SOUTH JORDAN – A mother urged all drivers to behave better after a disturbing road rage incident over the weekend that left her fearful her children could have been in danger.
Katie Koelliker and her family were driving east on 10400 South on Sunday when another car sped past them in the right lane, honking.
“He just got out of control,” Koelliker said. “At every red light he would step on the gas and try to go faster and faster, and we all caught up with him.”
Eventually, the two cars found themselves at the intersection of 10400 South and Redwood Road. Koelliker said the other driver decided to confront her.
“The guy in the car in the right lane started yelling at our car, ‘Learn to drive,’ ‘Get out of the left lane,'” Koelliker told KSL-TV.
Koelliker said she had never witnessed such an outburst of road rage before and the ordeal was so disturbing that she took a photo of the other car and reported the driver to South Jordan police.
Children were “unsettled”
“Our kids were scared,” Koelliker said. “Our younger kids were definitely sitting right behind the seats, they saw everything that was happening and they were a little unsettled by what was happening.”
The encounter sparked even more repercussions when Koelliker learned of another case of road rage in Sandy that same day. Police say a driver fired multiple shots at another driver. Investigators said the suspected shooter had his three- and six-year-old children in the car.
“My mom had told us there was a road rage shooting in Sandy involving children,” Koelliker said. “It was still really scary considering that there were children involved on the same day that there were probably multiple road rage incidents, one of which escalated like this.”
Koelliker urged all drivers to remain calmer behind the wheel and avoid such situations.
“It is unfortunate that our children have to live in a society where they see or hear about such traumatic events. We can all do better,” Koelliker said.
