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c economist sun stoufiville tribune thursday jury 15 1999 3 community people today seem to focus more on their rights than their responsibilities an assault on society rage is the product of life in the fast lane where everyone wants to even the score by usa queen staff writer road rage air rage neighbour rage rage seems to be everywhere these days with people flying off the handle at the slightest provo cation a pefferlaw man suffered a broken jaw when he was savagely beaten in a case of campground rage at sibbald point provin cial park last week a second victim suf fered cuts and bruises just four days earlier a markham man was left bleeding on hwy 404 near aurora road after three men attacked him in what police are calling one of the worst cases of road rage in ontario last sunday a scarborough father was shot in the leg in a bizarre case of drive- through rage when he took his family for ice cream cones at mcdonalds in the kingston roadlawrence avenue area weve seen a large increase in reports and it seems to be escalating said staffsgt markwolfe detachment com mander of aurora opp for the past year its almost to the point in the last month or so its almost out of control in this area from a policing point of view im almost at my wits end about what to do about it road rage has become so ugly on local highways wolfe restructured the opps aggressive driving team late last year instead of having officers merely point radar guns at speeders he now has an unmarked police car and motorcycles operating in a stealth mode on provincial highways catching drivers who weave in and out of traffic tailgate or commit other aggressive acts this summer wolfe also launched an investigative team to follow up on road ragecases despite the forces efforts wolfe said officers are hardpressed to keep a lid on the problem i know there has been a huge increase inphysical attacks and highway stalking he said i feel like im holding a dike and as sbdrias iget one hole plugged another orte opens wolfe suspects that life in the fast lane drivers trying to win imaginary races on the highway is to blame for some inci dents society is like apinball game you feel like youre in an arcade its all win win win markwolfe opp staffsgt ir ph0t0ceua br0nkh0rst opp staffsgt mark wolfe sees more and more road rage on york region highways the growing number of physical attacks and aggressive acts forced him to launch a stealth patrol to cruise the freeways and to form a team to fol low up on rage cases society islike a pinball game in an arcade even the family car is sporty you feel like youre in an arcade ifs all win win win he said while driving home from work monday another driver tried to engage wolfe in a confrontation that easily could have ended in violence if he had taken the bait we could have ended up duking it out on the side of the road it starts out with 1 have to be in front of you he said in 13 years of policing i have seen a huge increase in incidents but rage isnt confined to the open high way the opp has opened a subdetachment at sibbald point park in georgina to stem the rising tide of assaults among campers as well as cope with traffic on hwy 48 woffe said me attack last thursday at sibbald point was particulariy hasty they beat him to a pulp they severely broke bis jaw u police are still investigating the early morning attack which began when two men from different camp sites got into a dispute a short time later one of the men returned with two friends and beat the vic- tim and his buddy newmarket psychotherapist jack its like sitting on a powder keg knight isnt sure what causes such out bursts but theyre probably an indication the offender has problems with anger and stress in other areas of his life he noted that three weeks ago he was stalked for several kilometres by a driver he mistakenly cut off although knight said most incidents of rage especially those that end in vio lence involve men women are guilty of engaging in wars of words or gestures women may scream or yell but it doesnt get to the point of violence he said i dont know what it is about men that they feel they have to get even or some body has to pay or 1 dont know what it is about men that they feel they have to get even or somebody has to pay jack knight psychotherapist get hurt to evertthe score men who have a history of anger problems especially if they are combined with substance abuse issues can go ballis tic when faced with the increasing pres- sures of daily life youve got a molotov cocktail knight said another category is the normal guy who has a buildup of frustration knight described rage as anger gone berserk p rage is something where youre not lis tening youve lost control only something like a police officer or several cruisers trackingyou down is going to make a dif ference he said we live in a society that probably lives in the fast lane youre striving to get ahead getting help for a lot of people is still frowned on families are often so fractured and people dont have anyone to turn to people can feel their life is out of control knight said he also suspects people are being taught more about their rights than their responsibilihes these days majfoe its an attitude of entitlenient if someone dares infringe on those rights even mistakenly even tfitsa small infraction some people believe they are entitled to react appropriately to regain the upper hand perpetrators of road rage feel they are being taken advantage of ifs a way of get ting even or expressing themselves knightsaid theyre angry about not just that whats happening on me road at me time but a whole pile of things its like sitting on a powder keg biway istddays honies no one can deliver resui to book your flyer dist 5w vjmv c v a v j sobeysr canadian tire r hill aianrire rora i free canadas wonderland pa ay k c markham