• What is aggressive driving?
• Aggressive Driving: Born with the Invention of the Car
• Do You Have theTraits of an Aggressive Driver? Do You Ever...
• What Area Drivers Say
• The Speed Factor
• Running Red Lights
• Some Causes of Aggressive Driving
• You Don't Have to Be Angry
• A Contagious Problem
• Research
• Washington Statistics
• Baltimore Statistics
• Nationwide
• Stopping Aggressive Driving

What is aggressive driving?
Aggressive driving is defined as a combination of unsafe and unlawful driving actions, which demonstrate a conscious and willful disregard for safety. Aggressive driving includes such offenses as tailgating, unsafe lane changes, speeding, running red lights and stop signs, following too closely, improper passing and failing to yield the right of way.

Motorists in the Washington area rated aggressive driving as the number one threat to highway safety, according to the AAA Mid-Atlantic Transportation Poll 2003. About 43 percent of drivers are more concerned about tailgating, speeding, rage while driving, and reckless driving maneuvers more than any other danger.

In fact, nearly eight out of 10 motorists say aggressive drivers are a greater danger than terrorists.

Aggressive Driving: Born with the Invention of the Car
It seems as though aggressive driving has been around since cars hit the roadways. In 1915, it was noted in Engleman's Autocraft, that "some automobiles abuse their rights and heedlessly run over the rights of others."

And, 22 years later a textbook recommended drivers to "control the desire to beat or get ahead of the other fellow … A good driver never permits himself to become angry. Anger frustrates good judgment."

In 1978, a Los Angeles police psychologist told The Chicago Tribune that "people are beginning to lose control … They get frustrated at the stack-ups on our freeways, they get angry at other inconsiderate drivers, and their tolerance level overflows. They explode. Their car becomes a weapon, and they strike out."

Do You Have the Traits of an Aggressive Driver? Do You Ever...

• Drive too fast, over the posted speed limit?
• Run red lights or stop signs?
• Weave in and out of traffic?
• Change lane frequently and abruptly without the use of signals?
• Tailgate other vehicles?
• Follow too closely?

These are the most dangerous aggressive driving behaviors. The fact is, most motorists drive this way at times. Anytime you become selfish, irritated, bold or pushy in your vehicle, you stop respecting the rights and safety of other drivers and pedestrians.

What Area Drivers Say:

• Aggressive driving is the greatest threat people face on the road - even ahead of drunk driving.
• 44 percent of drivers say other threats including drunk driving, large trucks and congestion, pale in comparison to aggressive driving.
• Most drivers say in the past year they personally have seen aggressive driving so dangerous that it puts others on the road at risk.
• About 55 percent of the drivers polled say the problem is getting worse. Another 39 percent say the situation is no better.

The Speed Factor
Typically, aggressive driving involves excessive speeding. Speeding is one of the most common causes associated with crashes, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It is a factor in 31 percent of all fatal crashes, killing about 1,000 people in the U.S. every month.

In 2002, more than 13,000 people were killed in crashes involving speed, according to NHTSA.

In 2003, more than half of the traffic-related fatalities in Washington involved excess speed. Of the nearly 3,200 (3,183) aggressive driving-related crashes in Maryland in 2003, less than 700 (691) drivers walked away physically unharmed.

Running Red Lights
Running red lights and disobeying other traffic controls like stop signs are the most frequently reported types of crashes. Red light runners are more than three times as likely to have multiple speeding convictions on their driver record, according to research from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Every year more than 900 people die and nearly 200,000 are injured in crashes involving red light running. Nearly half of the deaths are pedestrians and occupants in other vehicles who are hit by the red light runner, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Some Causes of Aggressive Driving:

• The Washington region has the third-worst traffic congestion in the country.
• Drivers in the Washington area lose more hours to traffic delays than anywhere else in the country.
• Over the past 20 years, traffic on area roads has nearly doubled.

Crowded roads encourage aggressive driving. Fender-benders, potholes, rain and sun glare compound the problem and can cause chain reactions.

Road congestion, while pointed to as one of the major contributors to aggressive driving, also seems to be longstanding. The 1951 traffic manual points put that "since 1910, the number of motor vehicles has increased by over 2,000 percent, but new road construction for the same period has been less than 3 percent. This, in a nutshell, is the problem!"

