Road Rage—Is It a Crime When Emotions Get the Best of You?

With more and more Americans on the road and facing more traffic than ever, it's no surprise that emotions may sometimes take over. While most drivers' frustrations are only vented within the confines of their own vehicles, it may occasionally spill over into road rage.

Have you been accused of road rage? Is road rage a crime in Wisconsin? What sort of consequences might you face? And, perhaps more importantly, how can you defend and protect yourself? Here are some answers to your burning questions.

What Is Road Rage?

Road rage is a colloquial term that covers a wide range of angry behaviors by a driver. The actions may vary, but they all include someone operating a vehicle in a way that endangers others or others' property. It may be anything from weaving around other vehicles and speeding to ramming cars or starting physical fights in the road.

Technically, road rage is not a crime in and of itself. What may be a crime, though, is how that anger plays out. Starting a fight at a stop light generally qualifies as assault and battery, for example.

What Might You Be Charged With?

Because road rage isn't a single criminal charge, there is a wide variety of charges you may face. One of the most common is disorderly conduct. This charge would include engaging in violent, offensive, indecent, profane, unreasonably loud, or other conduct that provokes a disturbance. Clearly, this can take many forms when emotions are high.

A more serious offense might be recklessly endangering safety. In this case, the angry driver would be accused of endangering the safety of others, doing so in a criminally reckless way, and showing utter disregard for life. Prosecutors may argue this charge based on anything from dangerously 'brake checking' another driver to running someone off the road—or acting like you are going to do so.

Assault and battery charges are not uncommon as well. Assault occurs when a person threatens another with violence. Battery is the violence itself. In a road rage encounter, getting out and threatening another driver may be assault. Battery could be added if you actually strike them—with your person or your vehicle. And in many jurisdictions, your vehicle can be deemed a dangerous weapon, boosting charges.

Is Road Rage a Misdemeanor or a Felony?

Any incident on the road could result in one or more of three kinds of penalties and charges. The first is an infraction, which is not even technically a crime in most areas. Infractions include moving violations, jaywalking, and other nonviolent charges. Infractions usually involve monetary fines and penalties, community service, or other deterrence penalties.

Standard criminal charges are either misdemeanors or felonies. Misdemeanors are less serious while felonies are more so. In Wisconsin, a misdemeanor can carry a jail sentence of up to a year while felonies are punishable by several years in jail. The same basic charge, such as assault, can be upgraded or downgraded to either level depending on the circumstances.

How Can You Defend Yourself?

Once you've been charged with a road rage-related offense, though, how can you defend yourself? After all, you can't go back and change what happened in the past. The good news is that there are several ways to move forward.

The actual incident is often not caught on camera, so it's important to get your side of the story across. Officers may only have the other party's statement to go on, but that may not be completely accurate. Perhaps the other driver started the incident, maybe you were defending yourself against them, the whole thing might have been exaggerated, or they could even be the one who was driving recklessly.

Sometimes, too, law enforcement overreaches on how to charge drivers. Was it really disorderly conduct if you yelled obscenities at a driver who cut you off? Was your 'brake check' actually reckless endangerment? A skilled attorney may be able to help logic prevail when it comes to charging these emotional incidents.

If it's not going to be possible to get the charges dismissed, your lawyer can also negotiate to reduce the charges. This is known as mitigation. As mentioned, getting a charge reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor can keep you out of the Wisconsin state prison system. What if the charge includes using your vehicle as a dangerous weapon? You might negotiate to have this added penalty removed in exchange for a concession.

Where Can You Start?

The most important thing you can do to defend yourself from road rage charges is to meet with a qualified Wisconsin criminal defense attorney. Cohen Law Offices is standing by to help. We'll work with you to find the best route to success, whether it's getting charges dropped or mitigation of the penalties. Call today to make an appointment and learn more.