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The reduction in incidents of road rage and aggressive driving is critical to the mission of the WSP. The preventable individual driving behaviors and decisions made by aggressive drivers can lead to loss of life and life-threatening injuries to our friends, family, and children. Our goal is to change these behaviors and outcomes through enforcement, education, and assistance.

I encourage the citizens of Washington State to review the safety tips on this Web page and adopt them into their everyday driving practices.

Chief John R. Batiste

Introduction

Society is moving at a faster pace now more than ever. It is possible the increased value of time is causing us to be much more aggressive on the road, especially during commuting hours. Some drivers only see the traffic ahead of them as an obstacle to overcome at any cost. When we couple this with society's becoming accustomed to instantaneous communications, the problem becomes more pronounced. Whatever the reasons may be, this attitude can place those who share the roadway in jeopardy.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the definitions of aggressive driving and road rage are as follows:

Aggressive Driving

"The commission of two or more moving violations that is likely to endanger other persons or property, or any single intentional violation that requires a defensive reaction of another driver."

Road Rage

"An assault with a motor vehicle or other dangerous weapon by the operator or passenger(s) of one motor vehicle on the operator or passenger(s) of another motor vehicle caused by an incident that occurred on a roadway.

Aggressive Driving & Road Rage Symptoms

• Mentally condemning or thought of violence toward other drivers.
• Verbally expressing condemnation of other drivers to passengers in your vehicle.
• Not obeying traffic safety rules because you don't agree with them.
• Engage in aggressive and risky driving:
  • Following too close.
  • Speeding.
  • Weaving in and out of traffic.
  • Speeding up to beat a traffic light.
  • Cutting between vehicles to change lanes.
  • Using the horn excessively.
  • Flashing headlights excessively at oncoming traffic.
  • Braking to get others to back off your bumper.
  • Passing another driver, then slowing to teach them a lesson.

Are You an Aggressive Driver?

What about your own driving? Take a minute to evaluate yourself to see if you may have developed some habits that could be adding to the aggressive driving atmosphere. Go to Campaign Safe & Sober - Get the Word Out to determine if you are an aggressive driver.

Safety Tips

• Allow plenty of time for the trip, listen to soothing music, improve the comfort in your vehicle, and understand that you cannot control the traffic, only your reaction to it. In the end, we may very well discover that personal frustration, anger, and impatience may be the most dangerous "drugs" on the highway.
• Be polite and courteous, even if the other driver is not. Avoid all conflict if possible. If another driver challenges you, take a deep breath and move out of the way. Never underestimate the other driver's capacity for mayhem.
• When entering traffic or changing lanes, make sure that you have enough room.
• Make sure you have established a safe following distance between your vehicle and the one in front of you. For more information, see the Driving safety and accidents page on the DOL Web Site.
• Don't make aggressive hand gestures to the other drivers when they offend you with their driving.
• Signal when turning or changing lanes.
• Control your anger; remember it takes two to start a fight.
• Avoid prolonged eye contact with the bad or angry driver.
• Get help. Call police on your cell phone or go to a public telephone or place. Don't pull to the side of the road.
• Forget about winning. No one wins in a highway crash.
• Put yourself in the other driver's shoes. They may be driving that way because of an actual emergency!

What the State Patrol Is Doing

WSP's Aggressive Driving Apprehension Team (ADAT) program is a proactive effort to locate and arrest those drivers who drive aggressively. The ADAT program uses unmarked/unconventional police vehicles equipped with mobile video cameras to detect and apprehend aggressive drivers, which is one of the Field Operations Bureau's four Core Missions:

• Reduce DUI's
• Reduce incidents of aggressive driving
• Reduce incidents of dangerous speeding
• Increase seat belt compliance

The Commercial Vehicle Division (CVD) also uses unmarked patrol vehicles to combat aggressively driven commercial vehicles and cars driving dangerously around commercial vehicles.

The Washington State Patrol also receives reports from citizens every day and takes these reports very seriously. The WSP relies on citizen input to place our ADAT vehicles and establish where we place our emphasis patrols. In order continue to do this, the WSP has established an online form and e-mail to Report Aggressive Driving. By doing this, we making it easier for citizens to provide direct input to WSP about the areas they feel aggressive drivers are endangering the roadways. The State Patrol will take the direct input and use it to place our vehicles in areas where they will be most effective and increase our ability to catch aggressive drivers in Washington.

What You Can Do

Aggressive driving has become a serious public safety threat across the nation. Throughout the United States, law enforcement administrators, traffic safety experts, public health officials, mayors, legislators, and governors are being enlisted to help find a solution. Yet experience has shown that significant steps to improve traffic safety in this nation are made when citizens act. The Campaign Safe & Sober - Battling Aggressive Driving Web site offers tips for starting a grassroots effort in your community to battle aggressive driving.

Reporting an Aggressive Driver to the Police

If you have witnessed or been a victim of one aggressive driving act, please call 911 or the Washington State Patrol and provide the following information that is needed by law enforcement:

• The location that you last saw the vehicle.
• Direction of travel (toward where).
• What road or highway.
• Color/colors of the vehicles.
• Were weapons involved?
• What happened?
• Are you a victim or a witness?

If you have witnessed or been a victim of multiple aggressive driving acts in one area, please use our Report Aggressive Driving form. By providing us with detailed information about the area(s) you are concerned with, the WSP can focus on area(s) in which aggressive drivers endangering the roadways.

Quick Links

• Introduction & Definition
• Safety Tips
• What WSP Is Doing
• What You Can Do

WSP Aggressive Driving Enforcement Video