The horrific incident shocked the nation when it went viral in China earlier this month: a woman dragged from her car, thrown to the ground and kicked repeatedly in the face and head in a case of road rage in Sichuan.
And it was hardly an isolated event. About 100 million road-rage incidents have been reported since January 2012, according to the Ministry of Public Security. Incidents arising from drivers forcefully changing lanes or disrespecting the right of way rose 10 percent in the first four months of this year, compared with the same period last year, it said.
"People are easily agitated nowadays, feel underappreciated and disrespected, and they take it out on the road by being bullies on the road," Sun Xiaohong, a prominent female observer of the auto industry for more than a decade, said in an interview.