While calling police on the road as he was being closely followed by another driver, an Orlando man was shot and killed Saturday in a suspected case of road rage.
Fred William Turner, 47, was on the phone with police dispatchers when he was shot, ABC Action News reports.
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Police arrested 48-year-old Jerome Edward Hayes after he turned himself in to police Monday morning, his lawyer told ABC.
In his 911 call, “the caller stated that the vehicle following him had earlier pulled up next to his vehicle and someone displayed what appeared to be a semiautomatic weapon to him,” Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Debbie Carter told ABC.
“At some point, for unknown reasons, the occupant, or occupants, of one vehicle fired multiple shots at the other vehicle,” Carter said.
Police said the victim stated during the call that he hadn't done anything to warrant being followed.
After being shot, Turner reportedly pulled over to the side of the road, where he died.
Police are investigating the incident, which they said appears to be road rage, but they're still trying to determine exactly what happened, according to ABC.
Road rage incidents are up 170 percent since 2007, according to the Department of Transportation. A recent
AAA Foundation study found that there have been more than 10,000 road rage incidents, resulting in 12,610 injuries and 218 murders.
The survey found that nine out of 10 people consider aggressive drivers a threat to their safety, and that driving behaviors such as tailgating, erratic lane changing, or illegal passing are a factor in up to 56 percent of fatal crashes.
To avoid being a victim of road rage, the AAA suggests tactics such as not following too closely, not driving too slowly in the left lane, not tailgating, giving lots of room to other drivers even if you are cut off yourself, and avoiding eye contact with angry drivers.
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