Road Rage Can Cause Serious Car Accidents Injuries

Driving in public sometimes means having to deal with rude, incompetent or aggressive people in other vehicles. Many of us can deal with the shock or irritation after, for example, getting cut off on the freeway, or being stuck behind a car going well below the speed limit. But it’s very common for incidents like these to trigger extreme and dangerous reactions from motorists.

The result is called road rage. This refers to driving aggressively to frighten another driver or get “revenge” against them. Someone using road rage might tailgate their victim, race to cut them off, honk their horn, threaten them, and so on. Obviously, these maneuvers are very unsafe and can cause a bad car accident.

Unfortunately, road rage is a regular event in the U.S. and California. An estimated eight million drivers commit road rage every year. In a 2016 survey conducted by AAA, 80 percent of respondents admitted to feeling angry or driving aggressively behind the wheel. The conduct admitted to ranged from purposefully tailgating (51 percent) to intentionally ramming another vehicle (3 percent).

The most likely people to commit road rage are males in their late teens to late 30s. But virtually anybody with access to a vehicle can engage in this dangerous behavior. The result can be a terrible car wreck. For example, tailgating can cause a rear-end crash if the victim has to brake suddenly. And of course, ramming another vehicle is purposefully causing a collision.

Auto accidents cause enough harm when one of the drivers caused the crash unintentionally. A crash caused by deliberate methods can be even worse. In the most extreme cases, the victim can be killed. More often, the victim survives, but faces a long road to recovery. They may never fully heal from their injuries and have to live with a disability for the rest of their lives.

For information on your next steps for getting compensation after a road rage car wreck, contact a personal injury attorney.