On LA Roads, Rage Is on the Rise

The number of incidents has almost doubled over the past eight years
Crime
By

In Los Angeles, home to some of the most snarled traffic in the world, road rage can strike anywhere. And it’s getting worse.

 

Between 2010 and 2017, reports of criminal road rage incidents by the Los Angeles Police Department increased by 191% – from 195 reports to 568.

 

 

These incidents go beyond someone cutting you off on the freeway and giving you the finger. It means the episode resulted in a criminal act. From January to July of this year, there have been 328 total reports involving road rage. While this isn’t as high as last year (at this point in 2017, there were 338 reports), the numbers are part of a larger upward trend.

 

The crime most commonly associated with these reports in 2018 is assault with a deadly weapon – found in 34% of road rage instances.

 

But it looks like Angelenos might prefer solving problems on the road with their fists. The majority of the weapons used in road rage reports for 2018 are listed as “strong arm” by the LAPD – representing 25% of the total. In this case, “strong arming” could mean the violent use of a person’s hands, feet, fists or some bodily force.

 

Here is the overall breakdown of weapons used in road rage reports*:

 

 

*other/unknown refers to weapons that are unlisted or unidentified by the LAPD. Weapons listed as “other” includes weapons that had smaller crime counts.

 

Your morning and evening commutes are actually less likely to be affected by road rage incidents than your weekend escapades. In 2018, the most common day of the week for road rage reports by the LAPD was Saturday. This follows the same trend of the past seven years.

 

Meanwhile, the streets of Hollywood are the most likely to get heated.  It tops the 2018 list so far of the neighborhood with the most road rage reports through July. Here’s our breakdown of the other top areas:

 

  1. Hollywood: 22
  2. Woodland Hills: 15
  3. Downtown: 12
  4. Chatsworth: 11

 

See more on how we organize our crime data here.

 

Check out our latest crime data story here.

 

Still have questions? Want to know the stats for your neighborhood? Write to us at askus@xtown.la

 

Stay safe out there!