Colorado drivers might be getting too hot to handle: Reports of aggressive driving and road rage have jumped each year since 2023, according to state patrol officials.
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Colorado’s aggressive driving hotline, *CSP, received 33,387 reports of road rage incidents in 2025, Colorado State Patrol trooper and spokesperson Sherri Mendez said. That included reports of excessive speeding, tailgating, angry gestures, passing on the right, honking in anger, showing a weapon, weaving in and out of traffic and getting out of the car to confront another driver, she said.
Aggressive behavior has “continued to climb” over the past three years, Mendez said. Roughly 54% of the tens of thousands of calls made to *CSP in 2023 reported aggressive driving. That rose to 56% in 2024 and 57.3% in 2025, she said.
“Aggressive driving could reduce reaction times, escalate tensions between drivers and can quickly turn a minor traffic situation into a life-threatening incident,” Mendez said.
“High speeds and erratic movements make it harder for other drivers to anticipate actions, increasing the likelihood of collisions,” Mendez continued. “In some cases, confrontations can escalate to violence.”
Dash-camera video posted by the Wheat Ridge Police Department on Friday showed two drivers who came to a stop in the middle lane of Interstate 70. A driver exited one of the cars and repeatedly slammed the other driver’s door as they tried to get out.
After the first driver returned to their car, the second driver gave chase and punched the first driver’s rear window, appearing to shatter it. That prompted the first driver to return to the second’s car, and the two appeared to exchange heated words before returning to their vehicles.
The video came from the dash camera of a semitrailer that almost collided with the two stopped cars on Wednesday, according to the Wheat Ridge Police Department. The two drivers had been swerving between lanes and brake-checking each other before the confrontation, police said.
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Both drivers were cited for disorderly conduct, police said,
“This situation was downright dangerous and these two are lucky they didn’t get hit on the highway,” the post stated. “Keep your cool on our roads.”
Drivers who spot road ragers are encouraged to find a safe spot to pull over and call *CSP with a description and location of the vehicle, Mendez said. If the situation escalates or poses an immediate threat, the driver should call 911.
“The best response to road rage or aggressive driving is to keep your cool,” Mendez said. “Do not engage with the aggressive driver. Allow space, create distance and prioritize safety. A decision not to engage can prevent a dangerous situation from escalating.”
Colorado is one of the top states for road rage incidents, according to a study released last year. That study — which calculated “Road Rage Scores” for states using data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Bureau of Transportation Statistics — ranked Colorado first for angry and aggressive drivers.
Road rage is a year-round constant in Colorado, but summer can bring more drivers to the state’s roads and increase the chance of encountering an aggressive driver, Mendez said.
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