Road Rage Kills

Police said Bender and Luciano were exchanging obscene gestures with the driver of a green Chevrolet pickup truck for some distance as they headed south in commuter traffic.

The truck swerved into the left lane in front of Luciano’s 1998 Chrysler Sebring, causing him to lose control, cross the right lane and hit the guardrail, said Maryland State Police spokesman 1st Sergeant Russ Newell.

Luciano was the 1998 state wrestling champion in the 171-pound weight class for Northampton High School in eastern Pennsylvania. Neither victim was wearing a seat belt and both were ejected and pronounced dead at the scene

Often times crowded freeways and poor planning lead to impatience and frustration with traffic. Sometimes, misplaced competition leads drivers to antagonized each other. In this case, rude gestures led to a fatal crash and a manhunt for the driver of the green pickup.

Anger management skills could have helped save Luciano and Bender. Enhanced emotional intelligence would have helped them to be aware of their rising anger and the social intelligence would have reminded them not to antagonize others. Stress management techniques would have helped them to "shake it off." They could even have taken a tip from the movie Anger Management and said "Goosefraba" to each other. That would have gotten them both laughing instead of leaving them dead.

Equally, the driver of the green pickup could have "just said no" and ignored the decedents. By escalating a hostile exchange and swerving in front of the other vehicle he contributed to two unnecessary deaths.