Aggressive driving

Fact: By day, 2 percent of all people using highways find them unsafe.

An aggressive driver is someone who operates a motor vehicle in a selfish, bold or pushy manner, without regard for the rights or safety of the other users of the streets and highways. The term aggressive driving is used for a diverse list of offences: severe speeding offences, changing lanes in an unsafe manner, overtaking on the right instead of on the left, tailgating, etc. The police will deal with aggressive driving by means of (nondescript) video surveillance cars and motorcycles.

Specific data about violence and aggression in traffic are not available. However, according to estimates 4,000 or 5,000 incidents of aggression against strangers take place in traffic (according to Terlouw et al, 2,000) yearly in the Netherlands. Not all of those are reported to the police. Most of the reported cases indicate physical violence. If we include the results of a survey in which victims were questioned (which also reported a lot of verbal abuse), this shows an increase in aggression numbers. A survey in Amsterdam (according to the Afdeling Openbare Orde en Veiligheid, 2000) showed 40,000 people reporting aggression in traffic.

Law and possible fines
The law does not know the term aggressive driving, so formally you can not be fined for driving aggressively. This does not mean that aggressive driving is allowed. On ground of article 5 of the Wegenverkeerswet (road-traffic law) we can take measures against aggressive driving. Article 5 states that it is not allowed to hinder or to endanger other people in traffic. For the law hindering or endangering other people in traffic is an offence for which the maximum punishment is 2 months of detention or a 2,250,- fine, as well as the possibility of a driving ban for a maximum of 2 years.

If accidents which include wounded or casualties are caused by aggressive driving, article 6 of the Wegenverkeerswet is applicable. Article 6 states that it is forbidden for anybody participating in traffic, to behave him/herself in such a manner as to cause an accident at which another person is severely wounded or physically hurt in such a way that that person can not work or function normally.