Private Facebook group exposes Walton County road rage incidents

WALTON COUNTY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) - Chances are you’ve either had it before or you’ve seen it before. Road rage is apparently pretty common in Walton County. And now with more cars having dash cameras, those moments are being recorded and some are even being posted online. A group of locals actually created an entire Facebook page dedicated to addressing it.

A crazy road rage incident was caught on camera and posted for the nearly 14,000 members of the 30A/ 98 Road Rage Facebook group to see.

In the video, it seems this car had no time to waste, cutting it close as it sped past on-coming traffic.

Walton County Sheriff’s deputy Chris Webster works in the traffic unit. He said road rage comes with the territory of a popular beach town.

“You have people that tempers flare,” Webster said. “You have somebody cutting you off in traffic, you have young drivers, you have older drivers, you have middle-age drivers. Again they’re lost and don’t know where they’re going. You’ve got everything and it’s all thrown into one big melting pot.”

It’s a melting pot that makes for some hectic roadways.

“Well you’ve got your left lane speeders that have ticket money and you have people who just like to sit in the left lane and get tunnel vision on the sites around them,” Derrick Gossett, Admin for the 30A/ 98 Road Rage Facebook page, said.

That is just one of the reasons Gossett said he decided to create the page.

“Not only is it a place for locals to post and vent but it gives like a driver’s eyes view to the sheriff’s department on spots maybe people aren’t calling and reporting so they can browse the page and look,” Gossett said.

Webster said they’re always watching, but they can’t be everywhere at once.

“Say someone is tailgating me or they cut me off in traffic and now they’re driving around me on the road flipping me the bird. You know that’s something we actually have to witness occur,” Webster said.

But Webster said they do what they can if they have a decent description. Knowing the direction the car was traveling, and having a description of the vehicle and what the driver was wearing are all helpful.

If you ever feel in danger, deputies said to just pull over and call the police.

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