AAA study suggests that road rage is a common problem
Georgia residents may be shocked to learn that close to 80 percent of the motorists surveyed about road rage in 2016 admitted to expressing severe anger or aggression while behind the wheel during the previous 12 months. Researchers from the AAA’s Foundation for Traffic Safety say that their findings indicate that about 8 million American drivers are involved in serious road rage incidents each year. Examples of serious road rage incidents include ramming vehicles and exiting vehicles to confront other motorists.
The poll of 2,705 licensed drivers reveals that intentional tailgating is the most common type of road rage behavior with more than half of the respondents saying that they had behaved in this way in the prior 12 months. Many also admitted to yelling, aggressively using their horns and making angry gestures, and almost a quarter said that they had cut another vehicle off deliberately. However, less than 5 percent of those polled confessed to deliberately striking another car or exiting their vehicle to initiate a confrontation.
Many of the motorists surveyed by the AAA showed a remarkable ability to forgive their own transgressions while criticizing others who behaved in the same way. Almost two-thirds said that aggressive driving was becoming a more serious problem, and a worrying 90 percent or the respondents believed that angry drivers threatened their personal safety. The researchers also found that drivers who reported road rage incidents were more likely to act aggressively behind the wheel themselves.
Drivers who cause serious accidents after becoming enraged often face severe criminal sanctions such as prison time, and this can sometimes make it more difficult for those who have been harmed to pursue compensation for their car accident injuries. However, if negotiations with the driver’s insurance company do not produce an adequate settlement, an attorney for an injured victim might consider filing a lawsuit against the incarcerated motorist’s personal representative.