Road Rage: Yourself and others
 

My dear friends: today I had a road rage incident. Pretty bad one. No one hurt or property hurt but it could have been close.

White van behind me on single lane on ramp. On the top/end of the ramp, the single lane turns into two lanes. The right lane however also has an entry point for another road, so if you want to go to the right lane you have to merge with other traffic. I went from the ramp, took my time and merged into the right lane with the other traffic. There is an intersection with lights after this merge point. The white van however chose to take the faster moving left lane and not merge. However, at the intersection he cut in front of me into the right lane. I was already in the intersection when he did this. Light turns red, and now while he's fine -- I'm hanging into the intersection. So to get out of the intersection, I begin to go into the left lane because there was no one there. The truck in front of me then proceeds to try to also go into the left lane maybe a second and a half after me -- in essence cutting me off again. I got pissed. So I gunned it around him on the left to get in front of him. Part of my car was on the other side of the yellow line (there was no opposing traffic, otherwise I would not have done the maneuver). I honked my horn and revved at him to let him know I was pissed. Then he decides to speed up after me and then swerves back into the right lane again. The next intersection is left lane turn only. I normally go in the right lane to go straight but I wasn't going to cut someone off to do so, thus I just decided to make the left turn. While at the next intersection, as fate would have it, his van pulls up next to my car (I'm in left lane, he's in right lane again). I admittedly gave him the finger. He opens his door and steps out, motioning to lower my window. I crack it open enough so that I can hear him.

He said there's no need to be so aggressive. I said you cut me off. He was like no I changed lanes. After puffing, he said how about I cut your throat. I said sounds good. (This verbal exchange lasted a whole 7 seconds during the red light.) He went back into his van, I rolled my window up, made the left turn and that was the last of it.

So clearly I probably should have not revved my engine / half went around him / gave him the finger. But emotion got the better of me. He was clearly not merely changing lanes. He was swerving in and out of the lanes to get to wherever he needed to go faster. He didn't go into the right lane and merge, but decided to cut me off mid intersection and "cheat". And when the traffic in front of him wasn't moving fast enough he decided to go back into the left lane and cut another person off back into the same right lane. He also probably should not have threatened to cut my throat lmao.

Lesson learned: probably best to control your emotions even when other drivers "start it". He may not have even seen my car for all I know and thus in his mind he was innocent. I was definitely partly in the wrong but I can't help sometimes having a fit of vengeance wherein I want to, through my actions, tell another driver "hey, you wronged me, I'm angry with you."

99.9 % of the time I drive like a grandma and if I'm at 45mph I'm probably already in 6th gear. I just seem to have fits of aggressiveness.

This right here.

Would have immediately called 911 and reported the incident giving vehicle plate number, location, and driver description.

No further conversation.

If said driver tried to enter my vehicle said driver would eat a bullet.

yeah close call. you never know who you will run into on the street. its best to just be the bigger man and let it slide... people like us with careers have alot more to lose in these situations than joe schmo working at the meat packing plant.

Had a road rage when I was 21. Me and my bro nearly beat a guy with the steering lock. It would've been ugly if he hadn't back down.

After 10 years behind the wheels I've learnt that road-rage isn't worth risking your life. Ended up injured or dead just because your inner ego got a better of you is just stupid.

Sometimes, when someone drives like that, chances are, they're in some kind of stress and ready to explode in any given moment.

Thats why if i conseal and carry, id pull it and say 'try me'.

OP--glad it didn't escalate further. But you are right, we all need to learn to "let it go" sometimes, though I myself am no stranger to the "Red mist" that can just strike out of ego, righteous indignation, or whatever triggers it.

Loving these threads for the "internet tough guy" responses they get.

If you called the police and made a report--absolutely nothing would happen. Its just a he said/he said issue where nobody actually got hurt and nothing was damaged. The report would be one file, but zero time would be spent on it other than filing, and then deleting the report later on.

Also, depending on the law in the state you live in, pulling a gun on someone who hasn't even entered your car or pulled a gun on you themselves can actually put *you* in the wrong and get you prosecuted.

As I said, we'd all be better served by driving carefully and sometimes just taking a deep breath and letting it go.

What I like to do when someone cuts me off is honk my horn and look in there rearview mirror or side mirror and look straight into their eyes with a death stare.

At least this didn't happen...But It could've!!! Be careful out there.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiNPyYCsf9g"]Road rage in Los Angeles , 5 freeway , beat down vw - YouTube[/ame]

Someplace on a White Van Forum there is probably a dude saying "well this morning while driving totally responsibly I had this jerk in a sportscar cut me off and almost kill me"!
Thank you OP for being candid and admitting that your actions probably aggravated the issue. Way too often (including some of the responses already) people tend to blame everybody else and ignore or not realize that they at least partially brought it on themselves.

Geeez, bad form dropkickin him while he's down like that. Goes to show how street-fighting is never worth it.

(Pro-tip: If you are in an unavoidable fight, never open with a kick like that, just asking to be brought down.)

Beleive me, it's not worth it. There are many times I am tempted to leave a brick in my car but these jerkoffs just ain't worth your energy. I travel Canada's busiest highway daily. I can't even begin to tell you all the times I nearly wrecked because some fuckface decided not to look while changing into my lane.

Something, something, free candy joke.

I'm feeling lazy today, fill in the blank however you see fit.

