S3169AaaViolent Crime Penalties

Motor and Other Vehicles - Motor Vehicle Offenses - Casey's Law

This bill adds extra fines, license suspensions, and prison time for traffic offenses committed due to road rage.

Introduced70 Yea0 Nay5 Not voting

Population
Affected

Introduced Mar 27, 2026Committee Senate Judiciary

Plain-English Summary

This bill creates additional penalties for people who commit a motor vehicle offense while engaging in "road rage," known as Casey's Law. Road rage is defined as intentionally aggressive, threatening, or dangerous behavior directed at another driver or passenger. If someone commits a misdemeanor offense due to road rage, they can face an extra fine of up to $1,000 and a license suspension of up to one year. For felony offenses, the extra penalties include two to fifteen additional years in prison, a mandatory fine of at least $1,000, and a longer license suspension or revocation.

For younger readers

This bill makes rules stricter for drivers who show "road rage." Road rage is when a driver acts very angry, mean, or dangerous toward other cars on purpose. Under this new rule, if a driver breaks a traffic law while having road rage, they will get extra punishments. These extra punishments could be paying a large fine, losing their driver's license for a while, or spending extra time in jail.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups

Motor vehicle operatorsMotor vehicle passengersConvicted traffic offendersProsecutorsJudges

Impacted communities

All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

Moderate risk

There is a moderate risk concerning the Due Process Clause due to potentially vague language. Terms defining road rage, such as "harassing" and "intimidating," are subjective and could lead to arbitrary or discriminatory enforcement. However, because the bill requires an underlying criminal conviction and mandates that the road rage enhancement be proven "beyond a reasonable doubt" at a formal sentencing hearing, it likely satisfies constitutional due process requirements.

Estimated cost

Amount unknown

Estimated revenue

Amount unknown

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints

For Progressives

Enhances community welfare and public safety by heavily penalizing dangerous, aggressive driving that puts innocent lives at risk on public roadways.
Protects the due process rights of the accused by requiring the state to prove the road rage enhancement "beyond a reasonable doubt" during a specific sentencing hearing.
May help reduce incidents of vehicular intimidation and harassment, which can disproportionately affect vulnerable populations and marginalized groups navigating public spaces.
Increases mandatory fines and incarceration times (up to 15 extra years for felonies), which exacerbates mass incarceration and disproportionately harms low-income and minority communities.
Allows for prolonged driver's license suspensions, which can severely restrict a person's ability to maintain employment, access healthcare, and support their family, further disadvantaging the poor.
Relies on subjective terms like "harassing" and "intimidating" to define road rage, creating a risk of biased or discriminatory enforcement by police and prosecutors against systemic targets.

For Conservatives

Strengthens law and order by imposing strict, mandatory fines and consecutive prison sentences for criminals who commit dangerous felonies on the road.
Promotes personal responsibility by holding individuals directly accountable for their aggressive choices without relying on taxpayer-funded government rehabilitation or education programs.
Protects law-abiding citizens and their private property from the threatening and destructive behavior of aggressive drivers.
Grants the government and prosecutors broad power to enhance sentences based on subjective terms like "intimidating," which could easily be weaponized against citizens.
Imposes excessive fines and revokes driving privileges, which limits personal freedom, restricts freedom of movement, and expands government control over daily life.
The vague definition of road rage could potentially be used by the state to unfairly target or over-penalize political opponents participating in vehicle convoys or mobile protests.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

3 versions

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 39 additions

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

SECTION 1. Chapter 31-27 of the General Laws entitled "Motor Vehicle Offenses" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section: 31-27-26. Enhancement of an offense for road rage -- Casey's law.

(a) For the purposes of this section, "road rage" means the operation or use of a motor vehicle, or behavior on the part of the operator or passenger of a motor vehicle that is intentionally aggressive, harassing, threatening, intimidating, or dangerous and that is directed toward another motor vehicle operator or passenger upon any public highway, public roadway, or reasonable extension of any public highway or roadway, to which the public has access.

(b) Any person convicted of or entering a plea of guilty or nolo contendere for a violation of any provisions of this chapter that constitute a misdemeanor or any other misdemeanor, and who is further found to have committed such violation as a result of road rage may be subject to the following in addition to any other penalty the court may impose for the underlying misdemeanor violation:

(1) A fine of up to one thousand dollars ($1,000); and/or

(2) Suspension of the person's operator's license for up to one year.

(c) Any person convicted of or entering a plea of guilty or nolo contendere for a violation of any provisions of this chapter that constitute a felony or any other felony, and who is further found to have committed such violation as a result of road rage may be subject to the following in addition to any other penalty the court may impose for the underlying felony violation:

(1) An additional term of imprisonment for not less than two (2) years and for not more than fifteen (15) years;

(2) A mandatory fine of no less than one thousand dollars ($1,000); and

(3) Suspension of the person's operator's license for a period of not more than five (5) years or revocation for a period up to two (2) years.

(d) Whenever the attorney general or prosecutor seeks the enhanced sentence in this section, the attorney general or prosecutor shall file a notice with the court and the defendant no later than the first pretrial conference, or shall allege the enhancement in the complaint, information, or indictment, specifying that the defendant, upon conviction, is subject to the imposition of sentencing in accordance with this section.

(e) Upon any plea of guilty or nolo contendere, or verdict or finding of guilty of the defendant, the court shall conduct a sentencing hearing. At the hearing, the court shall permit the attorney general or prosecutor and the defense to present additional evidence to the judge or jury relevant to the determination of whether the defendant committed the underlying offense as a result of road rage as defined in subsection (a) of this section. If the judge or jury at the hearing, or in the case of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, the court at sentencing, determines beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant's actions were so motivated, the defendant shall be sentenced as provided in this section.

(f) This section does not create a separate offense but provides an additional enhanced sentence for the underlying offense.

(g) The enhanced sentence regarding imprisonment provided in this section shall run consecutively to the sentences provided for the underlying offenses.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.