Road Rage and Aggressive Driving in DuPage County

 Posted on February 27, 2018 in Personal Injury

One of the major causes of car accidents in DuPage County is aggressive driving. There are several different ways that aggressive driving can happen, from speeding and tailgating to incidents of serious road rage.

According to a news release from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, around 80 percent of all drivers on the road noted anger, aggression, or road rage behind the wheel at least once throughout the previous year. That information came out of a study conducted by AAA on aggressive driving and road rage, which also determined that approximately eight million U.S. drivers participated in extreme examples of road rage, such as "purposefully ramming another vehicle or getting out of the car to confront another driver."

To be clear, when aggressive driving causes an accident, the injury victim may be eligible to file a claim against the aggressive driver based on a theory of negligence.

Drivers Admit to Aggressive Driving and Road Rage Behaviors

The AAA study found startling information about aggressive driving and the high percentage of drivers who engage in dangerous road rage behaviors. The following are facts and figures from the study that help to elucidate just how often aggressive driving occurs:

• 51 percent, or 4 million drivers, admitted to purposefully tailgating;
• 47 percent of drivers, totally around 95 million people, admitted to yelling at another driver;
• 45 percent, or 91 million drivers, admitted to honking simply to show annoyance or anger;
• 33 percent (67 million drivers) admitted to making angry gestures at another driver;
• 24 percent of drivers, meaning about 49 million or one out of every four drivers, admitted to trying to physically block another vehicle from changing lanes with their own automobile;
• 12 percent, or 24 million drivers, admit to cutting off another vehicle on purpose;
• 4 percent of drivers, or more than 7 million, admit to actually getting out of their vehicle to confront another driver; and
• 3 percent of drivers, or nearly 6 million people, admit to bumping or ramming into another vehicle on purpose.

About 90 percent of drivers surveyed believe that driving aggressively poses a risk to their personal safety, while two out of three drivers surveyed think aggressive driving is a bigger problem now than it used to be.

Filing a Claim in an Aggressive Driving Accident

Under Illinois law, if you are injured in an accident caused by an aggressive driver, you need to be aware of the statute of limitations. For most personal injury cases, the statute of limitations is two years from the date of your injuries. As such, it is essential that your claim be filed within two years from the date the aggressive driving accident occurred.

The sooner you get started on your case with the help of a car accident lawyer, the sooner you may be able to receive compensation.

Contact a Car Accident Attorney in DuPage County

Do you need assistance filing a claim in an aggressive driving crash? An experienced DuPage County car accident attorney can assist you. Contact Mevorah & Giglio Law Offices today to get started.