Drivers face fines of up to $1,000 in crackdown after 800 crashes – cops have ‘new box to check’

DRIVERS could face serious fines for being aggressive behind the wheel and encouraging reckless behavior – lawmakers aim to stop this.

One in four drivers in the US state has been injured due to road rage.

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Last year, Utah ranked first as the state with the most aggressive drivers on the road, with 27% of research participants saying they know someone who was injured in a road rage incident.

Utah Highway Patrol Sergeant Cameron Roden said pulling over drivers for road rage is not an uncommon occurrence.

“It’s an incident that we respond to more often than we should because these incidents are 100 percent controllable,” he told local radio station NBC. KSL last year.

“We all need to stay in control of our emotions and our direction while we are out there to keep not only ourselves safe, but also those around us.”

In 2023, state data cited 800 accidents occurring as a direct result of traffic violence followed by dangerous driving.

This year, to show dangerous drivers that the state wants drivers to be good, House Bill 30 will criminalize traffic violence, the NBC affiliate reported KSL-TV.

Lawmakers did this by classifying it as “an incident that occurred or escalated on a highway and was intended to endanger or intimidate an individual in another vehicle.”

However, to make aggressive driving even less appealing, the state increased the penalties for reckless driving, as the two situations often go hand in hand when road accidents occur.

Now, Class B misdemeanors will become Class A misdemeanors, and a Class A misdemeanor will become a third-degree felony.

Instead of a $750 fine for a first offense, drivers could face charges of up to $1,000.

Additionally, a police officer may decide to revoke a driver’s license.

The same driver can also be imprisoned for up to 15 years if the offense is serious enough.

If a dangerous weapon is involved, the penalties will be even more severe.

State Senator Todd Weiler helped write and propose the law and said the change in penalties for reckless driving was necessary to strengthen the bill against traffic violence.

“I think we need people to be good citizens,” he said.

“We need law enforcement to step up and actively patrol these situations. We need prosecutors to prosecute appropriately. But at least for now, until we get more data, I think the legislature has done what it can.”

We want to give people an incentive to be good citizens and good drivers and a disincentive to be idiots on the road.

State Senator Todd Weiler

After the law takes effect on July 1, city officials will collect and report data to the Interim Committee on Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice about when road rage incidents occur.

Depending on what the data says, the law could be changed to meet any new needs.

“We want to give people an incentive to be good citizens and good drivers and a disincentive to be idiots on the road,” Weiler said.

To help prevent future drivers from suffering traffic violence, the extra revenue from increased fees will be used for educational campaigns.

New penalties for road rage

Utah lawmakers created a law to criminalize road rage — House Bill 3 — and increased penalties for reckless driving.

1. Fine of US$750 for the first offense, up to US$1,000
2. Police officers can revoke a driver’s license in serious cases
3. Drivers can face up to 15 years in prison when accompanied by reckless driving and use of a dangerous weapon
4. Class B misdemeanors are now class A misdemeanors
5. Class A Misdemeanors Become Third Degree Felonies

Source: NBC affiliate KSL-TV

Advertising campaigns in education and the media have helped in the past, Weiler noted.

“I think we saw that during the drought two years ago, when people were educated, they started conserving water without government mandates per se,” he said.

“And so we hope to see a similar effect here.”

To avoid being part of a road rage incident, it is important to be in control of your own emotions, even when faced with an overly aggressive driver.

“Count to 10, take a deep breath and let that idiot pass, because if you stand up to him, it could get 10 times worse,” he said.