Road rage is not its own crime under Las Vegas or Nevada law. However, overreacting to another driver’s actions and acting hostilely towards them could lead to your arrest for:
- Reckless driving,
- Aggressive driving,
- Assault, and/or
- Battery.
Fortunately, there are many ways to fight road rage-related charges, such as by claiming accident, self-defense, or false accusations. There is usually also plenty of available evidence from roadway incidents, such as traffic surveillance video, eyewitness accounts, and GPS records.
Continue reading to learn more about the four ways you can get charged for road rage in Nevada.
1) Reckless Driving
Perhaps the most common road rage-related offense in Nevada is reckless driving. This occurs when you allegedly drive a vehicle “in willful or wanton disregard of the safety of persons or property.” An example could be speeding way over the limit.
Reckless driving that results in death or substantial bodily harm is a category B felony, carrying by one to six years in Nevada State Prison and a fine of $2,000 to $5,000. The maximum prison term becomes 10 years if the case involves either:
- Speeding at least 50 mph over the speed limit or
- A pedestrian safety zone, school zone or school crossing zone.
Otherwise, reckless driving is a misdemeanor carrying eight DMV demerit points and up to six months in jail. The fines depend on whether you have prior convictions:
- First offense: $250 to $1,000.
- Second offense: $1,000 to $1,500.
- Third or subsequent offense: $1,500 to $2,000.1
2) Aggressive Driving
Nevada “road ragers” may instead face charges for aggressive driving, which is a crime similar to but narrower than reckless driving. Aggressive driving occurs when, during a continuous one-mile stretch, you do the following three things:
- Create an immediate hazard to another vehicle or to another person, and
- Exceed the speed limit, and
- Commit at least two of the following acts, or commit one act at least twice:
- Disobeying a traffic-control device, and/or
- Overtaking and passing another vehicle on the right by driving off the paved portion of the highway, and/or
- Changing lanes unsafely or improperly, and/or
- Tailgating, and/or
- Failing to yield right-of-way.
Aggressive driving is a misdemeanor carrying up to six months in jail. The fines depend on whether you have prior convictions:
- First offense: $250 to $1,000.
- Second offense: $1,000 to $1,500.
- Third or subsequent offense: $1,500 to $2,000.
In addition, for the first offense within two years, you must attend traffic safety school, and the court may suspend your driver’s license for up to 30 days. For a second or subsequent offense within two years, your driver’s license will be revoked for up to one year.
If you complete traffic school, the Nevada DMV will take off three demerit points from your driving record.2
3) Assault
In Nevada, road rage may result in an assault charge if you intentionally make another person feel that they are about to be physically harmed. A common example is holding up your fist at someone’s face as if you are about to punch them.
Assault with no deadly weapon — called “simple assault” in Nevada — is a misdemeanor carrying up to six months in jail and/or $1,000 in fines.
However, you will face gross misdemeanor charges if the victim is part of a “protected class” such as a police officer: The sentence becomes up to 364 days in jail and/or $2,000 in fines.
Meanwhile, assault is category D felony if you at the time were on probation or parole or in prison or lawful custody. The penalties are one to four years in prison and up to $5,000.
Finally, assault with a deadly weapon (ADW) is always a category B felony in Nevada, carrying one to six years in prison and up to $5,000. Note that deadly weapons include not only knives and guns but also any object that can be used to cause substantial bodily harm.
Therefore, a car can constitute a deadly weapon if you try to ram someone or run someone over with it. You might also be charged with ADW if you threaten another driver with a potentially deadly weapon contained in your car, such as a baseball bat or golf club.3
4) Battery
If you hit someone or use force against them due to road rage in Nevada, you might face battery charges. The penalties for battery vary depending on the circumstances of the case, as the following table shows:
|
Nevada Battery Conviction |
Penalties |
| You did not use a deadly weapon | If the victim sustained substantial bodily harm or was strangled, battery is a category C felony: 1 to 5 years in prison and up to $10,000.
Otherwise, battery is a misdemeanor: Up to 6 months in jail, and/or $1,000. |
| Battery with a deadly weapon | Category B felony, carrying at least 2 years in prison and a possible fine of up to $10,000.
If the victim sustained substantial bodily harm or was strangled, the maximum prison sentence is 15 years. Otherwise, it is 10 years. |
The victim was working as either an:
|
If there was a deadly weapon and the victim sustained substantial bodily harm or was strangled, battery is a category B felony: 2 to 15 years in prison and/or up to $10,000.
If there was a deadly weapon but the victim did not sustain substantial bodily harm and was not strangled, battery is a category B felony: 2 to 10 years in prison and/or up to $10,000. If there was no deadly weapon but the victim did sustain substantial bodily harm or was strangled, battery is a category B felony: 2 to 10 years in prison and/or up to $10,000. Otherwise, battery is a gross misdemeanor: Up to 364 days in jail and/or $2,000. |
If you were a:
|
Category B felony:
If you did not use a deadly weapon, the prison term is 1 to 6 years. If you did use a deadly weapon, the minimum prison term is 2 years. If the victim sustained substantial bodily harm or was strangled, the maximum term is 15 years. Otherwise, the maximum term is 10 years.4 |
At its most extreme, road rage can lead to voluntary manslaughter charges if someone is killed in a “fit of passion.” As a category B felony in Nevada, voluntary manslaughter carries one to 10 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine. Such incidents are, fortunately, rare.5
Additional Reading
For more in-depth information, refer to these scholarly articles:
- Road rage: a psychiatric phenomenon? – Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology.
- Road Rage – The Journal for Justice Professionals.
- Driving Frequency and Its Impact on Road Rage Offending and Victimization: A View From Opportunity Theory – Violence and Victims.
- American Road Rage: A Scary and Tangled Cultural-Legal Pastiche – Nebraska Law Review.
- The “Homogamy” of Road Rage: Understanding the Relationship Between Victimization and Offending Among Aggressive and Violent Motorists – Violence and Victims.
Legal References
- NRS 484B.653. Violation Code List, Nevada DMV.
- NRS 484B.650.
- NRS 200.471.
- NRS 200.481.
- NRS 200.050. See also Norwood v. State (2024)
