History indicates that this video showing a man repeatedly plowing his automobile into the cars in front of him in assumed outrage but perhaps some other motive may not be unusual behavior in present day Los Angeles.
Modern automobiles feature a suite of suitable gadgets and options to enable motorists to effectively communicate with one another. There are the turn signals to help communicate direction. You can flash your headlights as a warning, or signal of danger, or a lurking cop. Sometimes there are even opportunities for direct verbal confrontation. Heaven forbid, but even the horn could be used to communicate in extreme circumstances.
But often we find that communication breaks down in highly stressful environments where individuals may be angry or otherwise pressured. It’s an unfortunate reality, but all of us have experienced frustration and sometimes even inconsolable rage.
What’s unfortunate, in the circumstance of this Los Angles traffic incident, is that such rage or frustration blocked the judgement of one man who decided to forgo the traditional forms of communication and instead use his vehicle to repeatedly ram into fellow motorists. If not rage, perhaps his message was simply that he would like to continue driving.
That video is eerily reminiscent of the programmed actions of artificially intelligent characters in the shockingly violent hit video game series called Grand Theft Auto. In reality, though, the consequences are far more alarming and particularly destructive.
The actions of the driver in this video are completely bewildering, as evidenced by the watchful and documentarian crowd that collects. He appears to not be aware that the vehicles in front of him are in fact physical and present as he repeatedly shifts gears and attempts to drive forward. Occasionally he is in reverse, hitting the vehicle behind him. Occasionally he is in neutral and seemingly unaware. A woman screams. Why do the other cars remain stationary?
Eventually his actions result in escape. Perhaps he had some prior circumstance that would inspire him not be present when authorities arrived.
h/t to Chris!