Your Rights if Another Driver’s Road Rage Caused Your Car Accident

In Connecticut, as in other states with crowded roads, aggressive driving is commonplace. Horns honking, cars making sudden lane changes and tailgating are everyday occurrences. Usually, this behavior occurs because people just don’t have patience. Road rage, by contrast, is more extreme, often deliberate and possibly intentionally violent. If you or a relative were injured in a car crash that you believe was caused by road rage, you have a legal recourse.

Road rage, according to the Insurance Information Institute, is involved in a shocking 56 percent of fatal auto accidents in America. Road rage incidents can even escalate beyond crashes. In 2021, 44 people per month were shot during road rage events.

Road rage episodes are so dangerous that many acts constituting road rage can lead to arrest and criminal charges in Connecticut. Possible charges include second degree breach of the peace, disorderly conduct, making threats and misdemeanor or felony assault.

While a road-raging driver may be prosecuted in criminal court, the injured party must turn to the civil court system to recover monetary compensation. If you or a family member have suffered injuries, you can sue for damages whether the at-fault driver is convicted in criminal court or not. If they are convicted, though, the record of that conviction could be entered as evidence to bolster your personal injury claim.

Lawsuits for injuries based on road rage require an experienced attorney’s involvement. One reason is the way many automobile insurance policies are written. Typical insurance policies cover negligence, meaning injuries and damage resulting from failure to drive with an ordinary level of care. For example, negligence occurs if a driver gets distracted by a phone call, runs a stop sign and hits another car. But road rage often goes beyond negligence and into the realm of intentional conduct, which is excluded from many insurance policies. Therefore, before filing a personal injury lawsuit, your lawyer must closely analyze the at-fault driver’s insurance policy. Then, the complaint, which begins your case, must be written carefully to ensure that your allegations are properly presented in light of any insurance-related issues that may be involved.

In addition, there must be a link between the driver’s behavior and the accident. You cannot seek compensation just because the other driver was angry. There must be an act connected to the anger, such as intentionally swerving into you, running you off the road, slamming on the brakes or other seemingly malicious acts.

At Gesmonde, Pietrosimone & Sgrignari, L.L.C. in Hamden and East Haven, our attorneys have experience representing injured road rage victims and we are here to analyze your situation and assess the potential for filing a personal injury suit so you can be compensated. For a consultation, please call 203-745-0942 or contact us online to arrange a consultation.