Dr. Ryan Martin quoted in ‘What are you, chicken?’ Road rage slap video nets charge | WOODTV.com

It’s true that brake checking on its own is not illegal in the state of Michigan.

However, if police witness it, they could cite you for careless driving.

Target 8 consulted three experts regarding the July 13 incident, all of whom strongly condemned the physical assault but also said Nguyen and his fiancé could have done more to de-escalate the situation.

“Why would you roll down the window in that circumstance?” questioned Dr. Ryan Martin, a psychologist and author who researches anger at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. “I was a little surprised (at that). That sounds a little like victim blaming, so I want to be careful about putting that out there, but what was the point there? You’re in a relatively vulnerable position when you’re there in your car and there’s someone walking around it. I would want to keep some of the barriers up.”

Martin, who’s been dubbed the “anger professor,” advises drivers to focus on their mission.

“I encourage people to essentially, when they’re driving, to remember their goal,” Martin said in a Zoom interview with Target 8. “My goal when I’m driving should be to get from point A to point B safely and maybe on time. But the on time is really secondary to the safety part. If that’s the case, then any angry, aggressive interaction with another driver doesn’t serve that goal.”

But Martin acknowledges that’s easy to say but could be tough to remember in the heat of conflict.

HIT PAUSE, AVOID EYE CONTACT, DON’T ENGAGE

“So, one of the goals for people has to be to figure out how do you, in the moment, find that pause button?” asked Martin, who said one method is rehearsing in your mind. “One way you can practice is by imagining how you would behave, right? Either you can think back on a situation and say, ‘What should I have done?’ Or you can just imagine if you were in a situation and think about, ‘How would I handle that?’ If you do that regularly, you’re likely to handle it well when faced with it.”

It’s a critical skill in an increasingly tense environment.

Gary Bubar of AAA-The Auto Club Group said nationwide, there are 20 to 30 road rage incidents annually in which shots are fired that result in injury or death.

“These folks don’t know each other,” Bubar said in a Zoom interview with Target 8. “For the most part, they’re just random occurrences that happen between drivers when one driver feels wronged. Best thing you can do in those situations is just let it go. You don’t know anything about that other driver. They may be having a bad day. They may be on their way to an emergency.”

The experts offered tips on how to avoid confrontations on the road.

“When somebody’s passing you and you want to flip them off or you want to yell at them, just don’t look at them,” advised Brandon Hewitt, attorney and chief operating officer at Michigan Auto Law. “Just keep your eyes forward. Don’t engage them.”

But if you feel threatened in a situation you cannot avoid, Hewitt said you should not go home.

“Go to a public place or drive to the police station,” Hewitt said. “Go somewhere where you’re going to be seen. Because most people, if they do want to confront you, they’re not going to do it in a public space.”

Reflecting on the July 13 incident, Nguyen knows he could have handled it better.

“I think if I spoke to her more respectfully, maybe it wouldn’t have escalated, but I was yelling at her that ‘this is crazy,’ and I didn’t want our sushi to go bad, you know,” he said, chuckling.

Jacobs was less introspective.

“Take Collindale or Burritt or Maynard,” she said, referring to nearby arteries. “You don’t come down in here. This is private property.”

Nguyen said he’s heeding that advice.

Source: ‘What are you, chicken?’ Road rage slap video nets charge | WOODTV.com