Aggressive Driving Is Not A Laughing Matter in Georgia Attorney
It was once said, a sense of humor is the lubricant of life's machinery, but there is nothing funny about aggressive drivers in Georgia. If you drive a vehicle, chances are that you have dealt with aggressive drivers. There are three main love to hate types of aggressive drivers: the all too familiar driver trying to set a new world record for top obtainable speed on the interstate, the driver who is such an incessant tailgater that you swear they have some secret device installed on their car and have somehow latched on to your back bumper, and the most unpopular driver of all--the driver who cuts you off, especially in Atlanta rush hour traffic.
According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, over 1,500 people are injured or killed each year in the United States due to negligent aggressive driving. In 1996, AAA commissioned a study from The Gallup Organization to investigate driver concerns. The study was done in Washington State and found that local drivers "felt more threatened by aggressive drivers than by drunk drivers." A whopping 40 percent of participants said that aggressive drivers were the biggest danger to highway safety. Drunk drivers came in second at 33 percent. Sadly, before the survey was published, two negligent aggressive drivers caused a disastrous fatal crash in Virginia.
Aggressive driving accidents often result in multiple serious injuries and death. There are many cases where men, women, and children have suffered paralysis, brain damage, amputation, and other seriously disabling injuries. If you are targeted by an aggressive driver, there are some proactive steps suggested by JD Power that you can take to prevent an auto accident from occurring.
What to do if You are Targeted by an Aggressive Driver
- Pull over if possible or take an unintended turn to get away from someone who may be driving aggressively near you or towards you.
- Do not challenge the aggressive driver by speeding up or driving aggressively in return.
- Give the angry driver plenty of room and avoid eye contact and hand gestures.
- If a driver continues to hassle you, report the details of your interaction to the authorities, including the aggressive driver's vehicle make and license plate number.
- If you think you are being followed, drive to the nearest police station to get help.
Our North Georgia personal injury attorneys understand the correlation between aggressive driving and vehicle accidents. If you were in a car accident due to another driver who was driving negligently in an aggressive manner, contact our skilled lawyers at Casey W. Stevens Law: Alpharetta Personal Injury and Car Accident Lawyers for your complimentary case evaluation at 770-408-6364.