Road Rage and Aggressive Driving Cause Accidents

First of all, road rage and aggressive drivers are two distinct and separate causes of motor vehicle accidents. While both have an element of anger, road rage and aggressive driving is like what an apple is to a banana.

According to the NHTSA, more Americans are worried about aggressive drivers than drunk drivers. These aggressive drivers can be identified through behavior such as:

• Tailgating
• Unsafe lane changing
• Speeding
• Running red lights and stop signs

Aggressive drivers pose a high risk to other motorists, their reckless and impatient driving behavior can cause collisions, crashes and property damage as they pass on the right, make hand and facial gestures, scream, honk and flash their lights.

Road rage however, is often thought of as an extreme case of aggressive driving. Road rage is also known as road violence and this is deliberately dangerous and/or violent behavior while driving an automobile.

The common manifestations of road rage are:

• Getting out of one's vehicle to another person's vehicle and banging, knocking on the windows
• Shouting verbal abuse, obscenities, or threats.
• Intentionally causing a collision between vehicles.
• Threatening to use or using a firearm or other deadly weapon.
• Throwing projectiles from a moving vehicle with the intent of damaging other vehicles.

Driver stress resulting from increased levels of traffic congestion could significantly increase the incidence of aggressive driving and road rage. But still, such driver behavior under unsavory traffic conditions is unacceptable and unjustifiable.

Both aggressive driving and road rage are against the law. Aggressive drivers may be charged under the reckless driving, but if the driving behavior causes injury it can result to further criminal charges.

14 States have passed laws against aggressive driving. California in particular, has defined road rage. There are about about 1,200 road rage cases annually, and these are often processed as assault and battery (with or without a vehicle) or vehicular manslaughter if someone dies.

Aggressive driving and road rage happens when crowded roads, rush¬ing, and impatience cause one driver to react angrily to another driver. It is impossible to avoid given the millions of Americans who rely on motor vehicles as their primary means of transportation.

In case you find yourself caught up in such dangerous traffic circumstances, these are some tips you can use to avoid or defuse the volatile situation.

• Allow plenty of time to reach your destination to avoid rushing.
• Don’t cut off other drivers.
• Don’t drive slowly in the left (fast) lane.
• Don’t tailgate.
• Don’t make gestures to other drivers.
• Use your horn for emergencies only.
• Avoiding eye contact with an angry driver.
• Giving an angry driver plenty of space.