Incident at Exit 12.(Column)(Column)

Byline: Rich Ceppos

It did not happen in slow motion. It was just a blur in my peripheral vision at first: a white Chevy Tahoe, passing on my right, 15 mph faster than me and close. Too close. Just as the truck drew even, it swerved left into me. I tried to steer out of the way, but it was too late.

And then an unforgettable hollow boom! Like 10 tympani drums struck simultaneously-the final, emphatic note of a philharmonic concert. The sound of two cars hitting.

We've all read about road rage. But I never thought I'd be the recipient of it. I say recipient rather than victim because I might have influenced the outcome if my behavior had been different. Just maybe.

I cannot tell you what compels a usually rational, law-abiding citizen to crash his car into another on a crowded interstate. Maybe the psychologists can.

According to a 1999 study by Australian researcher Dr. Barry J. Elliott, presented to the Third National Conference on Injury Prevention and Control-and published on the website drivers.com-road rage goes beyond the road.

"It is not true as some would suggest,'' states the report, "that we behave differently when we get behind the wheel of a motor vehicle so that some primal urge arises to make an otherwise meek and mild person an aggressive `road rager.' The evidence suggests that road rage is no different from `bar rage' or `party rage...'''