Road Rage and the Personal Injury Lawsuit

Q: Can a road rage incident lead to a personal injury lawsuit?

Road rage is a societal problem that often results in Kansas City automobile accidents as angry drivers become aggressive, reckless, and make bad choices – – often with tragic results.

Sometimes, road rage can result in tragedy without a collision. This happens when the initial on-road incident passes, but one or both drivers take it “off-road” afterwards—like when one driver pulls over in a driveway or parking lot and a fight or other violent confrontation erupts that gives rise to a personal injury lawsuit.

Such was apparently the case for a mother and her three children in Colorado. One of the boys told police that a man “opened fire on his family” in a parking lot after a road rage confrontation, reportedly killing his older brother and critically injuring his mother and younger brother as well as an innocent bystander. When apprehended, the alleged shooter reportedly admitted to the four alleged shootings and to having started a new medication that day for his unspecified “mental health issues”.

In order to prevail in a personal injury lawsuit, a victim must have suffered a serious injury as a result of someone else’s negligent, reckless, or intentional actions or inactions. Once liability is established, the victim may be entitled to compensatory damages for financial losses like current and future medical expenses and current and future lost income, as well as damages for their physical and psychological pain.

If someone dies from their injuries, their closest surviving family members may be entitled to compensation for the victim’s final medical and funeral expenses and other losses in a wrongful death suit. Such lawsuits are complex because the types of damages recoverable and who has the standing to sue differ on a case-by-case basis, so it’s wise to seek legal counsel as soon as possible.

If you or a loved one has been injured or a loved one has been killed in any kind of accident, the personal injury experts at the Noland Law Firm can help maximize the compensation to wish you may be entitled. We can’t undo the accident, but we can fight to relieve the financial burden it has caused. Contact us today for a free consultation.

From our offices in Liberty, Missouri, we fight for the rights of accident victims in the Kansas City metropolitan area, including Blue Springs, Gladstone, Independence, Liberty, and Clay County.