Do you agree that road rage is on the rise in Benoni?

‘Annoyed motorist’ writes:

Send your letter to bctletters@caxton.co.za.

As an experienced and ex-ambulance driver, I normally do not encounter any incidents on the road when I am travelling.

Send your letters to bctletters@caxton.co.za

However, it seems road rage and intimidation of drivers are on the rise.

I experienced two of these incidents in a space of 30 minutes on Pretoria Road on September 3.

First I had to swerve out into the turning lane at Vlei Road to avoid hitting a silver Hyundai i20 as the female driver decided to change lanes without indicating, causing me to slam on my brakes and swerve into the turning lane.

Luckily there wasn’t a vehicle in the turning lane because this would have caused a disaster.

After I had joined the traffic again, the female driver’s son (I assume), who was sitting on the back seat, proceeded to swear at me and give me the finger.

I ignored this and carried on my merry way.

The second incident happened about three traffic lights up at the Rynfield Fire Station.

As we all started to drive off, a white Jetta TDI in front of me drove away very slowly.

I wanted to drive the speed limit which was 60km/h, so I indicated to pass him on the right where the single lane becomes a double.

The Jetta driver decided to merge into the right-hand lane without indicating and I found myself in the exact same situation.

I had to slam on brakes and came to a dead halt inches from the Jetta.

I hooted and proceeded to drive into the left-hand lane as I was not in the mood for any incident.

The Jetta driver proceeded to follow me and swerved in and out of my lane which then forced me to brake and avoid him a few more times.

The Jetta eventually stopped next to me at the N12 traffic light and the passenger started swearing and threatening me from his window.

This carried on for the next four traffic lights and he kept on swerving from left to right.

This caused me to swerve off the road onto the gravel and come to a halt.

I immediately called 10111 and explained the situation as I was extremely nervous at the time.

I gave officials the Jetta’s number plate details and joined the traffic again on Snake Road.

The driver of the Jetta proceeded to make a u-turn at the next traffic light which saw him driving in the direction of Northmead again.

I am extremely disappointed in our town’s driving etiquette and am shocked at how many road rage incidents there have been according to newspaper reports.

What exactly is being done about these drivers and is there something we can do when we find ourselves in a threatening situation?

I feel there should be a hotline motorists can use when they find themselves in a threatening situation on the road so that immediate assistance can be given.

I have, following the last incident, opened a case of intimidation at the Benoni Police Station and urge all motorists who find themselves in the same situation, to do the same.

These drivers are not just an immediate danger to their victim, but also to other motorists and they should be brought to justice.