Can I Be Held Legally Accountable for Road Rage in Clayton, Missouri?
It can be easy to confuse road rage with poor driving but the two terms are not actually interchangeable. Almost everyone who has some driving experience would have witnessed episodes of road rage being carried out by other drivers as it is extremely common.
Road rage is basically when drivers openly show an intense amount of anger towards other drivers. Road rage can be caused by a wide variety of issues but it generally comes to a boil when a person’s personal problems mix with the intensely slow traffic or poor driving conditions they are being forced to sit through.
According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, 218 murders and also 12,610 injuries were caused over a period of seven years due to road rage. Road rage can easily get a person into seriously hot water with the law depending on the circumstances of their case. However, if a person simply showed anger to another driver without causing any sort of damage or harm, then they probably won’t have to answer for their actions in court.
An accident lawyer in Clayton, Missouri will be able to aid a person in determining whether they are eligible to come off of their case with a clean record or whether they will have to fight to have their charges reduced.
When can I get penalized for road rage?
If the rage a person showed was not very intense, they will most likely not be held liable for any sort of charge or damage. However, a person can get legally penalized for acts of road rage when:
- Their rage resulted in the injury of another person
- Their rage resulted in a vehicle accident, even if no one was hurt
- Their rage was seen as an act of racism
- Their rage caused intense psychological harm to the victim
Basically, if a person manages to cause harm to another driver or passenger because of their inability to control their anger then they can be forced to pay the consequences in court.
What can I do to control my road rage?
If a driver has a history of throwing fits when behind the wheel, they should focus on exercising techniques to get their anger in check. One of the best ways to help control anger, especially when driving, is to listen to something meaningful while behind the wheel. This could be anything from calming music to a great motivational lecture by a speaker whom a person respects.
Keeping one’s mind preoccupied with positive thoughts will definitely help control one’s anger. A person can also try other techniques, such as avoiding going out when the traffic is very bad, even if it means waking up an hour early and leaving the office an hour late. It is definitely well worth the trouble to try to learn anger management because it may just prevent a person from getting into a serious accident in the future.
