Aggressive driving can be dangerous and, according to a recent study, it’s highly common. A survey of over 2,700 drivers revealed that over three quarters of all drivers have driven aggressively at some point in the past year, to the point in some cases of deliberately hitting another car in anger.

The survey, conducted by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, determined whether participants had driven aggressively by asking them whether they had committed behaviors such as following another driver closely in order to get them to speed up or move (tailgating), yelling at another driver, preventing a driver from merging into another lane deliberately, tapping or hitting another car on purpose, or getting out of their car to confront another driver. According to the survey, 78% of all participants revealed that they had driven aggressively at least once in the previous year. The most commonly-reported aggressive behavior was tailgating, which nearly 51% of all participants reported doing. Other results of the survey include:

*47% of survey participants yelled at another driver

*45% honked at another driver out of irritation or anger

*25% tried to block another car from changing lanes

*12% cut off another driver on purpose

*4% got out of their car to confront another driver, and

*3% hit or bumped another driver deliberately.

The study also revealed that men were more likely to report driving aggressively, and were more likely to have committed more dangerous and severe aggressive behaviors, such as cutting off another driver on purpose or hitting another car. Self-reported aggressive drivers were also more likely to report having driven over the speed limit recently, having been involved in an accident in the past two years, or having run a red light in the past month.

The AAA Foundation then used these survey results to estimate how many US drivers likely exhibited these specific aggressive driving behaviors over the past year. For example, the researchers estimated that, based on survey responses, around 5.7 million US drivers have deliberately bumped or rammed another car in an act of aggression in the past year.

The prevalence of aggressive driving has serious implications for roadway safety, as previous research has shown that aggressive driving is frequently a factor in fatal accidents. According to a 2009 study of data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System, the AAA Foundation determined that approximately 56% of all fatal accidents were preceded by at least one of the drivers involved exhibiting aggressive driving behavior.

If you or someone you love has been injured in an accident with an aggressive or negligent driver in Alabama, find legal help to seek the compensation you’re owed for your injuries by contacting the personal injury lawyers at Cobb, Boyd, White & Cobb for a consultation on your case, in Dothan at 334-677-1000.