Situation on the US roads is dangerous

Authorities said a bullet hit a motorist's car Monday and two men were wounded in separate freeway shootings over the weekend, the latest in a spate of highway gunfire in &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/mailbox/ 22/98/387/12527_BushSharon.html ' target=_blank>Southern California in recent weeks that has killed four.

A bullet pierced the windshield of a car being driven on Highway 14 on Monday, but nobody was injured, authorities said. Police are investigating whether the incident was linked with the earlier &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/columnists/2002/10/17/38288.html ' target=_blank>shootings.

In the first wounding, a 16-year-old driver was shot three times by someone who pulled alongside the victim's car Saturday on Interstate 5. The victim was able to drive to a hospital and was expected to survive, police said.

Authorities said events leading up to the shooting indicate it may have been motivated by road rage, informs the Guardian Unlimited.

According to the USA Today, no one knows whether incidents of road rage, in which a violent dispute erupts between drivers over such things as slow driving or lane changes, are on the rise. Studies show they did increase through the 1990s. And more recent research indicates that people nationwide feel less safe on highways.