What is Aggressive Driving?

Florida Statute 316.1923 describes Aggressive Driving as committing two or more of the following acts simultaneously or in succession:

(1)  Exceeding the posted speed by 15 or more miles per hour

(2)  Unsafely or improperly changing lanes

(3)  Following another vehicle too closely

(4)  Failing to yield the right-of-way

(5)  Improperly passing

(6)  Violating traffic control and signal devices

This statute is not a charging statute, merely a defining statute. A check-box on the Uniform Traffic Citation allows the law enforcement officer to indicate the driver was an aggressive driver who committed two or more of the above offenses. The Dept of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) in Tallahassee collects data from these citations to provide statistical information concerning aggressive driving. This statistical information is used to improve traffic laws.

FACTS ON AGGRESSIVE DRIVING:

Aggressive driving is responsible for 2/3 of all auto fatalities each year (27,000 deaths), four times greater than DUI.

Aggressive Driving is not “Road Rage” however it can be the precursor to road-rage. Road Rage is a felonious criminal assault of one operator/passenger of a motor vehicle on another operator/passenger of a motor vehicle. There are approximately 200 deaths per year attributable to road rage.

Aggressive Driving is driving under the influence of “impaired emotions” leading to high-risk, negative decisions.

People choose to drive aggressively.

Attitude and behavior modification is essential to change the way people think, feel and behave behind the wheel.

Sources: Includes publications and statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Highway Administration.

To Combat Aggressive Driving, Florida has adopted a four-prong approach: Education, Engineering, Enforcement and Judicial/Legislative.

Education: Education of both Law Enforcement and the Judicial System on what Aggressive Driving is and the problems it can cause. Education of the public through Public Service Announcements and establishing partnerships to work together to improve highway and motorist safety.

Engineering: Law Enforcement working with Dept. of Transportation to identify problem areas and provide workable solutions; i.e. “Reduced Speed Ahead” signs to signal drivers about a speed-limit change.

Enforcement: Through the use of non-traditional enforcement vehicles, targeted enforcement waves, law enforcement issuing warnings and written citations, pro-active educational briefings in schools and community centers.

Judicial/Legislative: In order for the above approaches to be effective, the judicial and legislative forces must be supportive of the efforts. Judges and prosecutors need to rigorously punish offenders convicted of offenses identified as aggressive through either fines, points assessed against driver’s licenses or mandatory attendance at driver improvement courses. Legislators must review and improve written laws to allow better enforcement of aggressive driving offenses.