(NewsNation) — Road rage injuries and deaths have increased every year since 2018, according to the advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety.
Everytown reports more than 550 people were shot in road rage incidents in the U.S. during 2022. This means someone was fatally shot or injured in a road rage incident every 16 hours, on average.
In Fort Worth, Texas, a husband is desperate for justice after his wife was fatally shot in an apparent incident of road rage Tuesday.
Paola Nunez Linares and her husband Zane Jones were driving between Dallas and Fort Worth when she was shot in the head, police said.
Jones, who was behind the wheel, says he “flipped off” a car that was driving aggressively when the other car fired at the couple multiple times.
In Geneva, Ohio, a fatal shooting occurred after a man took issue with the way a pizza delivery man was driving, neighbors say. Witnesses called the incident a “senseless escalation of a stupid fight.”
In Las Vegas, Nevada, a six-year-old girl and her father are recovering from gunshot wounds after gunfire erupted when their car allegedly hit another car, according to police.
While the problem is widespread, there is a disparity between states. States that don’t require a permit had nearly three times the rate of road rage shooting victims than states with permit requirements do, Everytown research shows.
Though it is unclear exactly what is driving the persistent increase in road rage shootings, some physiologists point to fight or flight triggers on the road and a pandemic-related increase in stress levels.