FACTS

1. Aggressive drivers who run red lights or stop signs, or who fail to yield the right of way, may cause side-impact collisions when they collide with vehicles crossing their path.
2. Aggressive lane changing without using turn signals or checking blind spots can lead to sideswipe accidents, where the sides of two vehicles make contact.
3. Aggressive driving behaviors, such as sudden and aggressive braking, weaving in and out of traffic, and excessive speeding, can contribute to multi-vehicle pileup accidents on highways and congested roads.
4. Aggressive driving behaviors, especially at high speeds or in adverse weather conditions, can lead to loss of vehicle control. This can result in the driver veering off the road, colliding with barriers, or rolling over.
5. Aggressive drivers who disregard pedestrians’ right of way at crosswalks or fail to yield to cyclists can cause accidents involving vulnerable road users.
6. Aggressive driving can escalate into road rage, where drivers engage in dangerous behaviors, such as intentionally ramming other vehicles or using their vehicle as a weapon.
7. Aggressive driving in parking lots, including speeding, ignoring stop signs, and failing to yield, can result in collisions with other vehicles and pedestrians.

STATS

• Aggressive driving is a factor in 54% of all fatal motor vehicle crashes, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.
• Road rage, commonly characterized by aggressive driving, is a factor in more than 50% of all car crashes that end in fatality, according to the AAA. In fact, in a separate years-long study, road rage episodes resulted in about 30 deaths and 1,800 injuries per year.
• 78% of drivers report committing at least one aggressive driving behavior in the past year, including tailgating, yelling, or honking to show annoyance to another driver
• The most common types of road rage are tailgating, yelling, or honking at another vehicle, and are a factor in more than half of all fatal crashes.
• In seven years, road rage incidents caused 218 murders and 12,610 injuries.
• That’s about 30 deaths and 1,800 injuries per year caused by road rage.
• Running late is one of the leading reasons given for aggressive driving, and the most frequently-cited excuse for following too quickly and passing on the right. (NHTSA)
• As reported by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, 106,727 fatal crashes – 55.7 percent of the total – during a recent four-year period involved drivers who committed one or more aggressive driving actions.