CHP officer, AAA share pointers on how to handle road rage

Road rage is all too common in the Bay Area. In the last two weeks alone, a Fairfield incident injured two and a Redwood City confrontation ended in death.

How can drivers safely handle such situations?

The phenomenon isn’t confined to the Bay Area by any means. A staggering 92 percent of U.S. drivers have engaged in aggressive behaviors such as cutting off other vehicles, according to a November 2025 AAA study. Worse yet, 11 percent reported deliberately bumping another car or confronting another driver.

Aggressive behavior is contagious, according to the report. Drivers who experienced higher levels of aggressive driving also had higher levels of engagement in aggressive driving.

With that in mind, “Definitely you want to avoid reacting or retaliating,” said Officer Scott Heitman of the Solano County division of the California Highway Patrol.

“Stay calm – don’t engage. Avoid eye contact, making gestures or responding,” Heitman says.

Along those lines, “Don’t take the bait. Ignore. Avoid,” said Spokesperson John Treanor of AAA Northern California

Sometimes it can be difficult to avoid an aggressive driver, though. It’s not unheard of for a motorist in a road rage confrontation to follow the other driver.

“We typically recommend that if you feel you are being followed, call 911. Our units will try to get in position if they observe unsafe driving by another party,” Heitman said. “Then we would make a traffic stop at that point for the violation.”

The officer noted, “We recommend that you have Bluetooth and hands-free dialing in place prior to getting behind the wheel.” It is legal to call 911 if you are in an emergency situation.

Another option is driving to a police station, “somewhere safe that would deter the suspect from continuing to follow,” Heitman said. “Know where your police stations are.”

However, the officer noted that the Highway Patrol doesn’t recommend speeding or engaging in any reckless behavior to try to get away.

Both Heitman and Treanor emphasized, “Don’t drive home.”

Treanor noted, “A lot of this comes down to people who are in a hurry and feel they have to speed or act quickly and look at other drivers and think, ‘They’re in my way.’”

For that reason, AAA recommends that drivers leave with extra time to reach their destination to alleviate tension and potential aggressive driving.

“We all have one ultimate goal, all of us, and that’s to get home safely,” Treanor said.