Road rage is a serious problem that can have very serious consequences.
Twice this year in Missouri we have seen road rage taken to the extreme. An August incident ended with the offending driver taking his own life before being questioned by the police, while an incident in June escalated to the point where one of the drivers involved resorted to shooting the other. While these are not typical cases, rage can easily escalate to cause a motor vehicle accident.
This legal professional has shown exceptional competence and dedication in their field. I highly recommend their services to anyone seeking legal representation that is committed to unwavering advocacy and support throughout the entirety of their case.
I would describe this lawyer as highly educated, sharp, and top of his game. Explains the car accident process and treatment options well. The lawyer said if they don’t pay you, we will have the jury take it from the insurance company. Great lawyer. Dynamic person.
Interviewed all the TV car accident lawyers and decided to call this law firm that had great reviews. So happy I did. What a difference!
Response from the owner: TV car accident lawyers are just mass production. This is not a good fit for litigated cases. Paralegals instead of lawyers. Monthly quotas for settlements. Car accident victims end up in a cattle call with the lawyers on TV.
Love my car accident lawyer. This law firm is a step above.
Response from the owner: Our lawyers train and track the best approaches on cases. Whether litigation in cases or the practicalities of certain treatment, the growth of our lawyers over time is paramount. Always staying ahead of and setting practice trends. Thank you.
Serious family member have a car accident injury? Look no further. This litigator is for real. Always two steps ahead of the other lawyer.
Response from the owner: This is a sad reality for car accident lawyers. The #1 passenger in an auto accident is a relative. Helping a family make it through this and putting the family back together is one of the most rewarding things I do as an automobile accident attorney.
This lawyer handles really big accident cases in St Louis. He is a lawyer, accountant and has his masters in tax so he gets the injury cases for individuals that can never go back to work or individuals own a business and cannot run it due to injury. He specializes in valuations of massive loss. Thank goodness a firm like this exists.
Response from the owner: Thank you. When accident are severe and you lose the ability to work or to continue a business, having an accounting and tax background is key. Valuing large losses are second nature for us.
Asked a trauma surgeon who operates on car accident victims who are the best injury lawyers that have taken his deposition. He said “by far” it was Mr Hoffmann. Interviewed several attorneys and this was a correct assessment. In a league of his own!
Response from the owner: Our attorney have deposed nearly all the trauma surgeons at every Level 1 Trauma Center in Saint Louis. These doctors save lives after a car accident. Whether controlling bleeding or reestablishing blood flow or bone structures, they are life savers.
Few lawyers in St. Louis can handle the biggest injury cases! This is one of them!
Response from the owner: Our law firm has made great efforts in terms of training to handle life changing injury cases. Whether in depth knowledge of the medical, loss of income and earning capacity, or lifetime medical care plans, our clients feel confident and know their case is in good hands. Thank you for the compliment.
Cannot say enough about this lawyer. Call if in an accident. This attorney handles the biggest car accidents in St Louis.
Response from the owner: Thanks Ash! Our biggest source of cases is our clients. Our second biggest referral source is defense lawyers telling their relatives to call us. Few lawyers can handle the largest cases. Our law firm welcomes and has trained for this. We don’t do mass production settlement like the lawyers on TV. Our clients can never go back to work. Their cases need massive focus and effort and often long fought litigation.
So glad I called attorney Hoffmann. This time I got it right! So glad I hired the Hoffmann Law Firm - professional, reliable and available.
Response from the owner: Thanks Taylor. Our lawyers answer the phone day, night, weekends and even during lunch. Being professional means training to beat the best defense lawyers. Client rely on us to get results and we do.
Great lawyer. Cares about his clients, knows his stuff and goes the extra mile. I recommend this lawyer for car wreck injury claim. Every other lawyer on TV would not even help with my property claim. This attorney did.
Response from the owner: Thank you for the kind words. Every case starts with a great client. You are correct the car accident lawyers on TV are mass production settlement mills. When injury clients fire them, we get their files and the cases are not worked up at all. Appreciate your confidence in us!
Major car accident injury in St Louis area for a family member. Four different lawyers we know said the same thing - call Chris Hoffmann. On another level.
Response from the owner: This is such a great compliment. Most of our cases come from prior client or lawyers that also do car accidents cases but the particular case is too large or too difficult. Being a lawyer and an accountant, we specialize in cases with total lost of income, earning capacity and/or often the inability to continue a family business. Evaluations such as these are second nature for our lawyers. Thanks.
Best in St Louis for auto accident cases. Nobody else is even close.
