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“You have a barrier between you and whoever, so you can always use that as a defence … kind of hide behind that,” he said. “Always keep on guard, stay alert and know your surroundings.”

Photo by Leah Hennel Leah Hennel / Leah Hennel/Postmedia

This is the third road rage incident in Calgary to end with violence in a little over a week. On Dec. 13, two men were reportedly charged after they ran the driver of a van off the road before pulling the driver out of the vehicle and assaulting him. Four days before that, two men in a BMW allegedly aggressively tailgated and followed Karalie Red Old Man to the West Mount Pleasant Arena before exiting the vehicle, using a hockey stick as a weapon to assault the woman in front of her child and smash out her car windows.

Stoski said he didn’t hear a weapon, but only the glass of his rear window shattering. Police have yet to determine what type of weapon was used to break Stoski’s window, but they do not believe it was a real firearm.

Cairns said a number of causes could lead people to lash out on the road, including road conditions, alcohol or drugs, and even workplace stress from the lagging Alberta economy.

“It could be the stresses around the holidays, the traffic situation in Calgary … everybody’s fending for themselves and taking it personally,” Cairns said. “It could likely be time of year and the current state of our economy.”

If you suspect you are being followed by an enraged driver, Cairns said motorists should drive to a police station, fire hall, or any other public space to try and deter a road rage incident from getting violent.

“You never want to get out of your vehicle if you suspect that the situation has escalated,” he said.

“If someone gives you the finger, you drive away — get over it. In the end we all want to get back to our families and our houses.”