A.R.S. § 28-695 — Aggressive Driving

The formula

A driver commits aggressive driving when, during one continuous period of driving, they speed and commit at least two of: failure to obey a traffic control device, unsafe passing on the right, an unsafe lane change, following too closely, or failure to yield the right of way — and their driving is an immediate hazard to another person or vehicle. Every piece is an element: the speed, each predicate violation, the single continuous course, and the immediate hazard.

Penalties

A first offense is a class 1 misdemeanor — up to six months in jail and $2,500 plus surcharges — with mandatory attendance at Traffic Survival School, and the court may suspend the license. A second offense within 24 months brings a mandatory license suspension. As with the other criminal traffic offenses, the record and insurance consequences typically outlast anything the court imposes.

Defenses

Formula offenses fail when any element fails. Officers frequently write aggressive driving off a single burst of frustrated freeway driving, and the State then has to prove each predicate violation separately, tie them into one continuous episode, and establish that some identifiable person was actually placed at immediate hazard — not hypothetically, actually. Knocking out one predicate reduces the case to civil tickets. See the criminal traffic defense page for how these cases are approached.