Cars and guns have a few things in common: They have distinct symbolic meanings in the United States; they’re owned by millions of Americans; and they kill and injure a lot of people each year. And increasingly, The Trace’s Jennifer Mascia and Chip Brownlee reported last year, people have found themselves in precarious situations where guns and cars collide.
Between 2014 and 2023, the number of people shot in road rage incidents each year surged more than 400 percent, from 92 to 481, Mascia and Brownlee found. All told, angry drivers shot 3,095 people over that decade, or nearly one every day. One in four of those people — 777 — were killed. Over that period, gun-involved road rage incidents more than doubled, and the number of victims killed or injured increased more than fivefold.
Their analysis found that Texas leads the nation in road rage shootings. Houston had the most road rage shootings of any city in the nation, and other major Texas cities — like San Antonio and Dallas — also had high numbers. Now, Brownlee reports, a new state law slated to take effect in September will increase penalties for road rage shootings. The measure was passed with bipartisan support, but state Representative Christina Morales, a Houston Democrat whose district includes the I-45 corridor, hopes lawmakers will go further in the future…