Road rage driving incidents appear to be on the rise in North Texas
NORTH TEXAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) — Road rage appears to be on the rise in North Texas.
In Hurst, 37-year-old Paola Linares was shot while her husband drove her to work.
She was the victim of apparent road rage.
"She was an innocent victim," her husband wrote on Facebook. "The driver shot into our car and struck my beautiful wife, who had nothing to do with anything."
Hurst Police Assistant Chief Billy Keadle said the department's thoughts are with the Linares and her family.
And while Hurst police continue searching for the gunman, Fort Worth police are also looking for those responsible for two other incidents.
The southbound lanes of I-35W were closed Tuesday afternoon while police investigated a shooting. According to police, one vehicle pulled up to another and "opened fire on the driver," causing an accident.
The suspect vehicle left the area going southbound on I-35, police said. The victim arrived at a nearby hospital with a gunshot wound to the arm.
Another shooting, believed to be motivated by road rage, occurred early Tuesday morning on the South Freeway, near East Felix Street.
That shooting left a victim with a gunshot wound to the hand.
A recent Everytown for Gun Safety analysis shows that in 2022, someone was shot and killed in a road rage shooting every 16 hours.
Injuries continued to increase over the past five years.
"Our environment continues to become more uncertain, it continues to become more volatile," said Leigh Richardson, the founder of the Brain Performance Center and also a licensed professional counselor. "Everything is just harder."
Richardson says the summer heat can play into this.
"When our body gets overheated, it throws our autonomic nervous system out of balance. That throws our decision making out of balance...we're quicker to react," said Richardson. "Maybe more impulsive."
She says if you find yourself in a road rage situation, just try to remain calm.
"When you stop and you think about it, you think consequences instead of emotion," Richardson said. "Instead of, 'You know that really made me mad,' think about, 'Does it really matter?'"
Richardson says focus on what you can control, don't engage and just let the person pass.