Truck Drivers Can Get Road Rage, Too

Road rage afflicts truck drivers, too, and victims of such behavior must know their rights. Although you might not attribute road rage to a professional driver, it happens more frequently than you might imagine. If you were ever a victim of road rage, you understand how frustrating and oftentimes frightening it is. When you’re faced with road rage from the driver of a vehicle ten times the size of your own, the conditions grow even more dangerous.

Road rage is understood as a marked impatience demonstrated by erratic and sometimes reckless driving that endangers innocent lives. The U.S. National Library of Medicine defines it as afflicting one-third of American drivers. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, trucks that collide with passengers in automobiles due to road rage cause hundreds of casualties. A recent study reported that hundreds of people have died as a result of truck drivers striking them.

While road rage can include many behaviors, common acts by drivers with road rage include:

• Intentionally hitting a vehicle with a car
• Running someone off the road
• Pulling over, getting out, and engaging in a physical confrontation
• Inciting passenger(s) to threaten or fight the other driver
• Using any sort of weapon to inflict harm on another driver or vehicle

Road Rage Affects Many Drivers on the Road

According to the National Safety Council, motorists rate road rage as a top threat to highway safety. Researchers say that young men are most predisposed to road rage. They also tell us that while many drivers with road rage fit this profile, women and older drivers inflict road rage. Drivers who use drugs, prescription medications, or who suffer from panic disorders are more prone to road rage. Drivers of different types of vehicles, men and women, healthy and unhealthy, all are susceptible to this behavior.

Risky Driving Increases the Risk of Injury and Fatality in Accidents Involving Trucks

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, risky driving includes driving while drunk or on drugs, distracted, not wearing a seatbelt, speeding, or other reckless behaviors. Speeding endangers everyone on the road, killing 9,557 persons in 2015. Road rage combines speeding with a risky state of mind, where the driver’s anger gives way to dangerous acts. Truck drivers make up a demographic that fails to curb all forms of risky driving, and thereby they can endanger national highway safety. Unfortunately, truck drivers are prone to the same vices as other drivers, especially in traffic, including speeding up excessively before quickly coming to a halt, tailing other drivers, and getting out of vehicles and entering into verbal altercations on the road, to name the most egregious examples.

Compensation for Truck Accidents Due to Road Rage

To compensate people whom truck drivers with road rage seriously injured or killed, and to deter future harm caused by road rage, Texas law awards money for victims. Our team of attorneys has represented the rights of clients injured in aggressive driving accidents, as well as the families of those who did not survive their truck accidents. At Trust Guss Injury Lawyers, we are in business to help victims by using the fullest extent of the law to the best of our abilities.

Guidelines for Safe Truck Driving May Help Reduce Lives Lost in Road Rage Accidents

Many trucking companies advise truck drivers to take safety precautions when they encounter troublesome situations along their routes. Truck drivers who avoid stress on the road make the road safer for all drivers. Although truck drivers receive these tips, the casual driver could benefit from following this advice.

• Back off of aggressive drivers
• Leave plenty of time to get to your destination
• Focus on getting out of traffic when possible
• Breathe and employ other techniques to remain calm

Practicing mindfulness while driving not only decreases the chances of devastating collisions, but also helps drivers better cope with the ups and downs of life on the road. Many truck drivers can alter their approaches to driving to prevent aggressive emotions that may give way to road rage. Truck drivers should remember to:

• Get plenty of sleep and rest
• Plan ahead and take ample time
• Avoid listening to overly loud or aggressive music
• Find ways to remain relaxed behind the wheel
• Realize you cannot control many traffic or road conditions
• Practice anger management techniques and realize the dangers of hostility on the road

Know All of the Facts Surrounding a Truck Accident

Road rage can result in deadly accidents, especially when the aggressive vehicle is the size of a semi-truck. Regardless of the level of damage from an accident involving road rage, you may hold the at-fault driver responsible. At the law office of Stewart J. Guss, we deal with many accident cases involving truck drivers exhibiting road rage. When you face a situation in which a truck driver displayed signs of road rage that led to an accident, get an experienced legal team on your side. Our firm has seen the damage that road raging truck drivers can cause. We also know that drivers of high-capacity vehicles such as trucks have a greater responsibility for keeping the public safe. For this reason, we hold truck drivers accountable for lapses in professional judgment that put the lives of other drivers and their passengers at risk.

Contact a Personal Injury Lawyer Today to Discuss Your Case

If you were involved in an accident, speak to a Houston personal injury lawyer as soon as you can. To schedule a free case evaluation with the attorneys of Trust Guss Injury Lawyers, call today or send us an email through our online contact form.