Aggressing Driving - The Issue

What is aggressive driving?

Aggressive driving occurs when an individual commits a combination of moving traffic offenses that endangers other people or property. Aggressive driving behaviors include a variety of dangerous driving maneuvers:

Research shows that aggressive driving is equally divided between car, SUV and motorcycle owners.

Aggressive driving plays a large part in crashes, injuries and fatalities. It’s projected that aggressive driving behaviors may contribute to more than 1,000 deaths a year to the four-jurisdiction region in which Smooth Operator is conducted. That’s about three highway deaths per day across Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia. AAA Mid-Atlantic and other public safety organizations consider aggressive driving an epidemic in the region.

Motorists in the Washington area rated aggressive driving as the number one threat to highway safety, according to the AAA Mid-Atlantic Transportation Poll 2005. About 44 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, “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 “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...

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:

*Research conducted for the Smooth Operator Program of DC, Maryland and Virginia by Riter Research Inc.

The Speed Factor

Speed is a primary factor in aggressive driving behavior – and also a factor in nearly one-third of all fatal crashes. The probability of death and debilitating injury grows with impacts at higher speeds – doubling for every 10 mph over 50 mph that a vehicle travels.

The Federal Highway Administration found that, on average, 70 percent of motorists exceed the posted speed limits.

In 2008, more than 11,000 people were killed in crashes involving speed, according to NHTSA.

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:

Aggressive driving is caused by driver frustration, impatience and anger, which lead
to selfish, irritated, bold or pushy behavior in a vehicle. Sources of driver feelings are many:

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.

Stopping Aggressive Driving
Effective Methods to Combat the Problem - and Its Causes

For the past 8 years, the Smooth Operator Program’s public education campaign has worked to provide education, information and solutions for the problem of aggressive driving. A consortium of law enforcement agencies, trauma experts, government officials and other professionals directs the public safety initiative. Together, they partner through the Smooth Operator Program to stop and ticket aggressive drivers, and to educate motorists on the risks involved with aggressive driving and stigmatize aggressive driving behavior on our roads. Smooth Operator adheres to a multi-pronged 4 E’s approach:

1) Enforcement – Stepped-up patrols and police activity.
2) Education – Public education, relations and awareness campaigns.
3) Evaluation – Constant research and evaluation of campaign activities.
4) Engineering – Physical transportation and roadway solutions.

How Smooth Operator Works:

The program is guided by a task force of expert professionals who meet regularly and share information to better understand aggressive driving triggers and various ways of curbing the threat.

Four enforcement waves coincide with media blitzes to inform and educate the public and to stigmatize aggressive driving. Participating law enforcement agencies are also consulted to determine the timing of the law enforcement activities and target demographics.
Research and evaluations are conducted yearly to evaluate the program and study the problem and solutions.

The program also encourages traffic engineering initiatives and the development of high-technology law enforcement tools.