There really is no such thing as road rage, there is just a general increase in both anger and a decrease in empathy and respect for others or the law. Violence in all aspects of life is increasing. Driving is just one of many instances where it is expressed. Six years ago I overtook a tradesman in his pickup truck, and it seemed to annoy him. He screamed abuse and made some graphic signs – I just shook my head at him. That sent him over the top and he rammed me. I took off, gained some distance (I was in an M5) and thought that the matter was over. In a couple of minutes he caught up and tried to force me off the road. I accelerated, gained some distance again then stopped, grabbed a handgun and got out of the car and held it in plain view. He stopped and got out, waving an extension bar at me, threatening to kill me. I was seconds from shooting him through the knee when a patrol car arrived. He attacked the Police, pepper spray had no effect on him – it took a second car to contain him. Later I found that he had been involved in a series of violent attacks, on a service station proprietor, a waiter in a restaurant, and his in-laws and had been granted bail in each case. It wasn’t road rage – it was rage.
Interestingly the cop later said that if he had been me, he wouldn’t have waited, he’d have shot the guy as soon as he advanced. I was backing off while holding the gun on him. He also said that if I hadn’t been there, they’d probably have shot him rather than trying to contain him, so in a way I saved his life. Rage isn’t new, but the increasingly widespread societal lack of ability to control it is.