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Leaving work is a bittersweet time in your daily routine. You’re excited that you’ll soon be home with your family, but you’re anxious about the ride home. Every day, you’re forced to get on the Beltway with hundreds of other anxious, overworked, and tired motorists, all scrambling to get home. In addition to the congestion, it is likely you’ll see at least one car who decides to make up his own rules and dangerously weave in and out of traffic, or haphazardly speed by you. Every day, you’re worried that the next aggressive driver will be the one that permanently prevents you from getting home.
Don’t they know the potential danger in which they put themselves and everyone around them?
Consequences of Aggressive Driving
Driving aggressively, as opposed to defensively, not only puts lives in danger, but it can also affect traffic and road rage probability. Consequently, it could increase the odds that more and more drivers will decide to act aggressively in order to relieve their frustrations, perpetuating the cycle, and causing complete mayhem and disaster.
According to the Maryland Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration (MDT-MVA), an average of 6,000 crashes a year are due to aggressive driving. That is approximately one crash every 90 minutes that could be avoided if drivers would take responsibility for their actions and drive defensively, as opposed to dangerously reckless.
The MDT-MVA’s research, over the course of four years, discovered these unsettling facts about aggressive driving collisions and consequences thereof.
- An average of 65 people lose their lives in aggressive driver-involved crashes, representing nearly 11 percent of all of Maryland's annual traffic fatalities.
- Over 4,100 people, on average, are injured (seven percent of Maryland's traffic injuries).
- A majority of multi-car pileups and accidents occur as a result of aggressive driving.
- Washington area motorists rated aggressive driving as the number one threat to highway safety.
- About 44 percent of drivers fear aggressive drivers and their actions, more than any other danger.
- Nearly 8 out of 10 motorists say aggressive drivers are a greater danger than terrorists!
No matter how quickly you want to get home, how fun it is to drive fast, or how irritated or annoyed you are with the car in front of you, driving aggressively is never a good idea. It doesn’t matter if you think you can get away with it, or if you do seemingly get away with it—your actions affect those around you.
So next time you decide to bob and weave through traffic, pass another car going 90 mph, or cut someone off, think about how you would feel if someone did it to you. Think about how you could be causing the people around you stress, dangerous road rage, or a possible accident. Not only will this make everyone’s drive more peaceful, but it could help prevent a tragic accident.
If you’ve recently been injured in a car accident, and need help with your injury claim, contact us today. Our knowledge and eagerness to fight for you will help prove why having an experienced lawyer, is the first step to getting the settlement you deserve. Call now for a free consultation.