Senator Charles J. Fuschillo, Jr. recently announced that the New York State Senate passed a bill to address the growing problem of road rage. The bill is designed to increase public awareness of the dangers associated with road rage.

"We must act quickly to address the frequency of overly aggressive driving on our roadways," Fuschillo said. "With the exception of DWI, road rage is the most serious traffic safety problem in New York State. It was through public education and prevention that we were able to raise awareness about the dangers of DWI. Education and prevention are the key components of this legislation by exposing every new driver and those taking defensive driving courses to information about road rage."

The bill would require that pre-licensing courses and defensive driving courses include a section on road rage awareness which would explain the causes of road rage and the increased penalties for accidents where road rage was a contributing factor. The bill would also require that a road rage question be included on driving tests.

"Over the last decade, road rage has become a growing safety concern that we cannot ignore," Fuschillo said. "This will help make our roads safer by educating New York drivers about the causes and consequences of road rage."

According to the senator, a study conducted by the American Automobile Association (AAA) found that reported road rage incidents have increased 51 percent since 1990, 37 percent of offenders used firearms, 28 percent used other weapons, 35 percent used their vehicles. The AAA study also concluded that an average of at least 1,500 people are injured or killed in the United States each year as a result of aggressive driving.

A telephone survey of 800 drivers in New York State for the Governor's Traffic Safety committee found that almost 72 percent of respondents believe drivers are more aggressive than five years ago and 55 percent said they see dangerously aggressive driving almost every day. More than 90 percent supported increased penalties for road rage or criminally aggressive driving.