Garfield Man Charged in Road Rage Incident

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A quote from one of our previous car accident blogs, in which we discussed a notable trend of increasingly aggressive drivers in North Jersey, seems an eminently suitable introduction to this posting. “Civility and courtesy have left our roadways,” said August “Chip” Greiner, deputy director of the Bergen County Policy Office of Highway Safety. “More people are using a car as a weapon.” (Please see our August 13 post).

That viewpoint certainly seems borne out by recent episodes of road rage being exhibited on streets and highways across the country. A local case from just last week is representative of several stories that have recently received press coverage in other states.

The incident occurred last Sunday afternoon in Clifton, where a man is alleged to have cut off a female driver on a road. The woman was forced to hit her brakes hard, and thereafter honked her horn several times at the male driver.

That response obviously bothered him a great deal. He got out of his car, approached the woman’s car, and began yelling obscenities at her and her mother, who was a passenger.

The incident escalated and, according to Clifton Detective Captain Robert Rowan, the man pulled out a handgun and pointed it toward the two women. He then left, and the female driver called the police.

Garfield police stopped the man and recovered the gun. The driver is in the custody of the Clifton police department.

Related Resource: www.northjersey.com  “Police charge Garfield man in alleged road rage incident in Clifton” September 20, 2010