FLORIDA, Florida — You've heard it, you've seen it: "road rage" on our roadways.
Now, as the greater Tampa Bay area's population increases and more people are here to share our roads, Florida Highway Patrol reports seeing an increase in aggressive driving.
While the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles doesn't specifically track "road rage," it does track "aggressive careless driving."
Troopers say that's when a person does two or more of the following: speeding, unsafe lane changing, following too closely, failing to follow right of way, improper passing, and/or violating traffic controls.
"Typically, if one person doesn't deescalate the situation by pulling over and letting the other person go by, that's where we typically see an escalation," FHP Sgt. Steve Gaskins said of aggressive driving.
Because "aggressive driving" itself it not necessarily illegal, it's only recorded when accompanying a citation or crash report form. As more people come to Florida and hit the roads, Gaskins said aggressive driving is more prevalent than ever.
"In the Tampa Bay area, I see it quite frequently," said Gaskins.
Crime Tracker 10 took a deeper dive at where this is happening most. Between 2016 and 2021, Hillsborough County had the most recorded cases with 5,097. That's followed by Pinellas and Polk Counties with 2,389 and 2,364 respectively.
Pasco County saw 1,457 cases. Manatee and Sarasota Counties saw 1,248 and 1,159 respectively. Hernando saw 1,005, Citrus saw 510, Hardee 160, and lastly, Highlands saw 159.
Aggressive driving cases from 2016-2021:
Aggressive Driving Stats
Most counties showed relatively steady numbers from year to year. However, there was a big jump in the past two years in Pinellas County.
There were 87 cases in 2018, 514 cases in 2019, then in the upper-800s for the last two years.
In March of 2019, a Pinellas County road rage situation in St. Petersburg left one man behind bars, another dead.
Caught on a home camera— following a fight about "right of way" in St. Petersburg's Historic Old Northeast, investigators say William John Shutt, shot into a BMW driven by Quentin Hicks. Authorities say both cars drove off, but the BMW driven by Hicks then crashed into a tree. As a result of the shooting and crash, Hicks later died from his injuries, according to police.
Police said the men didn't know each other before the shooting; rather, it was a result of the traffic dispute.
St. Petersburg Police Department Spokesperson Yolanda Fernandez said at the time, "Whenever you allow a traffic incident to turn into something this violent, that's very serious... you can't get involved in an incident over just a traffic incident. We always recommend to people; you sometimes have to just let it go."
Data shows Florida has some of the most prevalent and serious cases of deadly road rage.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, a Kentucky-based nonprofit that tallies shootings in near-real time, there have been hundreds of instances in the last few years in which someone in a car showed a weapon in a threatening way or fired at a driver or passenger in another car.
GVA records analyzed by gun violence investigative group The Trace, show there were 728 road rage incidents involving guns in the United States in 2021, resulting in 132 deaths and 390 injuries. In 2021, there were 701 incidents, resulting in 102 deaths and 306 injuries.
According to The Trace, Texas and Florida lead the nation with most "road rage shootings." Between 2017 and 2021, Texas saw 467 cases while Florida say 304. California saw the third highest number of cases in that time frame with 179.
FHP says if you find yourself around someone who is driving aggressively, move out of harm's way, then contact Florida Highway Patrol.
You can reach Florida Highway Patrol by dialing *FHP. That's *347.
"Tell dispatch where you are," Gaskins said. "Give us a good description of the car, the person, tag numbers are great."
And, of course, don't be that driver at the center of these types of incidents.
Gaskins said, "Follow the rules, follow the speed limits, don't tailgate people, don't cut people off. Drive defensively and drive with courtesy."