The Impact of Road Rage on Auto Accidents
If you’re ever the victim of road rage, it will likely be one of the scariest experiences you ever face. Drivers have a huge responsibility to others on the road—they are in charge of a multi-ton vehicle, and they’re expected to use it appropriately. When drivers engage in road rage, they are making the choice to ignore that responsibility and intentionally inflict fear on other people. In extreme cases, road rage can even lead to physical altercations and attacks.
It should come as no surprise that road rage has a direct link to car accidents. If you’ve been injured by an aggressive driver, don’t wait any longer to fight for the compensation you deserve. Call Reeves & Mestayer at 228-300-2754.
Understanding Road Rage and Its Causes
While road rage and aggressive driving are closely linked, they are not the same thing. Aggressive driving is a term that can refer to any type of reckless driving behavior, such as speeding excessively, honking at cars at red lights, refusing to let people merge, or making rude gestures at other drivers. From aggressive driving, it’s only a small step to road rage. A driver prone to aggressive driving may make the leap to road rage when faced with traffic congestion, other people’s reckless driving, and personal struggles that have nothing to do with driving.
Those prone to emotional outbursts in other areas of life are also more likely to succumb to road rage. People who struggle to control their impulsive actions, who act in hostile ways to others, and who are quick to anger are often the worst perpetrators of road rage.
Road Rage and Car Crashes
The statistics on road rage and car accidents are alarming. Even if you’re the calmest driver you know, you’re just one interaction away from a terrifying situation. Research indicates that half of the people who are targeted by aggressive driving behaviors respond in the same way, further escalating the situation and pushing it into a full-blown road rage incident. Over a period of seven years, road rage led to 218 murders when drivers actually got out of their vehicles to confront each other.
Road rage leads to accidents in several ways. To start, once someone has reached the point of engaging in road rage, the logical part of their brain has shut down. They are acting purely on adrenaline and emotion, which is a terrible way to make decisions when you’re in control of a vehicle that weighs thousands of pounds.
Drivers who are intentionally frightening other drivers are always at risk of miscalculating their actions. Swerving too close to another driver or intentionally tailgating them means you are milliseconds away from actually hitting them. On top of that, when you’re focused on irritating or scaring the driver next to you, there’s no possible way for you to pay sufficient attention to the road. You’re not paying enough visual attention or cognitive attention to your surroundings to react quickly enough to an unexpected obstacle.
Once a driver engages in road rage, they give up some control of the situation—because they never know how other drivers will respond. They may think they have the upper hand, but the fact is that the person they’re targeting could be even quicker to anger. What starts as an attempt to annoy and inconvenience another driver can quickly become a physical confrontation that leads to serious
bodily injury.
Deescalating Road Rage
Road rage is a growing problem across the country. When people are behind the wheel of a car, they enjoy a certain sense of anonymity. Even if other drivers get a glimpse of their face or their license plate, the chances of them actually facing consequences for road rage are slim. This leads far too many people to act in ways they never would in other situations.
Police chiefs across the country have commented on road rage as accident reports have piled up. They say that the key to de-escalating road rage is patience, as well as a willingness to take a loss and move on. It’s not worth “winning” against the other driver if that means putting yourself and others at risk.
Were You Injured by an Aggressive Driver? Contact Reeves & Mestayer Today
If you’ve been left injured because of an aggressive driver, it’s time to talk to the team at Reeves & Mestayer. To schedule your free consultation, contact us online or call us at 228-300-2754.
