As a Seattle Auto Accident attorney my Everett personal injury law firm deals with fatal auto accidents that started with a driver cutting someone off or making a rude hand gesture. While there is not a specific profile of the aggressive driver, young men between the ages of 18 and 24 are 67% more likely to engage in aggressive driving and road rage than any other age group or gender. But road rage is most often the fault of both drivers involved in the situation. If you respond back to someone showing symptoms of road rage you are just as much at fault. Abel Caesar Madrigal and his friend Jonathan A. Harmon of Pasco had to find this out the hard way.

Last week, Madrigal was a passenger in his friends Pathfinder when Harmon accidently cut off another driver while entering Interstate 82 on an on-ramp going east. The other driver made a rude hand gesture at the young men, and instead of ignoring the gesture they responded back causing the situation to escalate. The other driver then sped up to get around the Pathfinder and tapped on his breaks hard enough to cause Harmon to swerve to avoid a potentially fatal auto accident.

Madrigal is now at Harborview Medical Center where doctors have so far performed 2 operations on his spine, each taking over 8 hours to complete. Doctors are unsure if he will ever be able to walk again, but Madrigal says that he is happy just to be alive. His family is thankful that he did not sustain any brain injuries and would like to find the other driver involved believing him/her to be at fault for what has happened to their son.

Washington State Patrol encourages all drivers victim to an aggressive driver or those that are witness to road rage to immediately call 911. To help fight the battle against aggressive drivers, WSP designed the Aggressive Driving Apprehension Team that uses unmarked/unconventional police vehicles to spot road rage as it happens, and they either ticket or arrest the aggressive drivers depending on the severity of the case. Check out the Washington State Patrol website for tips on how to spot and avoid aggressive drivers.

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