Some people might think that road rage only includes extremely violent behavior when behind the wheel, like shooting at another car or ramming a car or pedestrian with one’s vehicle, but road rage can include many different types of aggressive driving. When a driver engages in dangerous conduct because of anger, impatience, or other uncontrolled emotion, the risk of a collision skyrockets.
A South Carolina personal injury attorney can help you try to hold the at-fault driver accountable if you got hurt because of road rage. If your close relative died because of a road rage incident, we might be able to pursue additional money damages for the legal beneficiaries. We can also answer your questions about why road rage causes so many accidents.
What Kind of Actions Can Be Examples of Road Rage?
Driving can be stressful. We have all tapped the horn at someone who did not go forward within a reasonable amount of time after the light turned green or who clogged up traffic by going well under the speed limit in the “fast lane.” If those brief incidents do not escalate or involve extreme, out-of-control emotions, they are not examples of rod rage.
Here are some things that can be road rage:
- Driving dangerously close behind a vehicle, as if to “bully” it into driving faster. When it is safe to do so, the better course of action is to change lanes and get past the slow car.
- Yelling or screaming curses and threats that people in other vehicles can hear.
- Using your headlights on high beam when right behind another car.
- Slamming on the brakes when someone tailgates you, also called brake-checking.
- Cutting off by pulling in front of them sharply right after passing them.
- Frequent lane changes without justification.
- Any other unsafe driving maneuvers intended to express anger or intimidate another person.
There are many other actions that can constitute road rage.
Why is Road Rage So Dangerous?
An aggressive driver creates a heightened risk of harm to himself, people in other vehicles, and pedestrians for these reasons:
- The road-raging driver is out of control emotionally and making poor decisions. While focused on his anger, he is less likely to think clearly or notice facts that would otherwise indicate peril
- Road rage often involves high speeds for the conditions. It is more challenging to control a speeding car than one that is traveling at an appropriate speed
- If the aggressive driving involves cars traveling at unsafe proximity to each other because of tailgating or brake-checking, the vehicles are at high risk of a collision because there is not enough time or distance to stop to prevent an accident
- The extreme emotions that tend to accompany road rage can become “contagious,” with the driver who perceives himself as the victim of road rage might strike back and escalate the violence, by pulling a weapon or approaching and confronting the other driver at a stoplight
What started as mere inattention by one driver irritating another driver could quickly become a dangerous road rage incident. A South Carolina personal injury attorney can fight for you to go after all the compensation you deserve if you suffered harm because of road rage. If you’ve been affected by a road rage incident get in touch with our office for a free consultation.