Road rage is dangerous because it sometimes leads to violence. Drivers who become furious in traffic may follow others and commit violent crimes during confrontations. Many people intentionally change their routes or drive to well-lit and populated areas after an encounter with road rage drivers to protect themselves from violent criminal acts.
Road rage is also dangerous because it may lead to preventable collisions. Drivers who let their emotions control their behavior in traffic can cause crashes that have devastating consequences for other people.
How can road rage increase the risk of a wreck?
Erratic behavior
Road rage drivers often tailgate the people in front of them or engage in retaliatory conduct, such as cutting off a driver who cut them off previously. Brake-checking, swerving at another vehicle or weaving in and out of traffic to keep pace with another driver can easily cause a wreck.
Distracting conduct
In some cases, road rage drivers don’t directly cause crashes through unsafe conduct. Instead, they become such a significant distraction that other people cause crashes. People who notice road rage antics in traffic may have to swerve aggressively to avoid that driver or may become so distracted that they don’t notice the vehicle in front of them stopping.
When a road rage incident causes a crash, determining who is at fault and therefore liable can be a challenging process, as multiple parties could have a degree of fault for the crash. Ultimately, however, filing an insurance claim or a personal injury lawsuit can help people cover the costs of preventable motor vehicle collisions related to road rage.