Response from the owner: So kind of you to leave this review. Whether our lawyers are going after big insurance or their lawyers, skill and experience are essential and win the day for our auto accident clients. Thanks!
This attorney is very smart, very experienced, returns phone calls and knows the answers when asked. One call and I knew this was a great law firm for auto accidents.
Response from the owner: Our law firm appreciates this. This is a comment we get from so many people who call…”none of the lawyers we called told me all the things that you did.” Whether we take a car accident case or not, helping people is a good thing.
5 Star Lawyer for sure! Best you will find in Saint Louis.
Response from the owner: Thanks for the 5 Star Rating. Reviews like this are great. Injury victims quickly figure out the TV advertisers are not good. We work hard at being the best we can be and it reflects in our representation of car accident victims.
Watch this lawyer in action. Was way better than all the others. Get this lawyer for an automobile accident for sure.
Response from the owner: Thanks for the recommendation. Besides doing cases, our attorneys train for this. Hard work, case knowledge and technique is key to success in car accident litigation.
Very pleased with The Hoffmann Law Firm. Lawyers are attentive, friendly and go the distance to force the settlement you want. The TV lawyers recommend low offers. This law firm gets the maximum.
Response from the owner: We get calls from car accident victims that had to fire the TV lawyers that they hired. They give the same two reasons: 1) they never spoke to a lawyer at the Big TV law firms, only a paralegal, and 2) the paralegal recommended they accept a low offer. At our law firm, you only talk to the lawyer and if an offer is low we tell you to sue. Thanks!
Several lawyers said to call this lawyer because he is the best. You will appreciate this law firm. Helped with the injury and property claims. Attentive and knowledgeable. Great reputation in St Louis.
Response from the owner: Thanks Lexi. Our #1 source of cases is other lawyers referring us cases that are too big for them to handle.
Would use this accident law firm. Best in Saint Louis. Highly rated and it shows. After one phone call, you just know this attorney is better. 5 Stars!!
Response from the owner: Thanks for recommending our lawyers in St Louis. There is a major difference in lawyers as you well know.
Car accident lawyers on tv are not good . Get this attorney ! He is a pro !!
Response from the owner: Thanks Nathan. TV lawyers market for car accidents, use paralegals instead of lawyers and give their employees settlement quotas hence forcing cheap settlements. At our law firm, you get a lawyer who keeps pushing forward for more.
Quality lawyer. Best law firm for a car accident. Advice was way better than other lawyers I called in St. Louis. Helped with property and injury.
Response from the owner: Thanks. The TV lawyer advertisers are just car accident settlement mills. As soon as people call a real attorney, they always tell us how much better and more helpful we were. Appreciate this.
This lawyer is big time. Smooth. The other lawyers on the other side were not nearly as good as this attorney. I recommend friends in St Louis to him for accident injuries and they all say the same thing…”that lawyer is great.”
Response from the owner: Very nice of you to say. Our lawyers work hard on auto accident cases.
Family used this car accident attorney after a crash. Located in St Louis. This lawyer answers the phone and will walk you through the process. Knows his stuff!
Response from the owner: Taking calls, going over the car accident injury and property process is important. Clients that call always say we are the only lawyers that explained everything. Much appreciated.
Tried the lawyers on TV. They were not good. Hired this car accident lawyer instead because he had great reviews. The reviews are correct. This attorney is as good as they get. He does big injury cases that need to be litigated.
Response from the owner: Car accident lawyers on TV do not litigate cases. It is mass production. They have quotas. Local attorneys are best on auto accidents.
Used this attorney for an auto accident. Highly recommend this lawyer in St. Louis. Communicates well.
Response from the owner: Communicating with clients is essential. Taking the client though the car accident claims process is important otherwise major mistakes can occur. It is an effort that we make. Thanks!
Fantastic law firm, I would recommend! Received free consultation related to an auto accident when my parked car was damaged by a baseball. Very supportive advice, these guys are good!
I was in a car accident in St.Louis and hired Chris as my lawyer. He was amazing!!! He helped me every step of the way and was able to get me a great settlement!!!Highly, highly, highly recommend him!
Response from the owner: Each step is important in a car accident. Thanks for recommending us for car accidents injury claims.
a motorist’s uncontrolled anger that is usually provoked by another motorist’s irritating act and is expressed in aggressive or violent behavior”.
Surveys show that the most common “irritating acts” are tailgating, not using a signal, cell phone use, and honking the horn. They claim that certain triggers such as being rushed or stuck in traffic escalate feelings of rage. Men, particularly those in their 20’s, seem to be the drivers who are most susceptible to rage outbursts while driving.
