THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 5, 1996 TAG: 9605030089
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ANN G. SJOERDSMA
LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines
I DO A LOT of driving. Minimum, 30,000 miles a year. Mostly on a circuit from the Outer Banks to Norfolk to Baltimore, and back.
I've been doing this for years. But where I once enjoyed my time of contemplation on the open road, I now dread the trip from Hampton Roads north. Hostile, reckless drivers whiz by on my right and left, sending stress level to the moon.
A bit ``Type-A'' myself, I've learned to get the hell out of the way and keep my eyes focused ahead, my hands fixed to the wheel.
I'm taking a lot of notes these days - of all the stupid, in-your-face behavior on Virginia's crowded highways, including:
Excessive speeding, 70-mile-an-hour tailgating, last-second merges, sudden lane cutoffs, high-speed cat-and-mouse games and refusals to yield. . . .
A week ago Saturday, Marcellus Christian of Fredericksburg didn't yield and took a bullet in the hip. If not for his passenger, who steered Christian's red Mitsubishi Mirage, the 26-year-old might be dead.
According to news reports, Christian was traveling north on Interstate 95 near Dumfries in the left lane at 70 miles an hour - in a 65-mph zone - when a silver Toyota Supra rapidly came up behind him. It was about 9 p.m. The Toyota driver flashed his high-beam lights.
Message: Clear out. NOW.
Christian didn't yield immediately. Mistake No. 1. But usually a harmless one.
Then Mistake No. 2. Much more serious. After Christian moved into the center lane, he and the Toyota driver reportedly exchanged angry words. A
Rather than revenge, Christian should have taken notes. And the high road.
Sure, he's annoyed, damned annoyed, and he has reason to be - a car's on his tail and he's exceeding the speed limit! And then those blankety-blank lights. The bile surges in his throat. Believe me, I know the taste.
But instead of getting angry, and being stupid enough to fall prey to this juvenile aggression, he should reach for a pen and some paper and jot down the Toyota's tag number. Or say it aloud so that his passenger and he can memorize it.
The same goes for every witness who saw the altercation. Police say traffic was heavy then. Did anyone think to get the Toyota's license number? If not, why not?
I have pocket notebooks filled with tag numbers. Also makes and models, dates and times, driver descriptions. Why? Because it's the only way I know to fight back. I'm not ready to give up the road. And I'm prepared to testify. .
According to Virginia State Police, 57 roadway shootings were reported across the state in 1994, 15 of them believed to have occurred in Northern Virginia. In 1995, the number dropped to 38.
The Christian shooting was the seventh this year. But the second one in as many months on I-95 in Northern Virginia.
Why have drivers become so much more aggressive?
Take your pick: 1) The narcissism caused by the decline in family, community and civility has spilled on to the highways. 2) Fish-bowl living has made people more territorial, more impatient, more unforgiving. 3) People have been artificially programmed by technology and the media to be in a constant hurry. 4) People who live in quiet desperation experience their only surge of power when they're driving. 5) ``Winning'' - beating out other vehicles - is everything.
6) All of the above.
This much I know: It doesn't take the frustration of road construction or traffic congestion or lane cutoffs to set off many highway intimidators. All it takes is an ignition key.
Two weeks before Christian's shooting, 26-year-old Billy M. Canipe Jr. of Alexandria, twice convicted of driving with a suspended license, ended the lives of two people with his macho hijinks.
Witnesses reportedly told police that Canipe and another young male driver were arguing on Virginia's George Washington Parkway, which runs along the Potomac River, when Canipe's car cut off the other man's Jeep, sending both vehicles over the median into oncoming traffic. A 41-year-old mother of three and a 49-year-old man were killed. So was Canipe.
Last I heard no decision had been made on whether to charge the 26-year-old driver of the Jeep. I hope it's not because witnesses aren't willing to tell what they saw.
Those of us frustrated and outraged by the dangers we witness should document them. We may never have to recite our notes, but the mere act of writing - safely, of course - will help us to maintain control. We can use our hands for something other than foolish gestures. And maybe, just maybe, we can dodge some bullets. MEMO: Ann G. Sjoerdsma is a lawyer, and book editor of The Virginian-Pilot. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
FILE/The Virginian-Pilot
Highway violence is on the rise in Virginia and elsewhere. Fight
back by taking notes, not revenge.
by CNB