As road rage incidents increase near Memorial Day, NC troopers crack down on drivers

Joe Marusak
·5 min read

As drivers hit the road for the summer this Memorial Day weekend, they’re encouraged to watch for road rage, as police say cases continue to climb.

Calling road rage worse than ever, State Highway Patrol troopers have filed hundreds of charges this week against speeders and other aggressive Interstate 485 drivers during a pre-Memorial Day crackdown, Trooper Ray Pierce told The Charlotte Observer on Friday.

And Matthews police are searching for a road rage SUV driver who fired a bullet at another motorist on Tuesday.

Big crowds expected at Charlotte’s airport over holiday weekend. Here’s what changed.

The weeklong Highway Patrol campaign with Huntersville police and Mecklenburg County sheriff’s deputies ends on Sunday and will have covered all stretches of the Charlotte interstate, Pierce said.

Officers are ticketing drivers for speeding, careless and reckless driving, aggressive driving, driving while impaired and other offenses that cause the greatest number of wrecks, according to Pierce.

Five troopers in unmarked cars are part of the campaign and are randomly choosing a different stretch of the highway each day, Pierce said. One trooper issued 40 citations on Thursday alone, he said. On Friday, troopers were in the University area.

Two of the five troopers each issued about 150 citations Monday through Thursday, Pierce said, adding that he doesn’t know about the other troopers yet.

By Tuesday, the campaign had already resulted in 121 charges, the Highway Patrol said on Twitter.

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That was the same day an irate driver fired a bullet, shattering glass in another driver’s vehicle on I-485, Matthews police said.

The victim told police that the other driver shot out his windows on the I-485 Outer Loop between Providence Road and East John Street just before noon Tuesday, according to a police news release.

The bullet missed the victim, but the driver suffered minor injuries from the shattered glass, police said.

“The preliminary investigation of this case indicates that this stemmed from an incident of road rage,” according to the release.

The victim described the shooter as a 30- to 40-year-old, clean-shaven white man with “reddish hair.”

Police were searching for a vehicle believed to have been involved in the encounter — a white or silver 1996-2002 model Toyota 4Runner SUV with a North Carolina registration plate.

And Matthews police urged witnesses to contact them at 704-847-5555 or police Detective Lori Valdes at 704-841-6717 or lvaldes@matthewsnc.

Increase in road rage

Troopers who cover highways in Mecklenburg County have seen a rise in aggressive and speeding drivers and road rage incidents in recent months, according to Pierce.

The uptick coincides with the traffic increase following the easing of travel and other COVID-19 restrictions, he said.

Pierce said it’s difficult to extrapolate from the 20 types of charges that troopers file how many involved road rage, which is filed as “other” in the Highway Patrol’s recording system, he said. But troopers have definitely seen a rise, he said.

By Tuesday, the campaign had already resulted in 121 charges, the Highway Patrol said on Twitter.

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‘Keep your cool’

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police have responded to so many road rage episodes this year that officers called a news conference in April to urge drivers to chill out.

Remain calm when you’re driving, police urge. Don’t tailgate, and lay off the horn at crackpot drivers.
Remain calm when you’re driving, police urge. Don’t tailgate, and lay off the horn at crackpot drivers.

“I know people are in a hurry,” Lt. Chris Rorie of the CMPD University City Division told reporters. “I am, too. But just remember, people who are aggressively driving, it’s very frustrating, and I get it. But engaging in these types of situations (isn’t) productive, and it’s flat out dangerous.

“It’s more prudent for you to keep your cool,” the lieutenant said.

At the April 21 news conference, CMPD commanders said they’d investigated more than 40 road rage incidents since Jan. 1 and made 10 arrests.

Updated CMPD numbers weren’t available on Friday, although the department is working on the request, CMPD public information Officer Thomas Hildebrand told the Observer.

Twenty of the cases that CMPD reported at the April news conference escalated into someone pulling out a gun, police said.

Guns and road rage

Rorie cited an April 13 road rage case in the University area that started as a minor traffic incident.

The victim followed the driver who hit him and blocked the driver in to get information, Rorie said. The blocked-in driver then showed a gun, he said.

Before pulling away, the victim got the other driver’s tag, but it was fake, according to the lieutenant.

Weeks before that incident, a 23-year-old Charlotte woman was sentenced to 14 months in prison after pleading guilty in a November road rage shooting at an Interstate 77 ramp in Fort Mill, S.C., The (Rock Hill) Herald reported.

Nautykah Samone Bolden bolted from the scene after firing a shot that whizzed behind the driver’s seat and lodged in the passenger door, police said.

In December in the same area of I-77, a driver was shot in the face in a similar road rage incident, The Herald reported.

Isiah Ezechukwu Sr., 33, of Rock Hill, the driver accused of shooting the victim, was caught after a manhunt. He was charged with two counts of attempted murder and other offenses.

Road rage avoidance tips

Rorie, the CMPD lieutenant, offered these tips to avoid road rage:

▪ Give other drivers a break.

▪ Use hand gestures wisely.

▪ Don’t tailgate, and lay off the horn.

▪ Don’t confront the other driver. Take the high road.

▪ Give an aggressive driver space.

▪ Immediately report an aggressive driver and provide as much information as possible, including a tag number.

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