Page 8 - 1st Quarter 2016 PL NLTEST

Road Rage
Incidents of screaming, rude gestures, and even violence are frequently reported on our roadways. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look as though this problem is going away any me soon.
Aggressive driving vs. road rage
Although de ning road rage is
complicated and varies by jurisdic on,
generally, the di erence between
aggressive driving and road rage is that
aggressive driving is a tra c o ense
while road rage is a criminal o ense.
Currently, the Na onal Highway Tra c Safety Administra on (NHTSA) de nes aggressive driving as occurring when “an individual commits a combina on of moving tra c o enses so as to endanger other persons or property.”
On the other hand, road rage is generally de ned as “an assault with
a motor vehicle or other dangerous weapon by a vehicle’s operator or passenger(s) upon another person, when the assault was precipitated by an incident, which occurred on a roadway. Road rage requires willful and wanton disregard for the safety of others.”
How road rage can impact your insurance premium
Your car insurance rate is partly determined by your driving history; therefore, a road-rage incident, when it shows up on your record as a criminal o ense, is
a serious red ag. Insurers may charge more for the policy to cover the added risk posed by a driver with any kind of criminal driving history.