It is estimated that at least 1,500 people are injured or killed in a road rage incident each year. A Missouri woman was left with facial scarring and a broken leg after the car she was a passenger in crashed due to a drivers’ road rage episode. The extent of her injuries caused the defense to agree to a $285,000 settlement.
Road Rage Statistics
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) conducted a study on the types and causes of road accidents in the U.S. It was found that aggressive driving is the cause of around 66 percent of car accidents. In the past decade, the number of fatalities caused due to road rage has increased each year despite the fact that cars have become safer and are equipped with advanced hi-tech safety equipment. Even though there are ongoing efforts to make cars safer, it is the people behind the wheel that are becoming increasingly dangerous.
Causes of Road Rage
Driving on roads with heavy traffic is stressful. Commuting in heavy traffic every day for more than two to three hours can make drivers irritable, impatient, and at times downright revengeful. These behaviours are extremely dangerous, not only for others on the road, but also for the drivers themselves as well as co-passengers. Psychologists attribute road rage to two psychological phenomena:
Reactivity – Reactivity is a term given to the difference in an individual’s behaviour in private versus in public. In the presence of people, individuals tend to conform to the rules of society. There are studies that prove that in public, individuals are more aware of the fact that they are being watched.
Deindividuation – Deindividuation is a related effect. It shows that individuals will behave badly under the guise of anonymity. Deindividuation is best seen in a study conducted by Zimbardo. The researchers got the subjects to administer shocks (fake) to other people. The subjects were not aware that the shocks were fake. When the participants were given large lab coats and hoods to hide their identity, they administered the shocks for a significantly longer time that they did while their identity was revealed with name tags.
An Increase in Road Rage
In the privacy of their cars, individuals feel anonymous. This feeling tends to increase a person’s ability to misbehave while driving. Another reason is the fact that the roads have become more crowded. With people spending significantly more time on the roads, drivers are more stressed and aggressive. While no one can individually do much about the congestion on the roads, each driver can try to keep a calm mind and focus on staying safe.
What to Do If You Are Involved
If you are involved in a road rage accident seek the advice of a car accident lawyer. Often times there is a criminal act of violence related to road rage. Some of the most noted behaviors are:
aggressive tailgating
head light and high beam flashing
obstructing the movement of another vehicle
pursuing another vehicle and or forcing them off of the road
sudden braking
All of these actions can lead to a serious accident. Since there is an obvious negligence in a road rage accident, and the defendant driver willfully acted in a matter that could cause bodily harm, punitive damages may come into play if your accident claim goes to trial. Juries use punitive damages as a way to further punish a defendant financially and is most often seen in cases where a defendant acted recklessly and without regard to human life.
Being confronted by an overly enraged driver can be a scary experience and a situation that drivers should try and avoid. If you notice another motorist is acting aggressively towards you, do not react. Stay in control of your own emotions and remain calm. Don’t turn the situation into a game of who can aggravate who the most. Even a quick tap on the horn can be interpreted as aggressive to a driver who is already in a fit of rage. If the behavior persists or worsens, continue to drive as safely as possible and use your cell phone to notify police.
Do Not Admit Fault
You may not be at fault for the accident. Do not give any statements or admit your fault before you speak to your attorney. How your case progresses will partly depend on what eye witnesses have to say about the accident. The insurance adjuster will use eye witness statements to determine whether or not you were at fault. You can give a general statement but do not tell them that you believe you were at fault.
Filing a Lawsuit
Most car accident injury cases are settled well before a lawsuit is even contemplated. However, if you were partially at fault for the accident, your claim may have to be filed as a lawsuit. This is important in order to receive maximum compensation for your injuries. If your car accident case goes to trial, the jury or judge will assess who was at fault for the accident and how much each driver involved was at fault. This concept is known as comparative fault. (Read – When Your Claim Exceeds Your Policy Limit)
In the state of Missouri, your percentage of fault decreases your compensation proportionately. However, it does not keep you from getting compensation. If you are found to be 30 percent at fault and the jury awards $60,000 for your injuries, you will receive $42,000.
Contact The Hoffmann Law Firm at (314) 361-4242
We all make mistakes driving at some point or another that may anger another motorist. Unfortunately at times that motorist may take things to an extreme level and an accident may result. If you or someone close to you was injured in a road rage accident, talk over the details of the accident with a St. Louis car accident lawyer at The Hoffmann Law Firm. Chances are the driver will be held accountable and you will be compensated.
