Road Rage: Not a Wise Choice
In an episode demonstrating both the dangers of hit-and-run accidents as well as the similar dangers posed when motorists engage in road rage, a crash in Fort Lauderdale ended up in the news recently. The accident, which took place in January 2019, was the feature of a news article by the automotive news website Carscoop. Journalists from the website were able to track down the drivers involved in the accident and obtain numerous videos of the accident. This whole incident served as a textbook example of what not to do if you have been involved in a motor vehicle accident. Instead of calling the police and waiting for them to arrive at the scene, the accident victim instead confronted the driver that had hit her, jumped back into a badly damaged vehicle and then forced the driver that had hit her off the road and into a nearby parking lot. This is simply foolish because the victim could have been seriously injured depending on what had occurred when she attempted to force the other driver off the road, which is illegal in Florida in and of itself. The lesson to take away from this unfortunate incident is that, if you have the misfortune to be involved in a hit-and-run incident, you should stay at the scene and wait for police rather than attempting to take the situation into your own hands like this hit-and-run accident victim did.
The Road Rage Incident in Fort Lauderdale
Although the accident occurred in January 2019, journalists from media outlet Carscoops were able to track down the drivers involved in order to interview them about exactly what occurred. A report from Carscoops on the accident indicated that a woman in Fort Lauderdale was hit by another driver. When the victim of the accident exited her vehicle in order to exchange insurance information with the driver that had hit her, as required by Florida law, the situation quickly escalated. When the accident victim attempted to ask the motorist that had hit her for her insurance information, the negligent driver sped away. The accident victim, no doubt angered by what had just transpired, then jumped in her own car and followed the woman who had hit her, eventually using her badly damaged vehicle to force the negligent motorist off the road and corner that driver in a parking lot, where she confronted the driver and attempted to take her keys.
The Many Problems in This Scenario
Unbeknownst to the negligent motorist that caused the initial collision, the driver she hit had a dashcam video camera. Given that the dashcam camera could have captured the negligent driver’s license plate, the victim could have then used that footage to call in that license plate to police and then wait for them to show up at the scene of the accident. Instead of doing that, however, the motorist that was hit in the initial collision made the poor choice of deciding to chase after the car that had hit her. Her actions were both reckless as well as foolish. The negligent motorist was already facing both a civil lawsuit from the victim as well as the possibility of a criminal conviction given that she fled the scene of a hit-and-run accident that resulted in property damage to the accident victim’s vehicle.
Road Rage: Unnecessary and Likely to Increase the Danger Involved in an Already Dangerous Situation
As the author of the article pointed out, the whole incident of the original crash victim following the driver who had hit her and confronting her in a parking lot was completely unnecessary and was dangerous. Forcing another driver off the road like the hit-and-run accident victim did is against the law, so the driver went from accident victim to a “vigilante” in the words of the report’s author. The takeaway for Florida drivers is fairly simple: if you lose your cool and chase after the driver that hit you, like the driver in the story above, then you could end up causing an accident yourself for which you may then be held liable.
Contact the Experienced Motor Vehicle Accident Attorneys at Schwed, Adams & McGinley
Road rage and hit-and-run accidents are unfortunately both common occurrences. It can be particularly tragic when someone lets his or her emotions get the best of him or her. Whether it’s road rage or simply the negligence of another driver that caused you to suffer injuries in a motor vehicle accident in Florida, contact the experienced personal injury attorneys of Schwed, Adams, & McGinley, P.A. Our experienced personal injury attorneys have more than 150 years of combined practice representing victims of all sorts of motor vehicle accidents, including those caused by motorists who were exhibiting road rage or a motorist who injured someone else in a hit-and-run incident in Florida. Therefore, if you, a family member or a loved one have been injured or killed as a result of another motorist’s road rage, contact the experienced personal injury attorneys at Schwed, Adams & McGinley, P.A. today at 877-694-6079 or contact@schwedlawfirm.com for a free consultation.