Road rage

can come in many forms. On the highways of metro Atlanta we have all felt the frustrations of “bad drivers”. It is the few who haven’t wished for a delete button on the dashboard of our cars to instantly revoke and remove a driver from the road. Cooler heads prevail for most. ‘Road rage‘ is aggressive or angry behavior by a driver of an automobile or other motor vehicle. Such behavior might include rude gestures, verbal insults, deliberately driving in an unsafe or threatening manner, or making threats. Road rage can lead to altercations, assaults, and collisions which result in injuries and even deaths. It can be thought of as an extreme case of aggressive driving.

Many road rage incidents start with reckless driving and Georgia personal injury law has this to say:
§ 40-6-390. Reckless driving

(a) Any person who drives any vehicle in reckless disregard for the safety of persons or property commits the offense of reckless driving.
(b) Every person convicted of reckless driving shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not to exceed $1,000.00 or imprisonment not to exceed 12 months, or by both such fine and imprisonment, provided that no provision of this Code section shall be construed so as to deprive the court imposing the sentence of the power given by law to stay or suspend the execution of such sentence or to place the defendant on probation.

A reckless driving incident can quickly escalate into retaliation with more of the same. As the situation further deteriorates more aggressive driving ensues. For example take this story about a Lawrenceville man overcome with Road Rage, currently facing 30 felony charges for a “Road Rage” spree on June 9, 2010. According to police he intentionally struck seven vehicles on I-85 over a 21 mile stretch of road. As Georgia car accident lawyers we see incidents like these, which also cause injury.

The melee began on southbound I-85 near the Hamilton Mill Road exit when Strawn reportedly slammed a vehicle and kept driving. As 911 calls flooded in, an officer spotted the red Dodge Ram near Boggs Road in Duluth and gave chase.

One wonders what was going through his mind? People do not typically set out to commit such atrocities. Multiple factors can lead to such actions, including family stress, financial stress and stress in the workplace. Compounded problems over time can escalate a persons reactions to a seemingly minor driving incident. Take the incident of road rage committed by Earl Stine, one of three GOP candidates for District 3 commissioner in Cobb County. He was arrested following an incident on I-20 where he was found to be waving a gun towards an aggressive driver who had repeatedly cut him off earlier on the road. The media and voters are questioning his character as he seeks political office. According to Stine:

“I just wanted him to leave me alone, to get home, so I had my windows up and put the profile of my .40 caliber Glock next to the window. It had a clip in it, but there was no bullet in the chamber, and I certainly had no intent to pull the trigger,” Stine said. “I made a fool out of myself, quite frankly. I was angry and made a really bad decision and I accept responsibility for that.”

Of course much of this “confession” has come out becuase this entire incident was investigated and brought to light by the Marietta Daily Journal. Always think twice before getting caught up in aggressive driving which can later lead to a more serious road rage incident. Join us for our next post when we discuss what to do to avoid road rage. Atlanta is considered According to an AutoVantage survey on road rage Atlanta is the sixth least courteous city in the country in terms of road rage, compared to 24 other major American cities. It doesn’t take the driver new to Atlanta roads to figure this out. But, you should think twice the next time your driving sensibilities are assaulted as you seek some retaliatory justice. Your actions could further escalate a situation and make them worse.

No one is immune to aggressive driving behavior. Here is a story recounting Marietta Gynocological involved in a road rage incident with a women at a stop light for a prior driving altercation.

The woman, who doesn’t want to be publicly identified, told 11 Alive News about the incident on Tuesday. She says she and her children were in her van at a red light at the intersection of Roswell and Abernathy Roads in Sandy Springs when a man in a red sports car behind her got out, walked up to her window and punched her in the face after saying, “What’s wrong with you?” The woman told police he had cut her off a few blocks earlier and almost caused a wreck, but she still isn’t sure why he punched her.

Regardless of what type of driving behavior caused the aggression, it is usually the person escalating the retaliation who is later found to be in trouble with the law or worse. This story from 2007 recounts a Gwinnett county man, 23-year-old Tony Newberry was in his SUV with his wife and 4-year-old daughter when, family members said, he was stabbed to death by a man who followed him down Interstate 85. The stabbing incident occurred when Mr. Newberry attempted to confront the suspect after a prior driving altercation.

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