Connecticut among states with highest rate of road rage deaths

Road rage and aggressive driving have caused a higher rate of fatal accidents on Connecticut’s highways than in most other states, federal data shows.

A CT Insider analysis of data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration determined the state was ranked fifth in the nation for the rate of drivers killed during accidents linked to road rage or aggressive driving between 2010 and 2022.

“Connecticut does not have a great story to tell in terms of fatalities on our roadways,” acknowledged Josh Morgan, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation.

“We are top three, or top five, for impaired driving fatalities, which is by and large alcohol,” Morgan said. “There is a drunk driving problem in Connecticut, a speeding problem and an aggressive driving problem. We know these are human lives that don’t need to be lost. If we knew how to move the meter, we would implement a policy.”

The federal data shows Indiana was ranked first with 14.6 percent of its motor vehicle fatalities linked to aggressive driving or road rage, followed by Colorado, 13.3 percent; the District of Columbia, 7.5 percent; and Alabama, 7.4 percent. Over the 12-year span, there were 3,471fatal crashes on Connecticut’s highways and 248 of those accidents, or 7.1 percent, were the result of aggressive driving or road rage.

Connecticut’s ranking moved from sixth to fifth worse when recently released 2022 data was included in the analysis.

Fatal crashes on Connecticut highways increased from 288 in 2021 to 325 in 2022. Since 2010, the number of fatal crashes has fluctuated from a low of 208 in 2011 to a high of 325 fatal crashes in 2022, the data shows.

Road rage in Connecticut has resulted in serious charges against offending motorists.

Just last week, a 47 year old Norwalk man was arrested in Wilton after confronting another driver in a parking lot. He was charged with illegal possession of a weapon. A New Haven man faces five years in prison after allegedly shooting at anther vehicle during an incident on the Merritt Parkway in Greenwich.

In a recent study, The Zebra, which provides car insurance quotes for consumers, said road rage and aggressive driving are becoming increasingly common.

“Aggressive driving and road rage are becoming more commonplace — and more dangerous,” the study noted. “New research from The Zebra shows that 82 percent of drivers in the U.S. admit to having road rage or driving aggressively at least once in the past year.”

The Zebra reported six percent of drivers said their road rage escalated into a physical confrontation; seven percent got out of their vehicle to verbally confront another driver; six percent threw objects and six percent engaged in a physical altercation with another driver. The study said five percent of respondents said they had sideswiped another vehicle; bumped or rammed another vehicle and even forced another driver off the road.

“These findings may be more concerning when you consider how many drivers have access to a weapon while driving,” Zebra noted. “Forty-six percent of drivers say they’ve kept a gun, taser, or other weapon in the car for personal protection.”

Zebra added: “road rage takes aggressive driving behaviors to the extreme and can include obscene gestures, ramming another driver’s car, or forcing them off the road. Of drivers surveyed, 55 percent admitted to having an episode of road rage at least once in the past year.”

Dwight Hennessy, a professor and chairman of the psychology department at Buffalo State University, who specializes in traffic psychology, said preventing aggression or harming other people on the roads is an “uphill battle.”

Hennessy said society should be “doing a better job of recognizing and teaching people that [the road] is a social environment. It impacts us directly and indirectly, and there’s lots of evidence, including some of our own research, that shows that once people are done driving, they take some of that baggage with them, and it influences them post-driving. But there’s evidence of this, people will also take baggage from their pre-driving environments.”

Morgan, the DOT spokesman, said the best advice is to use common sense when driving.

“Follow the limit, put on your seat belt and drive sober,” Morgan said. “These are simple things people have decided to throw out the window. We are in a very dense state, so we don’t have any additional room to build out infrastructure. We have the major highways and hundreds of exits and off ramps. There are a lot of conflict points in Connecticut.”

Morgan added: “There are things we can do on state roads such as narrowing travel lanes to slow speeds or allow for sidewalks or bike lanes. We can build roundabouts to slow people down. We can’t put speed tables on I-95 or a roundabout on I-84. For the interstate system, it comes down to enforcement. It’s frustrating to see this keep happening day after day, and it’s really sad.”

The Connecticut State Police did not respond to a request for comment about road rage and enforcement.

The American Psychological Association reported earlier this year that research suggests young males are the most likely to perpetrate road rage.

“Environmental factors such as crowded roads can boost anger behind the wheel,” the article noted. “Certain psychological factors, including displaced anger and high life stress, are also linked to road rage. In addition, studies have found that people who experience road rage are more likely to misuse alcohol and drugs.”

But the APA said road rage is “not necessarily” out of control.

“While some studies have found that as many as one-third of drivers have experienced road rage, less than two percent report engaging in serious threats or violent behavior,” the association said. “There are large individual differences, so it appears to be the mix of temperament and environment that lights the fuse.”