A man was shot to death in my Indiana city  yesterday. It happened in a Kroger parking lot at about 4 o’clock in the afternoon.  Reportedly, it was a case of road rage.  Strange as it may seem, another road rage fatality took place  at approximately the same time in Laurel County, Ky.   Our town is relatively peaceful.  Most serious crimes are drug related.  This is the first crime of its kind that I can remember happening here.  Have road rage deaths increased during the pandemic?

Statistics on covid-19 cases and deaths are updated every day.  It would be interesting to publish a separate set of stats on crimes caused by the stress of the entire pandemic. According to National Public Radio, robberies have declined overall during the pandemic, but shootings and killings are up.

The  BBC reports  domestic abuse has increased by 20% worldwide. Child abuse cases have increased at about the same rate.  According to the National Sexual Assault Hotline, there has been  a 22% increase in monthly calls from people younger than 18.  In the majority of these cases, the perpetrator was a family member, and the abuse was escalating in frequency and severity.

A Kaiser Family Foundation poll, showed  more than half of Americans — 56% –reported that worry or stress related to the outbreak has led to at least one negative mental health effect. Those include trouble with eating or sleeping, drinking alcohol more, frequent headaches or stomachaches, shorter tempers, and other health problems. Among frontline health care workers and their families, 64% reported worsened mental health, as did 65% of those who had lost income.

Consequently, at some point in time, we’ll have to decide which is worse?   The disease itself, or increased violent crime,  poverty, nervous breakdowns, drug overdoses, and all of the other miseries of a prolonged quarantine.

We’re in the midst of a national mental health crisis. Will the the stress of the covid-19 pandemic lead to more cases of  road rage?  I have to believe that it will.