Honk if You're an Aggressive Driver

You've seen that driver. Maybe you've been that driver. The one who zooms past the speed limit, weaves from lane to lane, tailgates, and even runs a stop sign or two.

Maryland and several other states—Pennsylvania, Virginia and Georgia among them—are out to get these aggressive drivers, particularly during the summer.

Under a program called "Smooth Operator," police in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia will conduct week-long blitzes this summer, ticketing motorists who indulge in "aggressive driving." In Maryland, for example, getting written up can cost a driver up to $500.

Last year, police officers in the state wrote 207,000 tickets for aggressive driving, says Vernon Betkey, head of the state's highway safety agency. The most recent crackdown started earlier this month.

So do drivers become less aggressive when they know the law is watching? Data from Maryland suggest that stepped up enforcement hasn't turned the tide.

In 1999, the state attributed 3,113 crashes to aggressive driving, or about 3.2% of all crashes. In 2008, Maryland linked 6,111 crashes, or about 6.4% of all crashes to aggressive driving.

Other studies show mixed results. A 2004 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study of two separate "aggressive driving" enforcement campaigns—one in Tucson, Ariz., and the other in Indianapolis. Crashes linked to aggressive driving in Indianapolis actually increased by 6% during a six-month, federally subsidized program during 2000 called "Rub Out Aggressive Driving." But in Tucson, aggressive driving offenses decreased by 8% during a similar six-month program.

The NHTSA study's authors expressed bewilderment over the results, which measured speed and crashes attributable to aggressive driving.

"Why didn't the considerable efforts of both programs have greater inhibiting effects on driving behavior?" the study's authors asked. "It is possible that the programs were more effective than indicated by the data presented here, but our measures are insensitive to the change in driving behavior. Or, perhaps we expect too much."

Perhaps we do. As a transplanted Detroiter who drives occasionally on the highways and byways of the Washington metro area, I frequently find myself thinking about some "aggressive" behavior to speed my trip. Highways in the Washington-Baltimore corridor are among the nation's most congested. It is a local custom to drive the speed limit—or even a bit slower—while in the passing lane.

Of course, those people are obeying the law. But they are also obstructing people who choose to drive a little faster—maybe they're late, or maybe they have adopted the "limit plus 5 mph" approach to obeying the posted speed signs.

Aggressive driving isn't the same thing as road rage. The distinction: Aggressive driving is tailgating a slowpoke, then accelerating abruptly, exceeding the speed limit and weaving through traffic to get past him. "Road rage" would be a criminal act—such as bumping the offending car, or brandishing a weapon.

Road rage got a lot of publicity a few years back. But it's a tiny problem, according to NHTSA research. Just less than half of one percent of the total number of people injured or killed on the highway in the year 2000 were listed as victims of a road rage incident.

"Aggressive driving" is a more difficult matter. What one person views as rude, risky, anti-social behavior is for another a sensible response to fellow motorists who are clogging up an already overloaded system. During the 1990s, the number of miles traveled by U.S. motorists increased by 27%, but the number of miles of roadway increased by only 1%. If you find yourself complaining that the highways are more crowded than they were in the good old days, you are a curmudgeon. You are also right.

Of course, there are peaceful (or at least less rude) ways to deal with people who squat in the passing lane. Anyone who's ever been on a German autobahn knows how drivers from the land of Porsches and AMG Mercedes handle people who commit the left-lane faux pas: They flash their halogen headlights. You move over.

More Americans could take a forgiving approach to driving, instead of approaching it as blood sport. The next time someone misjudges a freeway merger and gets in your path, try just letting them in. You might get a break the next time.

While we wait for the U.S. to be transformed into a nation of motoring Gandhis, beware: There will be five aggressive driving ticket blitzes between now and September, Mr. Betkey says.

So if you are driving in Maryland or Virginia this summer and want to hot dog it on the road, you may make an involuntary $500 contribution to a needy state treasury.