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Road Rage May Be Costly

By Amy E. Feldman

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - In the raising of crotchety to a whole other level, a 63-year-old Santa Cruz man was arrested after he fired a flare gun into a car, setting it on fire, during a road rage incident last month. The police had no trouble locating him, and have booked him for arson and assault with a flamboyant weapon.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, up to five percent of all traffic fatalities and injuries are the result of road rage, when physical violence results from a disagreement between two drivers, and aggressive driving.

Cases involving road rage - including physical confrontations, attempts to bodily injure someone with your car, and other incidents that could lead to bodily harm - are criminal matters and will be prosecuted.

In addition, your insurance is not obligated to cover damage that you do in a road rage incident - and if you think you're mad now, imagine how mad you'll be when the aggressive lawyer of the guy that made you so mad in the first place hits you where it really hurts...in the pocketbook.

Remember what your grandpa should have told you - just because someone is a jerk on the road doesn't mean you have to stoop to his level because, in addition to common courtesy, you never know when the other driver's temper is about to flare.

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