At around 11:30am August 3, 2005, 52 year-old Linda Umphrey was shot in the neck. Her son, Greg Umphrey 17, was shot in the back. The shooter was William Green, 52, who was licensed to carry the .38 handgun he shot them with. The incident began when the Linda Umphrey apparently cut-off William Green. Green caught up the Umphreys at which time Greg Umphrey spat on Mr. Green's car. There is no evidence of Green driving in an aggressive manner. What is clear is that the Umphreys were driving in an aggressive manner and harassing Mr. Green. At some point both vehicles came to a stop at which point Mr. Green exited his car and fired several shots into the Umphreys' vehicle. Greg Umphrey was able to write down Mr. Green's license number and he was apprehended 30 minutes later.
Thankfully both Umphreys lived and are recovering. As for Mr. Green he has entered a plea of not guilty to charges including aggravated assault and attempted murder. This is a clear case of where a driver, not driving in an aggressive nature, let his emotions take over. The end result is Road Rage. Had Mr. Green simply ignored the behavior of the Umphreys this would have been a case of aggressive driving instead of a felony trial.
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Another case that highlights an aggressive driver cause injury through no fault of the victims happened in New Jersey on June 21, 2005. Milton Aganon was speeding home after work. at around 6pm he came up on Mary Lee and her two children. Lee was driving in the left lane when Aganon came up behind her at 80mph. Aganon became frustrated that he could not pass Lee and tailgated her and waving his hands about. When Lee moved to the center lane Aganon rushed to pass her. Finding another car in the left lane he tried to pull in front of Lee, cutting her off and forcing her to slam on her brakes. Lee lost control of her SUV and swerved towards the shoulder lane before flipping on a median and onto a service road before coming to rest in a ravine.
Lee suffered several broken bones and was in a wheelchair until November. Her children sustained concussions, sprains, and cuts and bruises. Aganon plead guilty to assault by auto and endangering and injured victim. He will be sentenced March 17, 2006 and faces up to a year in prison. He will lose his license for six months and have to attend anger management classes.
In this case the victims did nothing wrong. It was simply a matter of wrong place and wrong time. That is the problem with Road Rage, it can be a completely random event. That is not to say there is no way to prevent yourself from becoming a victim, the prevention section of this site provides ways to avoid being a victim. But as this case shows even the most innocent people are at risk.
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