Chip Minemyer: Chip Minemyer | Road-rage fatalities report contains some surprises, a major flaw

Tribune-Democrat (Johnstown, PA)

Sept. 30--Fatal highway accidents caused by road rage are most likely to happen during evening rush hours and are more likely to occur on rural roads than interstates.

That's according to data in a new National Highway Traffic Safety Association report that contains a slew of interesting information but one crucial flaw:

Not all states calculate road rage incidents the same way.

The American Road Rage report, from the NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System, was released in May and based on data recorded in 2016 -- the most recent information available.

Indiana topped the list for both the number of recorded road-rage fatals (77) and the percentage of fatal accidents attributed to road rage or aggressive driving (10 percent).

Colorado (53 and 9.5 percent), South Carolina (64 and 6.8 percent) and Alabama (64 and 6.8 percent) also landed high on the list.

Pennsylvania was all the way down at the bottom with one recorded road-rage fatality representing just .1 percent of fatal crashes -- same as Kentucky, Arizona, Michigan, Georgia and California.

Just one road-rage crash in which someone died in all of 2016? Unlikely.

"It may be more interesting to consider the states in which road rage seems virtually nonexistent -- at least as a cause of fatal crashes," the report said.

"California, for example, only reported one fatal accident resulting from road rage in 2016. This is a striking statistic, especially given the infamously frustrating traffic in many of the state's cities.

"But before you applaud Californians' remarkable composure, it's worth noting that this figure could simply reflect a difference in reporting practices. Aggressive driving is defined differently by various enforcement agencies, which can lead to significant variation in state-level data."

Here are some interesting findings in the report:

--The most dangerous time -- when the highest percentage of road-rage fatalities happen -- was 10 p.m. (7.1 percent).

--But, the late afternoon through early evening hours -- when many people are making their way home from work -- were all higher than average: 6.9 percent at 4 p.m.; 6.0 percent at 5 p.m.; 6.0 percent at 6 p.m.; 6.6 percent

at 7 p.m. and 6.9 percent at 8 p.m.

--The 4-6 p.m. period was the top time for overall fatal accidents (all at least 5.9 percent of the day's total).

"For those familiar with commuter congestion, it may come as no surprise that fatal accidents occur most often in the afternoon rush hours between 4 and 6 p.m.," the report said. "In addition to the problematic number of cars on the road, recent research indicated texting while driving spikes during this time as well."

When during the week should you just stay home to reduce your risk of a road-rage crash?

--You might be surprised to learn that the worst days of the week for road-rage or aggressive-driving fatalities are Sunday (20.1 percent) and Monday (19.2 percent). Well, Monday might not be a stunner.

--Sunday also topped the list for overall fatal crashes at 17.2 percent. Saturday was next at 15.9.

--If you're wondering which months pose the greatest road-rage deadly accident risks, it's July (11.3 percent of the 2016 total) and September (11.0).

--For overall fatal crashes, October was on top at 9.3 percent, followed by August (9.1), June (9.0) and September (9.0) -- not the winter months.

In terms of where fatal crashes and road-rage fatals happen:

--Local roads saw 17.3 of road-rage or aggressive-driving fatals, and 9.5 percent of other fatals.

--Interstates accounted for 11.7 percent and 14.0 percent, respectively.

That leaves a lot of incidents that weren't included in the report.

"The vast majority of aggressive driving fatalities took place on other types of roads, however, such as major thoroughfares that didn't quite qualify as highways," the report said. "Such roads might offer a deadly combination of speed and stops: Enough pace to make collisions deadly but more braking and turning than on major highways -- and thus more opportunities for arguments."

Age is a factor as well, the report showed:

--Millennials -- born from the early 1980s to the mid-1990s -- were most likely to be involved in road-rage or aggressive-driving fatals (54.2 percent); followed by Generation X -- born from the late '60s to the early '80s (21.4); Generation Z -- born from the mid-'90s on (14.6), baby boomers -- mid-'40s to mid-'60s (8.2); and seniors born from the mid-'20s to the mid-'40s -- called the "silent generation" in the report (1.7 percent).

"Older Americans were far less likely to cause deadly accidents by driving aggressively," the report said.

"Although baby boomers may endanger drivers in other ways (they accounted for nearly a quarter of all fatal crashes), they caused just

8.2 percent of fatal aggressive driving accidents."

Here's one statistic you might like: Only 1.05 percent of all fatal crashes were attributed to aggressive driving or road rage.

On the other hand, as the report points out, each one of those fatalities was entirely preventable.

"Behind the wheel, few people are completely immune to anger," the report said. "When another driver impedes or endangers us carelessly, a little exasperation is understandable. But there's a stark difference between muttering to oneself in frustration and retaliating with aggressive driving of one's own. With deadly consequences across the country, a striking number of drivers are choosing the latter option, giving in to rage on America's roads."

Chip Minemyer is the editor of The Tribune-Democrat and TribDem.com, and CNHI regional editor for Pennsylvania, Maryland and Ohio. He can be reached at 814-532-5091. Follow him on Twitter @MinemyerChip.

Read the report

The Auto Insurance Center looks at road-rage accidents and fatalities by state:

www.autoinsurancecenter.com/american-road-rage.htm

___

Visit The Tribune-Democrat (Johnstown, Pa.) at www.tribune-democrat.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.