Road-rage altercations involving guns have increased dramatically in the U.S., more than doubling from 241 recorded in 2014 to 623 last year. The pace shows no signs of letting up, The Trace reports. In the first six months of 2017, there were at least 325 incidents, an analysis of incidents tracked by the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive found — nearly two each day. The rate, which includes fatal and nonfatal shootings, along with disputes in which someone brandished a gun, is on pace to surpass last year’s total.
The Gun Violence Archive relies on news and police reports to alert it to shootings, so the figures are almost certainly an undercount. At least 38 people have died so far this year in a road-rage gun incident, including a 2-year-old girl in Memphis who was shot in June. Another 109 have been injured. Disputes on the road take a dangerous turn most often in big states with loose gun laws. Armed road rage is most common in Texas and Florida, pioneers of concealed carry and the culture of traveling armed in public. So far this month, four of the reported 15 road rage-gun incidents have taken place in Texas — more than for any other state. On August 4 in Texas, a man pointed a gun out of his driver’s-side window at a woman as they drove on the highway. The woman posted a video of the interaction on Facebook, where it has been viewed more than 11.5 million times.