A bill that would establish harsher penalties for road rage incidents has been passed by the Assembly Judiciary Committee. The measure, released by the committee Thursday, calls for the inclusion of road rage in the state’s assault-by-auto statute, which would lead to increased penalties for those convicted of the offense. Those convicted would face a sentence of three to five years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000.
The bill has been named “Jessica Rogers’ Law” after a Mercer County 16-year-old who was paralyzed from the chest down following an accident involving road rage. The accident occurred in 2005.
Rogers, who is now 22, testified at the committee hearing. She was a passenger in a vehicle whose driver, angered that he had been cut off, attempted to pass a vehicle on the shoulder and slammed into a utility pole. Both Rogers and another passenger were seriously hurt. Read more in APP.
If the police would only enforce the laws already on the books, driving would be safer. We don’t need more legislation!
driving through lakewood would give any reasonable person road rage.
Obeying the laws of the road is only part of it. People need to be more conscious of those around them and act with courtesy and respect.
There are already careless driving laws on the books – why do we need another? Are the police going to be issued ‘Anger-Meters’ to know when the action was anger-motivated as opposed to stupidity-motivated?