CHP’s Wish List: Taming Aggressive Drivers

Orange County drivers had better think twice about taking out hostilities behind the wheel this holiday season.

Aggressive drivers--the kind who always make you wish a patrol car were nearby--are the target of a new California Highway Patrol unit that began patrolling South County earlier this month. At least one patrol officer every afternoon and evening hunts for rude, inconsiderate and dangerous drivers on the San Diego Freeway and area toll roads.

“The CHP wants to find [these drivers] before they cause a crash and possibly a death,” said Officer Joani Rivas. She said the program is the first of its kind in the county.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration officials estimate that two-thirds of fatalities on the nation’s highways are caused by aggressive driving. Last year, 161 people were killed in traffic accidents in Orange County and more than 21,000 were injured, according to CHP statistics.

The Aggressive Driver Enforcement Team will be on the lookout for:

* tailgating;

* flashing headlights at cars;

* driving at very high speeds;

* making multiple lane changes, with or without using a turn signal;

* passing on the shoulder.

Officer Steve Miles, who stopped 13 cars on his first day on the team, said he sees just about everything. One man he pulled over last week was tailgating just feet away from the car ahead, flashing his high beams.

“When I asked him why, he said the kids in the car ahead had mooned him and he was trying to teach them a lesson,” Miles said.

The man added that he was tired and had a bad day at work. Miles wrote a ticket anyway.

The patrol, which may be expanded to more shifts early next year, is modeled after similar programs in 17 states. By using cars without rooftop lights, officers say, they have a better chance of spotting the bad behavior nearly everyone hides when they know the police are near.

The timing of the new program is excellent, said Arnold Nerenberg, a Whittier psychologist who is an expert on “road rage.”

Anger behind the wheel can arise especially as people head home from crowded shopping centers during the holiday season, which is a stressful time anyway, Nerenberg said.

“One of the main causes of road rage is someone taking your parking spot,” said Nerenberg, who works with the American Institute of Public Safety in Los Angeles.

Anti-aggressive driving patrols are a good idea, he said, as long as people are aware that officers are on the lookout for bad behavior. “If people are worried the police might be watching, they tend to behave better,” he said.

Miles said he gives out advice as well as tickets.

“All I can say is, don’t take anything personal,” he said. “Don’t let anyone get to you out there. You can’t take out your aggression [with] a motor vehicle; it is definitely a deadly weapon.”