Frightening Statistics of Road Rage Across the USA

Road rage, also called aggressive driving, is dangerous and negative behavior that drivers engage in for various reasons (Check out this video by Dashcam Lessons to know what road rage is). At times, the driver acts under the influence of alcohol, and at other times, it results from a mental breakdown or emotional outburst. Road rage also happens when the driver is in a hurry to go somewhere, especially if they are late and need to get somewhere fast. However, before getting into the details, it is important to mention that several facets of road rage are controllable with a vehicle tracking device, such as Vyncs.

Insights & Statistics

Here are a few statistics that will give you a relatively clean idea of road rage and how it plagues the USA.

• About 12,610 injuries and 218 murders have resulted from road rage over seven years in the USA (SafeMotorist)
• Road rage has been the cause of about 300 deaths since 2013 (NHTSA)
• 66% of traffic fatalities happen due to aggressive driving (NHTSA)
• Driver errors lead to 94% of traffic accidents (NPR)
• 30 murders are linked to road rage annually (American Psychological Association)
• 50% of drivers react to the careless acts of other drivers with aggressive behavior (American Psychology Association)
• The number of reported cases of road rage has increased by 500% over the last decade (CNN)
• Aggressive driving had a role to play in 56% of fatal crashes between 2003 and 2007 (Insurance Information Institute)

Road Rage Stats

Everyone gets frustrated while driving sooner or later due to traffic or the poor decisions of other drivers. However, the resulting anger can ruin your day, and if this anger lasts longer than a few moments, it leads to disastrous consequences.

• According to drivers, the most frequent act of road rage involves one driver honking their horn angrily against another (45.4%).
• About 38.9% of drivers have witnessed other drivers signaling vulgar and rude hand gestures to other drivers in an act of road rage.
• 30% of drivers say that the most frustrating thing about another driver is the act of driving distracted with their phone, with only 6.8% reported that traffic was the most annoying aspect of driving.
• 26.5% of drivers often rely on podcasts or music to calm down if they get angry while driving.

• It took just one year for road rage to drop by 1.9%.
• Despite being the most enraging behaviors, instances of distracted driving, tailgating, and cutting off other drivers decreased significantly.
• Events of frustrated driving have dropped in the past year.

Road Rage in the USA

The information below is from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

• Only 80 fatal crashes happened due to road rage in 2006.
• Within the next 9 years, the number of road rage car accidents increased to 467. In other words, the fatality rate went up to 500% by 2015.
• Since 2013, road rage has led to about 300 deaths.
• Almost 30 murders across the nation have been associated with incidents that began with road rage.
• The American Automobile Association has connected more than 12,500 injuries to driver violence out of 10,000 car accidents since 2007.
• Most of the deaths from road rage have been considered deliberate murders.
• Over 200 murders and 12,000 injuries have been attributed to road rage within a seven-year time window.

Road rage vs. Aggressive Driving

There are a few legal differences between road rage and aggressive driving, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Aggressive driving points to anything deemed reckless, such as speeding, tailgating, blocking another vehicle from passing, etc. Road rage is a much more serious issue because it usually involves violent intentions directed toward another motorist. It includes behaviors, such as ramming another car, physically fighting with another driver on the side of the road, or using weapons to threaten or harm others.

Here are a couple of facts about road rage;

Stats by State

The statistical data you will find below is taken from a FARS analysis conducted by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and Auto Insurance Center.

• Some of the cities in Michigan, Texas, Minnesota, and Georgia have been dubbed as the top five “Road Rage Capitals" in 2009.
• Conversely, cities in Tennessee, Minnesota, Missouri, and Georgia have the most kind-hearted drivers.
• Drivers in Texas, Houston, California, and San Diego are often noticed exhibiting speeding behavior daily.
• Drivers in Ohio, Cleveland, Portland, Denver, Colorado, and Oregon drive faster than anyone else in the entire country, statistically.
• 22% of Americans claim that they saw fellow drivers ignore red lights every day.

Stats by Gender

Males end up on the receiving end of road rage events more than females.

• Studies conducted on gender and traffic safety say that males below 19 are more likely to exhibit road rage and tailgating than others.
• Another study incorporated individuals who claimed they experienced road rage more than four times a week. 34% of this group were females between 18 & 34.
• 39.2% of men and 28.9% of women had to deal with road rage directed at them.

Stats by Age

It is usually assumed that a young and inexperienced driver would likely be involved in an accident more than an experienced driver.

• People born between 1981 and 1996, also called Millennials, have caused over 50% of all aggressive driving events.
• Gen X, the generation preceding Millennials, caused only 21% of crashes and displayed rude gestures or aggressive driving.
• Finally, the generation about to retire, also called Baby Boomers, have caused the fewest crashes due to reckless driving - only 4.2%.

Death Stats

The American Automobile Association sourced the following data.

• Incidents that began with road rage led to about 30 murders across the nation.
• There have been over 12,500 injuries due to driver violence out of 10,000 vehicle accidents since 2007.
• Among all the deaths related to road rage, most have been considered deliberate murders.
• More than 12,000 injuries and 200 murders have been the result of road rage over a period of seven years.

Gun Violence Stats

A non-profit news firm focused on gun violence has uncovered the following information.

• 247 incidents of road rage involved a gun in 2014.
• Road rage cases involving firearms increased to 620 in 2016.
• 325 road rage incidents involving guns happened in 2017.
• Between 2013 and 2017, 136 people were killed in shootings resulting from road rage.

Road Rage vs. DUI

Here is the data from one more survey involving road rage and DUI.

• About 14% of the participants think DUI is not as dangerous as road rage.
• Around 36% of the participants claim road rage is not as dangerous as DUI.
• Almost 49% of the participants claim both behaviors are equally dangerous.

To Sum it Up

Road rage is inevitable because it is a psychologically charged incident. However, some aspects of road rage, such as reckless driving or racing can be controlled with driver monitoring systems. One such solution is Vyncs - a brand that excels in location tracking, driver safety monitoring, and vehicle health reports. Our exclusive range of devices designed for consumers and fleet owners & managers comes with powerful onboard and in-cloud distributed data management and analytics platforms to access vehicle sensor data and provide actionable intelligence.

With Vyncs, you can keep a check on the driver’s on-road activity. If they race against other drivers or operate the vehicle recklessly, you will know. Vyncs alerts you against speeding, harsh braking, sharp cornering, idling, etc. Even if there is no way to put an end to road rage, curtailing it and, in turn, decreasing the outcomes of untoward on-road behavior, is perfectly possible.

Sources

1)https://www.thezebra.com/resources/research/road-rage-statistics/(SafeMotorist).

2)https://www.iii.org/table-archive/20686

3)https://www.madd.org/press-release/new-nhtsa-numbers-show-drunk-driving-still-the-leading-cause-of-highway-deaths/

4)https://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/Main/index.aspx

5)https://www.geoffreygnathanlaw.com/topics/national-drunk-driving-statistics/

6)https://consumer.healthday.com/kids-health-information-23/kids-and-alcohol-health-news-11/1-in-5-college-students-admitted-to-drunk-driving-study-found-639483.html

7)https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/813406

8)https://www.huffpost.com/entry/drunk-driving-college_n_598905

9)https://carsurance.net/blog/car-accident-statistics/

Video & video source

1)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1crk7Na2h3w&ab_channel=DashcamLessons

2)https://www.youtube.com/@DashcamLessons