I don’t know if there are more road rage incidents or the media is just giving more coverage to the ones that occur. “Road Rage” can be anything from one driver giving another the finger for some slight real or imaged, cutting others off in traffic, or even murder.

This is a case, allegedly, of the last.

ELGIN MAN CHARGED WITH MURDER FOLLOWING FATAL ROAD RAGE SHOOTING ON U.S. HIGHWAY 290 EAST

Elgin, Texas was the scene of a deadly confrontation Tuesday night following what is believed to be a road rage incident. According to CBS Austin, court documents revealed that 34-year-old Fabian Salas has been arrested and charged with the murder of Joseph Duane Stanczyk. Salas, who is in Travis County Jail on a $1 million bond, is accused of fatally shooting Stanczyk in the head after a physical altercation on U.S. Highway 290 East.

So far, no one is quite clear on what started this, but witnesses stated that the drivers were cutting each other off until they came to a traffic light. At which point the victim and then the suspect alighted their vehicles and started to fight in the middle of the street.

At some point Fabian Salas felt that his life was in danger (at least that’s what his attorney will claim) and shot Joseph Stanczyk in the head.

I do not know what happened here. I don’t know who is justified and who isn’t. I don’t know what will happen at the inevitable trial. Oh so many things I don’t know.

Here is what I do know. Note that this is not legal advice as I don’t have a license for that sort of thing. It is what I’ve learned over the years from various classes I’ve attended.

First, and perhaps most important, if you get out of your vehicle and confront the person who offended you, you have pretty much given up any claim of self defense.

If you are involved in something like this, stay in your vehicle. If either, or better yet, both of these men had stayed in their respective vehicles one would still be alive and one would not be in the Travis County jail awaiting trial for his life.

The other thing I know is that if something like this happens, it’s not in the shooters best interest to talk to the police without a lawyer present. A seemingly innocent statement can be used as evidence that you committed a crime.

All so stupid and useless. One life lost, another likely ruined. Salas is going to spend every penny he has defending himself against a criminal charge that may land him in prison for the rest of his life. If he can’t afford to hire a good lawyer, he is going to have to trust his life to a public defender who may or may not be competent to defend a murder charge.

Just stay in your vehicle, lock your doors, roll up your windows, and if you think you’re in danger, call the police. Unless the attacker breaks into your vehicle and is in a position to injure or kill you’ve now put yourself in a good position to be able to successfully claim self defense.

Oh, if you wave at someone in traffic, be sure to use all five fingers.