INDIANAPOLIS -- Road rage is a problem all across central Indiana. “That flash of moment is something you don’t want to happen to anyone,” Matthew Buckland said.
Court Documents say back in October, Buckland was heading east on I-70 near mile marker 84 near the I-465 interchange in Indianapolis when he brake checked a Jeep that was following too closely. “I was just like you’re driving a little too close and I don’t want to get hit,” Buckland added.
Documents say the jeep driven by Christian Walker then pulled up next to Buckland and pointed a gun directly at him. Walker didn’t fire a shot.
“I was terrified, and I have children at home and there are so many dumb people out there, so you don’t know what’s going to happen,” Buckland said.
Buckland says he did what he could and wrote down the license plate number and reported it. His case is just one of at least 224, where state police say someone pointed a gun or showed a gun without shots being fired in a case of road rage.
“Just be careful out there. There are so many erratic drivers out there, people that aren’t really paying attention on the roads,” Buckland told WRTV on Monday.
A WRTV Investigationback in May showed that in most of these incidents no arrests are ever made because the victims and witnesses are unable to provide enough information about the shooter or the vehicle involved.
In 2022, for example, only six cases were made out of the 66 reported cases of shootings on the interstate. This year state police have arrested 7 people.
“People hear about, and they say I should be able to do that too,” David Diaz, MD, associate professor of clinical psychiatry at Indiana University School of Medicine said.
Diaz’s advice is slow down, especially with driving and with emotions getting the best of the people on the road.
“I think we have to build a little extra time into our schedule for driving. It's not necessarily that everything goes according to plan,” Diaz concluded.
