Toulouse: incivilities on the road that end in settling scores
In a car, situations can quickly deteriorate. Some Toulousains had the fear of their life for a banal story of speed or look.
All it takes is one look, probably too insistent, too black, for the situation to degenerate. A week ago in the Compans-Caffarelli district, in Toulouse, while a driver stops at a red light and observes the pedestrians, a man, angry for an undetermined reason, comes up to him. The man sees red and is armed with an iron bar. He also rounded up some friends to fight it out. The driver behind the wheel of a small city car does not understand what is happening. With the iron bar, the one who demonstrated to have been “badly looked at” dismantles the vehicle, breaks the windows. The driver suffered an arm injury in the violence of the attack. The author is quickly identified and taken into custody by the police.
Attacks of this type because of “bad eyes” or behavior deemed by some “unsuitable” driving are not so exceptional as that and sometimes occur for futile reasons.
Last spring, a 38-year-old motorist paid the price. While driving peacefully on the Toulouse ring road around 2 p.m., he saw another car behind him, flashing his headlights. The driver who glues him probably criticizes him for driving too slowly. Seeing that his headlight flashes aren’t enough, the car pulls up to him, and the angry man behind the wheel then displays what looks like a handgun. The “too slow” motorist takes fright and speeds up, but the man in a hurry becomes insistent. He comes back to him, weapon in hand and tire twice on the bodywork. A five-kilometre chase ensued. This driver’s hell ends with a bottle being thrown at his car before the assailant flees. In shock, the motorist filed a complaint. Six months later, thanks in particular to the video protection system, the armed driver was apprehended. He was brought to court to answer for his actions.