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economist sunsuntribune transportation saturday march 19 2005 jammed roadways stupid antics fuel rage of york region motorists by linda johnson staff writer and you think road rage is bad in the gta relaxing in a richmond hill coffee shop near the site of a road rage incident a week ago that critically injured two young men lucy muriithi recalled an event in kenya it began when a prominent doctor found himself stopped behind a bus picking up pas sengers when the bus driver failed to respond to his shouts to move the doctor took out a gun and shot him after witnesses stopped him and he was arrested the doctor said he didnt mean to kill the driver who recovered he just wanted to scare him thats the most extreme case ive heard of she said adding she has never experienced any incident nearly so bad in canada still theres no doubt road rage incidents here are increasing in number and violence last sundays incident seems to have been caused by a drivers decision to stop in the exit of the petro canada gas station at bayview and 16th avenues to look for some misplaced cash instead of going around a driver behind pulled up beside the stopped honda after yelling obscenities at the driver he then pur sued the honda out of the station ramming the car at the intersection then following it along 16th and south on leslie street after bumping into die side of the honda the pursuer in a daewoo slid into the north bound lanes hitting another car the driver 21 and 22yearold passenger of the daewoo are still in critical condition according to sgt david mitchell of york regional police traffic division officers are try ing to determine if the men in the daewoo and the victim knew each other he said police are not releasing names sgt mitchell said road rage is a symptom of the increasing number of drivers on the roads were answering more calls thats due to sheer volume on the road rush hour is now 247 theres more people and more activity on the highway so it inevitably means there are more occurrences on the streets a lot of drivers are already frustrated at the time it takes to get somewhere so when someone cuts in front or changes a lane with out signalling they lose it if you plan your day then road rage would not exist but people leave late and then they think they should have more priority than other drivers lucy muriithi motorist david peirce of newmarket agrees the increasing volume on gta roads is bound to lead to more road rage hes had drivers shout ing obscenities tailgating and others cutting him off i think the highways are dated for the vol ume of cars we have on the road he said they are about 30 to 40 years old and theyre not designed for the traffic volume we have now however ms muriithi said too many drivers are in a hurry they should give themselves more time when they know they have to be somewhere if you plan your day then road rage would not exist but people leave late and then they think they should have more priority than other drivers she said michael omurphy said many drivers get angry because cars are travelling too close to them a lot of people like to tailgate with their high beams on it ticks people off theyre late for something but you have to respect others he said clarabella yim of thornhill agreed anger on theroads is an unavoidable product of conges tion part of the problem is the lack of a good accessible public transit system everyone is driving their own cars and theres a lot of stress building up she said adding drivers in a hurry make poor decisions when people are driving theres a certain persona that comes over them so theyre not their normal selves its a combination of stress and other factors drivers who believe they are in the middle of a serious road rage incident and fear for their safety should like the honda driver in last weeks incident use a cell phone to call the police sgt mitchell said if you have the ability to make a call thats great and start heading for the closest police station he said however he added drivers should try to prevent incidents by defusing others irritation if you do something that bothers someone else put your hand up to apologize if someone else does something wrong remember the unannounced lane change in front of you may be an honest mistake take cars out of the equation apply it to situation in a mall if someone bumped into you theyd probably say sorry about that that goes a long way to defuse the situation he said rule may force thieves into homes by patrick mangion staff writer your next set of wheels may be safer from car thieves but it could cost you more to drive it off the lot the federal government announced last week all new vehi cles sold in canada must be equipped with an antitheft immo bilizer by september 2007 while some industry experts her alded the move as a blow to car theft others are concerned thieves may become more brazen as a result of the new regulations more than 7500 vehicles were stolen across the greater toronto area last year said bill davis execu tive director of the automobile deal ers association of ontario whatever immobilizers add to the price of a new vehicle could be offset by a decrease in insurance rates mr davis added the technology makes hot wiring next to impossible a transponder embedded in the key emits an encrypted signal to the cars computer telling it the right person has tried to start the car that signal allows ignition and fuel flow and turns on electronics however with new vehicles becoming increasingly difficult to hot wire thieves may shift their focus to taking drivers keys he said people will need to be more careful with their keys mr davis said last year 43 vehicles mostly lux ury cars were stolen in york region after thieves broke into homes york regional police det william goetz said during a fourweek span last spring eight highend vehicles were stolen from vaughan homes after keys were stolen in house breakins there have been eight similar incidents so far this year theres been no major incidents yet where someone has been caught in someones home someones going to get hurt if the wrong guy gets confronted there will be vio lence det goetz said thieves may also focus on older model vehicles without antitheft devices det goetz said the sleek lines and sporty finish of the subaru imprezza wrx has landed it atop canadas most stolen vehicle list but thats misleading said james vergilio general manager of markham subaru the imprezza is a popular car if there are more on the road theyre more likely to be stolen uvitations invitations invitations no where else will you find such beautiful collections of invitations featuring raised thermography and letterpress printing plus the best selection of wedding accessories to complete your wedding markvwe shopping centre phoneqs 136862 fax90s130809