The term aggressive driving describes a broad range of unsafe driving behavior. Highway safety advocates generally consider speeding, tailgating, weaving in and out of traffic, running red lights, or any combination of these activities as aggressive driving. Honking the horn, yelling, flashing headlights, and using inappropriate gestures are aggressive acts that are symptoms of road rage.
Aggressive drivers pose a safety hazard and are to blame for many car accidents and injuries.
If you have been injured in an accident caused by a driver’s recklessness or disregard for safety in Las Vegas, the aggressive driving accident lawyers at Sam & Ash Injury Law can help you pursue compensation for your medical bills and other losses. Contact us for a free consultation. Our legal team is ready to start working on your injury claim. We will demand What’s Right for you.
What Is Aggressive Driving?
There are multiple definitions of aggressive driving. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety says any unsafe driving behavior performed deliberately and with disregard for safety may constitute aggressive driving.
To date, 11 states have passed laws specifically defining aggressive driving actions, according to the Governors Highway Safety Administration (GHSA).
Under Nevada law, committing a series of reckless driving acts within one mile constitutes aggressive driving. A driver may be ticketed for aggressive driving for:
- Exceeding a reasonable speed given the weather and traffic conditions, speeding in a school zone or road construction zone, or exceeding 80 mph, and
- Committing two or more of the following:
- Driving unsafely on a multi-lane highway
- Failing to obey a traffic sign or signal
- Illegally passing another vehicle on the right
- Following too closely
- Failing to yield the right of way at an intersection or failing to yield to an emergency vehicle
A first offense in Nevada is punishable by a fine of $250 to $1,000 or by a fine and imprisonment in the county jail for up to 6 months. The penalty may be doubled if the violation occurs in a pedestrian zone or a work zone.
Nevada law also allows individuals who have been injured or who have lost loved ones in car accidents caused by someone else’s recklessness to file a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit and seek compensation. At Sam & Ash Injury Law, our Las Vegas car accident attorneys have extensive experience handling aggressive driver accident claims.
The Danger of Aggressive Driving
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) says aggressive driving is a major factor in U.S. traffic crashes, contributing to a large number of fatal highway collisions each year.
AAA said in December 2020 that nearly 8 in 10 American drivers reported engaging in aggressive behaviors behind the wheel. Speeding topped the list of aggressive behaviors.
The AAA survey found that men tend to speed, tailgate, merge dangerously and make rude gestures or honk at other drivers more often than women. Women also admitted to some dangerous driving habits, such as running red lights. Overall, younger male and female drivers tend to drive more aggressively than older drivers.
The Insurance Institute says traffic congestion is one of the most frequently mentioned contributing factors to aggressive driving. Impatient drivers may respond to traffic congestion by speeding or weaving lanes in an attempt to get ahead of other vehicles. Frustrated drivers may become angry at other drivers who they believe slow their progress.
Some people drive aggressively because they are running late for work, school, or appointments. Additionally, the anonymity of being in a vehicle leads some drivers to feel less constrained about checking their emotions.
Speed makes it harder to control a vehicle, requires more space to stop the vehicle, and compounds the force of impact if there is a speeding-related car accident. Speeding endangers not only the life of the speeder but of all the people on the road around them.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says that speeding has been a factor in approximately one-third of all motor vehicle fatalities for more than two decades, including 9,478 deaths in 2019. A report issued in June 2021 says speeding-related crashes increased by 11% in 2020 over 2019.
The Nevada Zero Fatalities initiative says speeding played a part in a third of all motor vehicle fatalities in the state. A total of 512 people lost their lives in speeding-related crashes on Nevada roads from 2015 through 2019. In that period, 70% of fatal speeding crashes occurred on urban roadways, primarily the Last Vegas area. Clark County reported 329 fatal speeding-related crashes in the five years surveyed, more than 64% of the statewide total.
How Aggressive Driving Accidents Occur
Most fatal speeding-related crashes in Nevada from 2015 to 2019 involved a single motor vehicle hitting a fixed object or a broadside or T-bone collision with another vehicle.
A side-impact collision occurs when the front of one vehicle hits the side of another. Because there is less vehicle structure to protect occupants on the sides of a car than at the front or rear, the occupants nearest the point of impact may sustain serious injuries in a broadside collision.
Aggressive drivers who frequently change lanes increase the risk of sideswipe accidents. Sideswipe collisions occur when the sides of two vehicles hit each other. It is not unusual for the impact of a sideswipe accident to cause a driver to lose control and get into a second collision.
Aggressive drivers sometimes tailgate to intimidate the driver ahead to drive faster or change lanes. Tailgating is a primary cause of rear-end collisions. Rear-end car accidents are the most common type of multi-vehicle car crash. Rear-end collisions often cause whiplash, a painful strain of soft tissues in the neck.
Contact a Las Vegas Aggressive Driving Accident Lawyer
You should not be stuck with medical bills for injuries caused by another driver’s disregard for safety. An aggressive driver whose unsafe conduct caused a crash and left you seriously injured may be held financially accountable. Contact Sam & Ash in Las Vegas today to find out how we can help.
We’ll listen to you, explain your legal options, and work to get What’s Right for you. Call us at 702-623-6439 or contact us online now!
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