BOISE- The Idaho Office of Highway Safety (OHS) and law enforcement partners across Idaho are joining forces to educate drivers and stop aggressive driving. From February 26 through March 11, expect to see extra officers focused on stopping dangerous, aggressive driving.
In 2022, preliminary data shows there were 14,002 aggressive driving crashes in Idaho. Last year 39 percent of all fatal crashes involved some form of aggressive driving behavior.
“When you hear the words aggressive driving, the first term that comes to mind for most people is road rage,” said Denise Dinnauer, the Aggressive Driving Program Manager for OHS. “But road rage is a criminal act on the extreme end of a wide array of behaviors. More people engage in aggressive driving than they may realize.”
Examples of aggressive driving include:
- Speeding
- Tailgating
- Driving too fast for conditions
- Cutting in front of another driver and then slowing down
- Failing to stop for red lights or stop signs
- Failing to yield
- Weaving in and out of traffic
- Changing lanes without signaling
- Blocking cars that are attempting to change lanes
- Passing a vehicle on the wrong side of the road or on the shoulder
- Screaming, honking, or flashing lights
- Making hand gestures or facial expressions at other drivers
OHS encourages people to drive engaged and think critically about the effect that impulse, emotion, and impatience can have on their actions behind the wheel.
“We know Idahoans want to do the right thing, but people may not realize when they are slipping into aggressive driving behavior that they are putting lives at risk,” Dinnauer said. “We can all do our part to keep our roads safe and save lives.”
OHS has more aggressive driving prevention materials available at shift-idaho.org/aggressive-driving/.