ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis woman hopes a road rage incident is a reminder to drivers to be more respectful to each other on the roads.
Alison Gartner’s daily commute takes her right through the heart of St. Louis. She said last week a tractor-trailer was merging onto the highway, forcing her to cut off a minivan. She immediately noticed the driver was upset.
“I mean he was upset, and I was like 'Sorry,'” she said. “So we kept going and he was behind me, and he was waving his hands. Then I got back over to the right lane and he gave me his middle finger.”
Gartner thought this was the end of this road rage incident, then she looked back over as her exit was a few miles down I-70.
"As I was getting over, he had the gun pointed at me with the window down,” Gartner said. “I was more upset than scared."
St. Louis metro police said the best thing to do is give the driver space:
"It would definitely be best to slow down to let the road raged person continue ahead, and possibly even exit the highway at the nearest exit or turn down an intersection going the opposite direction of the road raged person (if not on a highway)," a department spokesperson said. "Victims should always pull over to call 911 once they are at a safe location and provide the dispatcher as much detailed information as possible about the suspect and/or suspect vehicle."
Gartner said she’s considering getting a firearm to protect herself. Since September, there have been at least six other shootings along I-70. State troopers and local police have teamed up to create a safer roadway for drivers.