Legal Blog

How to Avoid Road Rage Accidents in Southern California

Road rage is among the leading causes of motor vehicle accidents in southern California and throughout the nation. One study from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) even indicates that aggressive driving plays a role in more than half of fatal collisions. There are various steps you can take to prevent your own anger behind the wheel from putting yourself or others in harm’s way. They include:

• Making sure you have enough time to reach your destination when traveling
• Not driving when experiencing intense emotions
• Practicing calming breathing exercises that allow you to relax while still paying attention to the road

Those are just a few examples. However, while you may be able to exercise a certain degree of control over your own road rage, you might understandably wonder what you can do to minimize your chances of being harmed in an accident resulting from the anger of another driver. Keep reading if so. Ways to avoid being hurt in road rage accidents others cause include:

Don’t Engage With Angry Drivers

You can’t reason with anyone on the road. If you notice someone is driving aggressively, you may call the police to alert them, but you should virtually never engage such a motorist. Doing so is only likely to escalate an already dangerous situation.

Avoid Angry Drivers

If an aggressive driver is creating an unsafe situation, adding a little more time to your trip in the name of safety may be a wise decision. For example, if you know your way around the backroads, you could get off the highway to put distance between yourself and an angry driver. Other options include pulling over to the side of the road or finding a place to park your vehicle for a few minutes until you believe an aggressive driver is no longer nearby.

Avoid Rush Hour

This may not be an option for everyone reading this. Depending on such factors as where you live and where you work, driving on busy highways during rush hour may be a necessity for you. However, if you can, try to stay away from the busiest roads during the busiest times of day. It is in these conditions that road rage accidents may be more common.

Yield

It can be very tempting to attempt to enforce the law when an aggressive driver is speeding behind you or trying to merge in a less-than-safe manner. You might not want to let them merge or pass you, justifying your decision to block them by telling yourself you’re merely preventing an accident. Your intentions in this scenario might be good. However, the outcome could be devastating. Generally, if you fail to yield to an aggressive driver, you can expect them to become even more aggressive. You’re therefore better off yielding and then stopping to call the police and alert them to the situation. That said, even if you heed the advice here, it’s still possible you’ll one day be involved in a southern California road rage accident through no fault of your own. If this ever occurs, a southern California car accident attorney at Randolph & Associates is prepared to discuss your legal options. Get started today by contacting us online to schedule a free consultation.