You Don't Have to Be Angry
Impatience, hurrying, stress, and irritation at something totally unrelated to driving - these are all major factors leading to unsafe driving behavior. It endangers, infuriates, and antagonizes other drivers. When frustration and anger levels get high, concern for fellow motorists becomes low.

A Contagious Problem
Aggressive driving is highly communicable. When you watch another driver's offensive manners on the road, or see them get away with outrageous violations of the law, it can ignite your temper and convince you that you, too, can drive with impunity.

If you react to an aggressive driver, you become part of the problem. Unsafe behavior has a domino affect, passing from car-to-car down the road.

Additionally, when you drive aggressively with children in the vehicle, you teach them to drive like you do, even before they have a driver's license. Kids learn by example. They're always watching and learning.

Research
Traffic congestion is a significant problem in both the Washington and Baltimore metropolitan areas. Both regions spend billions of dollars annually on traffic congestion and motorists in each area lose much time and patience to the overcrowded roadways.

Research conducted by the Texas Transportation Institute pointed to traffic congestion for breeding aggression and bringing out the worst in many drivers. Hurried motorists drive aggressively on congested roads and highways in an attempt to get to their destinations faster.

In its annual Urban Mobility Report, the Texas Transportation Institution found that although the Washington region ranks eighth in the nation in population, it ranks the fourth worst in the country in the toll that congestion takes on peoples' daily lives, behind Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago.

Washington Statistics
Metropolitan Washington's roads and highways are the second most congested in the nation during both rush and non-rush hours, the study reported. Each Washington area motorist spends approximately 34 hours a year stuck in traffic, and a trip that should take 30 minutes takes about 44 minutes in the Washington area, a delay that ranks sixth in the nation.

The study also concluded that the Washington region's congestion costs are the nation's sixth highest at nearly $2.5 billion. Local roads in the Washington area carry a much higher volume of traffic than do local roads in other cities with comparable congestion.

Over the next several years, congestion in the Washington region is predicted to only get worse, according to Urban Mobility Report. By 2020, the demands on Washington area roads and highways are expected to increase by 40 percent, while road capacity will increase only by nine percent. In the same time period, the population of the Washington metropolitan area is expected to increase by 25 percent, or 1.4 million people. Most of these people will use area roads and highways to get to work every day.

Baltimore Statistics
The report found that Baltimore, fairing slightly better than Washington, ranks 16th worst in terms of congestion in the country. Each Baltimore area resident spends about 22 hours a year caught in traffic. Baltimore area motorists spend approximately 33 percent of their daily driving time in congestion.

About 60 percent of Baltimore area roads, highways and arterial streets were congested during rush hour in 2001, compared to 20 percent in 1982. Congestion costs in the Baltimore area are more than $1 billion.

Nationwide
While traffic congestion is a significant issue in the Washington and Baltimore areas, research shows that it is a problem for nationwide.

The Texas Transportation Institute concluded in the Urban Mobility Report, that traffic conditions nationwide deteriorate as congestion increases.

In 2001, traffic congestion caused the nation's motorists to waste 5.7 billion gallons of fuel and l3.5 billion hours of lost productivity. This cost the nation $69.5 billion, $4.5 billion more than in 2000.

In addition, the extra time needed for rush hour travel has tripled over the past two decades.

Stopping Aggressive Driving

Effective Methods to Combat the Problem - and Its Causes
In an effort to combat the issue of aggressive driving, police, government officials, trauma experts, and others in Maryland, Northern Virginia and Washington developed the Smooth Operator Program:

• More than 66 law enforcement agencies coordinated efforts to target aggressive drivers, conducting enforcement "waves." In 2003, they issued 238,198 citations and warnings for aggressive driving behaviors.
• Enforcement waves coincide with advertising blitzes to inform and educate the public and stigmatize the behavior.
• Other methods include the development of high-technology law enforcement tools, and the study of anger management courses to change behavior among convicted aggressive drivers.
• Research and evaluations are conducted yearly to study the problem and solutions.

The program is guided by professionals who meet regularly and share information to better understand the triggers and ways of curbing the threat.