It has been said that every 17 hours, a person is shot during a road rage incident in the United States. Few are surprised by the surge in road rage violence given the ongoing pandemic and the stern gun culture; road rage shootings are already an American problem well before COVID.
But no place in the USA is the road rage shooting epidemic more pronounced than in Houston.
“In the past, people curse one another, throw up the finger and keep moving. Now instead of throwing up the finger, they’re pulling out the gun and shooting.” — Houston mayor Sylvester Turner
Several high profile incidents, such as a killing of a 17-year-old boy after a baseball game and a 9-year-old being able to survive from a shooting after being sent in a coma, have made national headlines, on top of children (including infants) being caught in the crossfire. But the idea of Houston having the worst of the road rage shooting pandemic is far from simply perception. In fact, from 2017 to 2022, Houston suffered 30 deaths and 120 injuries as a result of gun violence in road rage incidents; by comparison, California suffered 34 deaths and 83 injuries during the same time period. This, in a city already plagued by deadly roads, not the least of which include the deadliest highway in America.
Road Rage Shootings (2017-2022) by Place
| PLACE |
DEATHS |
INJURIES |
TOTAL WOUNDED |
DEATHS/INJURIES/TOTAL WOUNDED PER 100K |
| HOUSTON |
30 |
120 |
150 |
1.30/5.21/6.51 |
| CALIFORNIA |
34 |
83 |
117 |
0.09/0.21/0.30 |
| FLORIDA |
34 |
100 |
134 |
0.16/0.46/0.62 |
| NEW YORK |
16 |
16 |
32 |
0.08/0.08/0.16 |
| ILLINOIS |
15 |
46 |
61 |
0.12/0.36/0.48 |
Yes, Houston looks unfavourable compared to the statistics of entire states. Furthermore, more people are wounded from road rage shootings within Houston city limits (150) than the amount wounded in California and New York combined (149). Not that other big cities in Texas do not have a high amount of road rage shootings, as statewide, such incidents produced 95 deaths and 290 injuries.
Road Rage Shootings (2017-2022) by CITY IN TEXAS
| PLACE |
DEATHS |
INJURIES |
TOTAL WOUNDED |
DEATHS/INJURIES/TOTAL WOUNDED PER 100K |
| HOUSTON |
30 |
120 |
150 |
1.30/5.21/6.51 |
| SAN ANTONIO |
11 |
45 |
56 |
0.77/3.14/3.90 |
| DALLAS |
14 |
17 |
31 |
1.07/1.30/2.38 |
| AUSTIN |
7 |
12 |
19 |
0.73/1.25/1.98 |
| FORT WORTH |
9 |
17 |
26 |
0.98/1.85/2.83 |
| TEXAS |
95 |
290 |
385 |
0.33/1.00/1.32 |
*Note that Deaths per 100k and Injuries per 100k may not add up to the Total Wounded per 100k due to the two figures being rounded to the second decimal.
The fact that the Bayou City has worse statistical figures than the birthplace of the term “road rage” (2 killed, 10 injured) and the ultimate dangerous hellhole according to right-wing media (9 killed, 32 injured) is nothing short of daunting. In fairness, Albuquerque, St Louis, and Detroit have higher rates of road rage shooting deaths compared to Houston. But, out of the cities in the following list, only St Louis has a higher rate of the amount wounded than Houston, so even if you compare Houston to cities Americans consider dangerous, Houston still does not look good. Even worse, if you add up the amount of people wounded in road rage shootings in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Baltimore, Albuquerque, and Oakland, you still would have a lower number than the amount of people wounded in Houston. The city of Houston alone, which is 0.70 per cent of the US population, accounts for 6.25 per cent of road rage shooting deaths nationwide (in which the figure is 480), 8.53 per cent of injuries (in which the figure is 1407), and 7.95 per cent of the number of people wounded from road rage shootings (in which the figure is 1887).
Road Rage Shootings (2017-2022) by Place (SELECTED US CITIES)
| PLACE |
DEATHS |
INJURIES |
TOTAL WOUNDED |
DEATHS/INJURIES/TOTAL WOUNDED PER 100K |
| HOUSTON |
30 |
120 |
150 |
1.30/5.21/6.51 |
| NEW YORK CITY |
12 |
12 |
24 |
0.14/0.14/0.27 |
| LOS ANGELES |
2 |
10 |
12 |
0.05/0.26/0.31 |
| CHICAGO |
9 |
32 |
41 |
0.33/1.17/1.49 |
| PHILADELPHIA |
5 |
13 |
18 |
0.31/0.81/1.12 |
| WASHINGTON, DC |
2 |
1 |
3 |
0.29/0.15/0.44 |
| DETROIT |
10 |
25 |
35 |
1.56/3.91/5.48 |
| MEMPHIS |
6 |
35 |
41 |
0.95/5.53/6.48 |
| BALTIMORE |
4 |
10 |
14 |
0.68/1.71/2.39 |
| ALBUQUERQUE |
12 |
8 |
20 |
2.13/1.42/3.54 |
| OAKLAND |
4 |
9 |
13 |
0.91/2.04/2.95 |
| NEW ORLEANS |
3 |
9 |
12 |
0.78/2.34/3.13 |
| ST LOUIS |
6 |
24 |
30 |
1.99/7.96/9.95 |
*Note that Deaths per 100k and Injuries per 100k may not add up to the Total Wounded per 100k due to the two figures being rounded to the second decimal.
When you see that even the suburban area of Katy has similar totals (4 dead, 8 injured) to Los Angeles, you should consider the ridiculous gun laws of Texas. Yes, a combination of despair, isolation, and boredom make for a cocktail of distress, which can be reflected on the reckless behaviour of motorists on the roads. And yes, the amount of Americans buying guns has surged in 2020 and 2021, so the addiction to firearms isn’t just a Texas thing. But, not only can you carry a gun in your car with fewer restrictions, but people in Texas can open carry without a permit. With that in mind, most of the guns used during road rage incidents are legally owned.
Online, there are videos and trainings that offer tips for carrying and using a gun inside of a car.
Jacob Paulsen, who teaches an online course called “vehicle firearm tactics,” said that escaping should always be the driver’s aim. “Your primary objective is your own survival,” Mr. Paulsen said. “If your primary objective is to punish someone else, or to make sure that other person is in jail or gets justice, those are not good mind-sets.”
Not that everyone is happy with the current state of Texas gun culture.
The solutions to the road rage shooting epidemic are obvious, even if change does not happen overnight. But people would rather point the finger on Californians or immigrants from Mexico and Central America. If not that, then they continue with the “Guns Save Lives” mantra, which has been disproven time and time again. (In other news, the National Rifle Association will [nevertheless] hold their “annual meeting” this month in Houston.)
Alas, the people that consider themselves “pro-life” treat such harmful incidents as if they are not an issue in America.
Figures for the number of road rage shootings between 2017 and 2022 are found in this spreadsheet, which is compiled by The Trace. Per capita statistics are estimated with population figures for the 2020 US Census.
