How to Prevent Road Rage

Experienced Attorneys Serving Victims of Road Rage Accidents in Massachusetts and Rhode Island

Road rage is dangerous. According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, aggressive driving – including incidents that escalate to road rage – is a contributing factor in as many as 56 percent of all fatal accidents. In addition, in a study of 10,000 incidents of road rage, the AAA recorded 12,610 injuries.

Drivers who commit road rage put themselves and others at serious risk. So, how do you avoid becoming a victim of road rage? While some victims simply end up in the wrong place at the wrong time, here are some practices you can follow to help avoid creating or escalating a dangerous situation.

  1. If someone wants to pass, let them pass.
    If a driver is tailgating you, it can be tempting to either slow down or maintain constant speed with a vehicle next to you to prevent the tailgater from passing. You should resist this temptation. Tailgaters frequently cause accidents by rear-ending the cars in front of them or clipping their bumpers when they try to pass.
  2. Don’t tailgate.
    If you get aggravated when someone tailgates you, imagine how other people might feel when you tailgate them. Whether you are traveling at speed or sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic, leave enough of a buffer in front of you so that you can avoid a sudden collision.
  3. Don’t let yourself get sucked in.
    Road rage incidents have been known to lead to physical confrontations, and even murder. If someone yells at you or flips you the bird, let it go. Your safety and your passengers’ safety are not worth the risk. Our judgment gets impaired when we get angry, and this is one of the biggest reasons why road rage incidents escalate to fatal accidents.
  4. Avoid dangerous driving habits that can anger other drivers.
    While some people are angry drivers, in most road rage cases there is usually some sort of catalyst. Maybe someone took offense to your speeding, or maybe you jumped the gun at a four-way stop. This is not to say that road rage is justified – road rage is never justified – but rather an acknowledgement that people often react negatively to things that they find offensive.
  5. If you fear for your safety, call 911.
    In addition to taking steps to extricate yourself from a dangerous situation, the best thing you can do to prevent road rage is to call 911. The laws of Massachusetts and Rhode Island punish road rage, and if you want to get back at someone, the way to do it is to let the police do it for you.

Are You a Victim of Road Rage? Contact the Bottaro Law Firm, LLC Today

If you have been injured or lost a loved one due to road rage, the lawyers at Bottaro Law Firm, LLC are here to help. We aggressively pursue claims against aggressive drivers, and we will fight tirelessly to win the compensation you deserve. To discuss your road rage claim with one of our experienced attorneys, call (866) 529-9700 or request a free consultation online today.