Accidents Caused by Road Rage
Have you ever been angry about that guy behind you insists on tailgating? You may slow down or speed up or even turn on your emergency flashers. You may even be tempted to step on your brakes to send a message. Finally, you just take a deep breath and get over it.
But for some drivers, that’s just the beginning. Anger spirals out of control and road rage is the result. Within one six-year period, officials pinpointed road rage as the major contributor to over 200 deaths and over 12,000 injuries.
Road rage accidents take many forms, from the weird to the tragic.
How Weird Can It Get?
In Miami, Florida, a man in a black car started an argument with a man in a white Volkswagen. The VW owner started to drive off, so the other driver jumped on the hood to continue the discussion. Video cameras at a nearby business caught the action.
The angry man hung on to the hood, yelling the entire time, while the VW driver hit the gas, even doing a U-turn. Surprisingly, it ended without injury. The car stopped and the man got off the hood, apparently uninjured.
How Dangerous Can It Get?
Occasionally, road rage can take on a different look, involving pedestrians, motorcyclists, and bicyclists. Just outside of Birmingham a 26 year old cyclist, who was in the midst of a 2,700 mile trek across the country, was involved in an odd road rage incident. While riding his bike, he was involved in an altercation with the driver of an SUV. The driver was angered by the cyclist’s slow pace, so after a verbal altercation, he tried to run the cyclist down. Fortunately, the cyclist wasn’t injured, but his bicycle was destroyed.
Unfortunately, road rage often has a sadder outcome. In Little Rock, Arkansas, a 3-year-old was shot by a rage-fueled driver. He was apparently upset that the toddler’s grandmother didn’t move fast enough at a stop sign. He started by honking his horn. Then he got out of his car with a gun and fired into the car, killing the child.
Who Does It?
According to a study done by the American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety, 8 in 10 drivers admit to getting seriously angry one or more times in the last year. For some, it escalated to aggressive driving and road rage.
Researchers say findings indicate that about 8 million drivers have rammed another car or got out of their own vehicle to confront the driver of another car.
Not surprisingly, young males in the 19 to 35 year old age group top the list. Males get out and confront other drivers and ram other vehicles more than three times as often as females.
Another group likely to commit acts of road rage are drivers who routinely run lights and speed. One clear example is drivers who exceed the speed limit on freeways. They are four times more likely to cut off other cars intentionally than other drivers.
What Causes Road Rage?
People get made behind the wheel of a car or truck for a variety of reasons, external and internal. The most common environmental causes are:
- Gridlock, or even heavy traffic
- Detours and delays due to road construction and repair
- Slow drivers
- Distracted drivers, like those talking on the phone
- Drivers with high-beams on, even with on-coming traffic
- Drivers who don’t use turn signals
- Drivers switching lanes without checking who is around them
Personal causes include:
- Driving many miles in the course of a day
- High levels of job or family stress
- People who have a need to control their environment
- People who have problems with anger and aggression
How Does It Start?
Simple actions can easily grow in aggression. The result is full-blown road rage. Here is a look at baseline aggressive driving. Do you ever:
- Tailgate when someone is going too slowly?
- Flash your headlights at a car that is going slow?
- Honk the horn repeatedly?
- Speed up to beat the light?
- Make rude or obscene gestures to express anger at someone else’s driving?
Have you been so angry that you’ve been guilty of this type of road rage? It happens all the time. Most people stop with just the one action. For many drivers, it relieves some stress, and maybe even takes them by surprise. It’s one-off and the drive continues without further aggression.
But for a significant part of the driving population, these gestures escalate. The result can be a collision, a confrontation, a fight, even injury, and death.
Road Rage Claims
Have you ever been the victim of road rage? Has your car been rammed? Has a driver threatened you? Has someone started a fight and injured you or a passenger? Has road rage caused an accident that caused harm to you or others in your vehicle? Has someone hit you or fired a gun at you? Have your suffered trauma and psychological stress because of the incident?
Drivers of both cars and trucks can cause road rage accidents. Don’t let them get away with it. Act appropriately aggressive to protect your rights and claim compensation. If you or a loved one has been injured by an enraged driver it is important that you contact a knowledgeable Alabama personal injury attorney right away so you can be assured that your rights are protected.
Chip Nix is an experienced personal injury attorney who can guide you through the complex legal system that deals with car and truck accidents caused by road rage. Contact Chip Nix Attorney at Law today for a consultation at 334-279-7770 or contact us online
