Some Louisiana residents may like to say that they have their own styles of driving. Some people may consider themselves cautious, defensive, good or even assertive drivers. However, some “assertive” actions may actually be better categorized as aggressive. The distinction is important because aggressive drivers pose serious threats to everyone on the road.
Have you ever driven over the speed limit because you were late for work or an appointment? While you think your actions are helping you save time, you are actually putting yourself and others at risk of an accident by driving aggressively.
Aggressive behaviors
While you may try to drive safely the majority of the time, you may sometimes feel that every other driver on the road has thrown safety out the window. Unfortunately, numerous aggressive drivers do plague the roadways. You may have noticed (or carried out yourself) the following examples of aggressive driving:
- Weaving in and out of traffic: Some drivers may think they can get to their destinations more quickly by constantly changing lanes, or they may simply hate being behind slower drivers. Whatever the reason, this action is aggressive.
- Not using a signal: You may have found yourself many times wishing another driver had used his or her signal to indicate a turn or a lane change. Failing to signal such actions is another form of aggressive driving.
- Speeding: As mentioned, you may have gone over the speed limit from time to time. While it seems like many people do it, speeding still constitutes aggressive driving and can easily cause an accident.
- Tailgating: Some drivers constantly drive too closely to the vehicles in front of them. They may think that this action will cause the driver in front to speed up, but in reality, it only increases the chances of a crash.
- Lane blocking: An aggressive driver may also purposefully block lanes to prevent another driver from changing lanes or merging.
Unfortunately, several other actions could also constitute aggressive driving, and any of them could cause a serious or fatal accident. In fact, aggressive driving contributes to more than 50 percent of fatal crashes.
Legal options
An aggressive driver could easily cause a crash that results in your serious injury or possibly the death of a loved one. After such an event, you may have to contend with a substantial amount of pain and various losses. In efforts to pursue monetary restitution for damages resulting from the incident, you may wish to consider filing a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit against the driver considered at fault.
