Physical road rage cases double in four years

The gruesome incident last week near Sint-Niklaas, in which a driver assaulted a fellow road user with a garden strimmer, resulting in the victim’s leg being amputated, was not an isolated case, reports De Standaard. It was the 47th time this year that a traffic disagreement had descended into physical violence. The figure is the result of a study by automobile association Touring, which examined police reports and court judgements “because there are no official road rage statistics [only the generic term ‘assault’ is used],” explains spokesperson Danny Smagghe. In 2008, the figure was 24 for the entire year – half the current situation of more than one road rage incident per week.