Americans Have Increasing Number of Homicidal Thoughts While Driving, Data Shows

a short story

In 2022, more than 11 million drivers across the United States had thoughts of running over pedestrians while stopped at a red light, according to data released from the U.S. Department of Psychological Data Surveillance. 

The data reveals that millions of Americans have homicidal thoughts while driving, and pedestrians have no clue they are the object of these thoughts. Although rarely acted upon, the homicidal thoughts could result in more acts of spontaneous murder, experts warn.

“As people spend more time in alternate realities on the internet, their comprehension of actual reality tends to blur,” said Dr. Hubert Holstein, a professor of social neuropsychology at the University of Waxahachie. “This causes confusion, uncertainty, and a diminished impulse control, which could result in more road fatalities in situations such as waiting at a red light.”

Approximately 70 percent of people included in the personal thought data had between one and five homicidal thoughts at red lights, which the U.S. Department of Psychological Data Surveillance considered a low public threat risk. 

“Based on our comprehensive data on personal thoughts, we find that these transgressions are quite normal and it’s extremely rare when they’re acted upon,” said Hannah Mosspalm, the Director of the Department of Psychological Data Surveillance. “However, more than five indicates severe instability and we monitor those people closely.”

Data from the Department of Psychological Data Surveillance shows 30 percent of drivers included in the data - about 210 million people - regularly have more than five homicidal thoughts while stopping at red lights per year, and have been put under Stage 5 surveillance, the highest surveillance level before one is put into permanent custody.

Lester Diggler, a 32-year-old software developer who lives in New Jersey, is one of those people. He has been in Stage 5 for more than a year and has come close to being contained several times over the past year. 

“I don’t know where these thoughts come from,” Diggler said. “I’ll be sitting there at the red light and I see a guy walking across - like it’s nothing, you know? And I can’t help but think, like, doesn’t he know he’s walking past a bunch of people who can totally end his life simply by stomping on the gas pedal? Doesn’t he know that I’m trying my best, my hardest, I’m gripping the steering wheel until blood stops flowing through my fingers, just to not step on that pedal and just end this man’s life right there? I think all kinds of thoughts. I think about the pain he’ll feel before he dies. I think about all the chaos I’ll experience afterward. I think about being in prison the rest of my life, killing myself in prison, I think about all these things. It’s like a movie in my head and I’m being forced to watch it. And the thing forcing me will take over my foot if I let it. I’m doing all I can to make sure it doesn’t, but I honestly don’t know if I will be able to stop it forever.”

When asked if he was able to take public transportation to avoid these potentially dangerous situations, he replied: “Driving is just easier.”

Other people in the Stage 5 program interviewed for this article had a wide range of opinions about their red light thoughts.

“I wouldn’t call it ‘homicidal’ exactly,” said Debbie Wang, a 27-year-old clothing designer in Portland, Oregon. “I think of it as my mind just kind of messing around. Like, sometimes I think of running them over on purpose. Other times I think of them falling without me knowing it and I run over their head accidentally. I mean, I don’t always kill them in these scenarios, either. One time I thought about paralyzing this one guy, and years later he’s crossing the street in his wheelchair and somebody else runs him over. That would be kinda crazy, right? It’s just fun thoughts to amuse myself with while driving.”

Wang added that she’s not worried about being on the Stage 5 Surveillance Program.

“We’re all under Stage 5 surveillance,” she said. “Whoever doesn’t get that will never get it.”

Sometimes, however, the homicidal thoughts become deadly action, such as when Anthony Prince stomped the gas pedal at a red light in Bend, Oregon in 2020, instantly killing Geno Verbeek, a 30-year-old pedestrian.

Prince, 52, is currently in his third year of a 10-year sentence for manslaughter for the killing of Verbeek. 

“I feel horrible for being responsible for an innocent person’s death,” Prince said. “But at the same time, I knew it was going to happen at some point. I just hope it’s out of my system now and when I get out of here, those urges won’t sneak into my head anymore.”

In a phone interview from the post-death realm, Verbeek said the government should have done more to prevent his death if they had data that indicated Prince was a threat to the public.

“I had my whole life ahead of me! I had just gotten married, just started making money, had a baby on the way. And this guy just ends everything - my entire life - because he’s a crazy bastard who can’t control himself and the government knew all about it?” Verbeek said. “What’s the point of collecting everyone’s thoughts and creating agencies that monitor those thoughts if you’re just gonna wait until they kill?”

Mosspalm said her agency has an answer to that.

“We’re working on a program that will monitor the severity of not just homicidal thoughts, but any thought believed to be a threat to the public. This will trigger a response in the system that will send our enforcement agents out to contain the individual,” she said. “Many lives will be saved and those afflicted with these thoughts will get the treatment they need. We estimate about 200 million Americans will receive mandatory psychological guidance every year.”

Lester Diggler is one American who will likely experience mandatory psychological guidance when the new system rolls out, but he is unperturbed by the idea.

“As long as I don’t have to ride the bus,” he said.