Strings of streetlights,
even stop lights,
Blink a bright red and green,
As the shoppers rush home
with their treasures ...
--"Silver Bells"
Traffic, shoppers and rushing home with treasures have been part of Santa's big scene since at least 1950, when "Silver Bells" became a popular hit.
But unlike "meeting smile after smile," bustle in modern times is all too frequently met with sorrow after sorrow.
Starting with three Black Friday shootings (two of them fatal), this Christmas season has seen violence proliferate in crowded parking lots and traffic-jammed roadways.
In what can only be called a true holiday horror, Little Rock's 40th homicide victim (last year's total was only 31 homicides) was a 3-year-old child shot in an apparent road-rage incident while out shopping with his grandmother over the weekend.
What reportedly started out as a battle of honked horns quickly escalated to one of gunfire. Holiday celebration became devastation in an instant.
The male assailant was still at large at the time of this writing, but a $40,000 reward and pleas from law enforcement may speed his arrest.
Police say the man evidently became irate while driving behind the slower-moving grandmother and wound up firing a single shot into the woman's car, which struck and killed the toddler.
Road rage is an ominous phenomenon. Its spectrum scales unpredictably from mild harassment like shouting, swearing and vulgar gestures to full-fledged lethal force. It spans all states, all ages, all types of drivers. Its causes can be random and difficult to anticipate, but aggravating factors appear to sync up dangerously with December's driving challenges: more cars on roads, fewer spots to park, and increased stress and reduced patience from hurrying to catch store bargains.
We don't like to think about having to warn our loved ones about road rage while out Christmas shopping, but careless or unsafe driving--often cited as provocations for rage incidents--is frequently a more deadly threat than drunk driving.
In a nationwide study on fatal crash causes from 2005-2015 published a couple weeks ago by the Auto Insurance Center, states were ranked across different accident categories by fatality rates.
The worst state for fatal drunken-driving accidents (Wyoming) had a rate of 93.03 fatalities per 100,000 residents, but for most of the top 10 states the rates fell in the mid-40s to the mid-60s.
Arkansas was 10th in the nation with 45.58 fatalities.
But Arkansas' rate for fatal accidents caused by careless or reckless behavior (think texting, not wearing seat belts, etc.) was nearly twice as high at 86.44 fatalities per 100,000 residents--a number sufficient to rank us second among all states. Only Montana had a higher rate.
Many readers probably have their own road-rage story. Nationally, nine out of 10 U.S. drivers believe aggressive driving by others poses a serious threat to their personal safety.
Last summer, a AAA survey suggested as many as 8 million American drivers engaged in extreme examples of road rage, such as exiting their vehicle to confront another driver or purposely ramming another vehicle. Tens of millions more engaged in behaviors such as tailgating, horn-honking and cutting another vehicle off.
My sister endured a harrowing experience a few weeks ago, in which she admitted to honking her horn at a pickup that had been tailgating her as it passed her. She then saw the truck hit its brakes, and was immediately remorseful. The pickup got behind her and, with bright lights blazing, pulled within inches of her back bumper while pacing her at 60 mph.
It was a rainy night, and the truck repeatedly zoomed ahead to cut her off, and forced her into the middle turning lane of a five-lane highway. She called 911, and while she was on the phone, the truck broke off its rage-fueled, reckless activity.
We need more public outrage about road rage. Punitive mandatory minimums might go a long way to reducing the innocent injuries and loss of life, just as such measures cut drunken-driving fatalities in half.
Legislatures are populated with people who likely have some experience with the issue, which at its core is a matter of basic morality and common sense, making road rage highly preventable.
Rules for avoiding road-rage incidents are ridiculously simple, but also insidiously difficult to master, as they require changing deep-seated habits and attitudes.
Driver, heal thyself. Take special care not to offend other drivers by tailgating, cutting them off or driving slow in the fast lane.
Turn the other bumper. Refuse to engage an angry driver looking for a fight by steering clear to get away, avoiding eye contact or calling 911.
Drive unto others. Apply the golden rule on the road, and put yourself in others' driver's seats. Be quick to give the benefit of the doubt and slow to take things personally.
Road rage has zero upside, and tragically destroys lives. Like so many other social ills, solving it starts with us as individuals. Changing our behavior on the road is how we ultimately change the world.
Honk if you agree.
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Dana D. Kelley is a freelance writer from Jonesboro.
Editorial on 12/23/2016