The start of the new school year saw new and returning Texas A&M students driving in from a myriad of locations, from other states to just an hour’s drive down the road. 

With chronic traffic congestion, school-related stress and everything else in between, College Station has the perfect ingredients for road rage — with students often being first-hand witnesses, such as political science sophomore Alexa Ybarra in two striking incidents. 

“The first major one, I was back in my hometown, behind two sports cars, and there was tension between the cars,” Ybarra said. “Then the guy got out, started screaming at the other car, and then the other guy got out and pulled out a gun. 

The second incident was similar — driving to College Station, she found drivers speeding, lane passing and more, off of which could’ve caused huge accidents, “especially on the way over here,” she said.

As the handlers of road rage incidents, A&M police officers, such as Robert Leseth, have insight into its dangers and situations that could lead to one.

“Driving at an excessive speed, not obeying traffic control devices, not using their signals or taking action that would put other drivers in danger would be a good example of that,” Leseth said.

Certain driver behaviors can cause road rage, Leseth said, such as becoming upset over another driver’s behavior or a tendency to disregard the safety of other drivers. 

When it comes to road rage, Ybarra said even small acts can lead to major incidents. 

“If you brake, even if you didn’t mean to brake, check the car behind you, they’re going to get frustrated with you,” Ybarra said. “Or if you stop at a red light, and you don’t turn right on red, that can lead to an incident. Or, let’s say the light is yellow, but you’re slowing down to stop, and because you slowed down instead of going, that can also cause road rage.” 

Leseth emphasizes that the victim of a road rage incident is never to blame because oftentimes, it isn’t the victim’s fault. 

“For me, I can’t really envision the scenario in which a victim would cause somebody to act like that,” Leseth said. “The subjects of these road rage incidents, they’re doing this, intentionally, knowingly and it’s their action.”

There are steps students can take to prevent road rage, Leseth said, including identifying when someone is driving dangerously and contacting law enforcement with a description of the vehicle and license plate. 

“If we don’t have any identifying information about the vehicle, like a license plate or even the description of the person driving — we have lots of vehicles here in Bryan and College Station,” Leseth said. “If someone’s driving a black Ford F-150, there are hundreds of those in town.”

Depending on where you are, UPD won’t always be an option to call, but there are alternatives. 

“If you’ve ever witnessed anything here on campus or the surrounding areas, you can always give us a call,” Leseth said. “However, if it’s an emergency, you can absolutely call 911.” 

Leseth said there are a few tips drivers can use to prevent future road rage incidents, such as driving defensively and not engaging with reckless drivers. Ultimately, though, he said contacting law enforcement is vital. 

In terms of what driving defensively means, Leseth said drivers should watch for others’ aggressive behaviors and immediately move away from them to disengage from the situation.

“Say I’m driving on Highway 6 northbound,” Leseth said. “I’m in the left lane, and I have a driver that’s following me too closely — maybe they honk their horn at me. The smart thing to do would probably be to switch lanes, slow down and get away from that driver.”

Ybarra feels that road rage is on the rise among students. 

“It’s pretty common, as all these college students are moving back, that there’s a rise in road rage,” Ybarra said. “I think everybody’s stressed out already from having to move people in, and then for some people, the drive is very long.” 

After witnessing the impacts of road rage firsthand, Ybarra believes that we should be even more aware. 

“We have to think about how we are human beings, and we all make the same mistakes at the end of the day,” Ybarra said. “And you don’t want to be why somebody doesn’t go home or is left in an untreatable condition.”