyone is in a hurry -- it's human nature to always be in a hurry," Beck said. "The amount of drivers on the road at any one time is ridiculous -- the roads haven't been upgraded in years, it's only two lanes and who wants to be behind someone going slow in the fast lane."

She said the use of cell phones and other devices in cars over the last 15 years has also contributed to the problem of road rage and causes problems for emergency personnel.

"Even with the lights and sirens on, when we're responding to an emergency, people don't always get out of the way," Beck said. "If people would see some of the crashes that we go to and the hurt and anguish that the families suffer from the loss of life, they'd take more time and plan for their trip and plan for the weather and not be in such a hurry."

Beck said about a decade ago, there was a road rage incident near the Highway 99 and 70 split between two drivers that escalated into a shooting.

"The best thing to do is set yourself apart from the road rage vehicle and call it in because you don't know what going on with the driver of the vehicle," Beck said. "Get a description and the direction of travel and don't try to provoke the driver."

Marysville Police Lt. Chris Sachs echoed Beck's comments and said they encourage people to be patient on the roadways.

"Everybody seems to be in too much of a hurry -- whether they cut people off or follow too close -- and that upsets other motorists and tensions can rise," Sachs said. "From the enforcement side, if we witness a reckless driving situation in our presence, we can enforce it."

Runyen said if someone is the target of road rage, they should try to drive to the police department or local law enforcement agency if it's close.

"Don't engage back," Runyen said. "Call the police and try to get a license plate but also try to get away from them."

Unsafe driving led to truck driver's accident

Satnam Singh knows the impact of being around unsafe drivers first hand.

The Yuba City-based truck driver was seriously injured in a 1995 crash while driving through Oregon on Highway 97 over snow and ice.

"There were a group of teenagers who were slowing down and then speeding up in front of me, so I backed off but they spun out in the black ice right in front of me, so I had no choice but to slam on my brakes," Singh said. "My truck jackknifed and I went into oncoming traffic and another semi truck hit me."

Singh said he was airlifted to the hospital due to the remote location and weather and still has back problems.

"Trucks aren't like cars, they can't stop on a dime," Singh said. "When your truck weighs 80,000 pounds, you're always in danger and you always watch what other people are doing."

Singh said when his truck is at its lightest -- roughly 35,000 pounds -- it's still hard to stop quickly and at 80,000 pounds it can take a dramatically longer distance to stop. -- Chris Kaufman

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