Five Crimes That May Stem From A Road Rage Incident
Posted on: 27 February 2018
There may not be a specific crime of road rage, but a road rage incident can definitely give rise to multiple specific crimes that may require a criminal defense lawyer. Here are some of the crimes you may be charged with if you have participated in road rage:
Assault and Battery
Assault is the act of trying to cause physical harm to another person while battery is the act of actually causing a harmful or offensive physical contact with another person. Both of these criminal charges can stem from a road rage incident. For example, you can be charged with assault if you try to hit another car with your vehicle (even if you fail), but you will be charged with battery if you actually succeed with your intent.
Harassment
The criminal charge of harassment covers a broad range of behaviors that are meant to annoy, alarm or terrorize another person. Such behavior is even more likely to be termed as harassment if it threatens the victim's safety (or their loved one's safety) and any reasonable person will be alarmed by them. For example, you can be charged with harassment if you repeatedly shout your intentions to run another driver off the road if they don't get out of your way.
Reckless Driving
The police can also charge you with reckless driving if they are convinced that you were driving with willful disregard for other people's safety. It is a charge that means you were caught driving in a dangerous manner that could have harmed other road users; it doesn't matter whether you actually harmed someone or not. Certainly, this is something that most road rage drivers can be accused of.
Criminal Threats
You may not know this, but it is an offense to threaten someone with harm even if you don't actually follow through with the actual harm. This is known as a criminal threat, and it holds as long as the threat is clear and the potential victim is convinced that you can hurt them. For example, telling someone that you will run them over with your car or hit their subcompact car with your huge SUV can be considered a criminal threat.
Hit and Run
Lastly, you may also be charged with a hit and run crime after a road rage incident. A hit and run refers to the act of fleeing the scene of an accident before the authorities arrive. This applies if your road rage antics end up causing an accident where someone is injured or a property (such as another car) is damaged.
The above are serious crimes that you should do your best to defend and don't forget that you may be charged with several of them after a single incident of road rage. Therefore, consult a criminal defense lawyer if someone is accusing you of road rage.
Share