DALLAS — There are so many ways to handle yourself when another driver cuts you off in traffic. Keeping your temper in check is one of the safest things to do when someone else isn’t showing the best driving skills.
Honking is one of the most passive-aggressive ways to show other drivers you’re heated, followed by yelling, and neither of those are cool. Research from Harvard shows, statistically, aggression turns dangerous when an angry driver reaches for a gun.
Erik Castellanos found himself in a road rage situation after a man driving beside him in a dark-colored Chevy truck along Highway 75 in Dallas had his left arm hanging outside the driver-side window. Castellanos' dash cam video showed a gun in the other driver’s hand.
Castellanos said those threatening motions were directed at him. He also said his only goal at the end of the day is to get home to his dog.
“He started to point his gun. Not to me, but he did it to my car,” Castellanos recalled.
Castellanos said he was on the way to visit his sister in Plano, which is about a 20-minute drive north. He didn’t realize the driver of the truck was in his blind spot, and when he tried merging lanes, he cut the other driver off by accident.
“People can pull out a gun just like that. I wasn’t scared at all. I was just shocked that people can have an attitude for tiny things,” Castellanos said.
Keeping his composure through it all was easy for Castellanos. His only move after seeing a gun pointed at his car was to apologize for his driving error. The apology meant nothing to the driver, according to Castellanos.
“When I saw the gun, I was pretty much laughing because come on, you’re going to pull out a gun just like that?” he said.
The reason why the gun and the other driver’s words didn’t shake Castellanos up is because Castellanos is originally from Venezuela. It’s a country with one of the highest murder and crime rates in the world. He moved to the U.S. four years ago for a safer and better life.
“It's crazy that even in this nice country, people can have this behavior with guns. People think that they can be better than others and that’s not true,” he said. “You don’t have to get upset at one little thing. We all have to chill, we are all dealing with our problems. You don’t know people’s battles.”
He posted the video clip on Instagram as a warning to show others there’s a possibility you can find yourself in a situation like this too. The people who saw it are encouraging him to report to the police since he hasn't yet.
A spokesperson for the Dallas Police Department said there is a plan to have more officers out on roads to combat more road rage incidents from happening.