Perfect!
Sometimes less is more anyway.

so a few years ago i was just driving home minding my own business and pull up to a light, and to my left a dodge ram and to his left a semi. light turns green and I accelerate, then the dodge ram starts to go into my lane (not lane changing) and he's about to hit me. I honk until he gets back into his lane and he does. he then looks at me and starts yelling at me and throwing his arms in the air like wtf? so I'm like I said softly and not yell "fucking dumbass". I wouldnt have did that if he acknowledged his mistake l, but here in Alberta it's safe to stereotype that many truck drivers are assholes and think they own the road and I was pissed that he almost hit me and yelled at me. so at this point he was in another lane about to turn left, and then he turns back into his original lane and starts to follow me. at this point we are on a straight away (I don't have a gtr but my car is much lighter than his truck). I could either call the cops and tell them there's a crazy following me, drive to the police station, or just keep driving. I really didn't feel like making the situation any worse or get the police involved (I would also risk him starting a rampage if we were stopped at a light). there were no cars that were close up ahead and I started speeding hoping he would just give up, but instead he keeps up with my next to me. now I have played a lot of forza tag and decided to do what I do in the game and it worked. i braked hard and he tried to do the same next to me but he just flew by. I pulled a u-turn and took a different route.

Was in New Jersey, that explain all

i also had some guy reach through his window and attack me. but i'm too lazy to type out the story.

important notes:
- guys young daughter had to get involved to pull him away, essentually risking her life.
- i had self control not to kick his ass.
- cops involved after.
- i didn't press charges.
- his fault.

I once witnessed a car passing people on the left shoulder driving over debris and kicking up all kinds of shit that was hitting cars in the fast lane of the 6 lane highway.
I nearly pulled left to cut him off as he was approaching behind me on the left, but I decided not to.

Then it occurred to me that the #1 most probable cause for this behavior was that the driver had either stolen the car or robbed a bank.

NOW whenever I see someone driving like a complete jackass I think to myslef "If that person just stole that car, he: 1 - doesnt give a crap if he destroys it AND my car and 2 - He JUST MIGHT be armed and dangerous and wouldnt hesitate killing me just to get away".

Keep that in mind and it will make you think twice before confronting someone that is "driving like a jackass".

.

One of my worst road rage experiences was when I was 17.


I was pulling out of my neighborhood and proceeded to drive at the 30 mph speed limit. Next thing you know, a newer VW beetle is on my tail honking their horn and what not (I assumed it was probably a female driver). I was already having a bad day, so I flipped off the driver, but continued driving. The driver attempted to cut me off and block me from going anywhere. To my surprise, a male Hispanic about twice my size, fully tatted, with a wife beater storms out towards my driver side door, and is immediately aggressive (no words were exchanged at all). He attempted to open my door, but for some reason, I just so happened to lock my door before driving that day, and have my windows closed, except for my sunroof. He noticed my sunroof was open and proceeded to start swinging through my sunroof. Thankfully he was only able to graze the side of my head. He got off my car and tried to break my window. At that point I decided to take off (no license plate number taken unfortunately). Thankfully I didn't get into an accident when driving on the opposite side of the road and running a red light. More importantly, my car took no damage :party0030:


Moral of the story: You never know what can happen. He could have easily been armed and, without hesitation, leave me dead on the road. Too many people have no regard for others well being. It's just not worth it.

Sooo... let's use this story to study cause and effect:

You thought this - "I assumed it was probably a female driver"
So you did this - "I was already having a bad day, so I flipped off the driver"
And it resulted in this - "To my surprise, a male Hispanic about twice my size, fully tatted, with a wife beater storms out towards my driver side door"

If you had known it was a male driver would you have flipped them off?
If you had not had a "bad day" (I think everyday I had when 17 was "bad" at some point) would you have flipped them off?
If you had not flipped them off would the same scenario have played out?
Do you not think flipping somebody off is aggressive behaivour of it's own right (milder of course)?

Not slamming you here dude but this is a great example of the fact that road rage is almost always a two way street. Hear stories like this all the time and every one of them involved both drivers doing something to incite or escalate the situation but it is always "the other guy's" fault from the story teller's perspective.

Just going to leave this here.
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pmRw_CNCgU"]Open Season on the LA Freeway - YouTube[/ame]

The problem with engaging strangers on the street in this type of situation is that you just don't know who they are or what the fuck might be wrong with them. Hell, I've had lunatics try to run me off the road for no obvious reason other than that they're nuts and I'm there.

Giving somebody a piece of your mind won't change them, and it won't change the world. Might as well just let it go. Not worth ruining your day over some asshole you'll hopefully never see again.

One of my favorite scenes...


[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ibs6gyABz8"]Drive politely from Shoot'em up - YouTube[/ame]

1. At that time, if I had known it was a male driver to begin with, I still probably would have flipped him off. Had I known he was twice my size, well of course not
2. I wouldn't have. Any other day, I probably would have just pissed and moaned to myself.
3. Honestly who knows. I doubt he would have charged at me at the next red light just because I was going the speed limit, but again, who knows.
4. Absolutely.

I learned to contain myself since then. Being in SoCal, I encounter reckless/stupid drivers on a daily basis. I've grown to expect that type of driver every day, and as a result, I've become more of a defensive driver and try to keep calm at all times.

I met my first road rager recently!

I probably drifted into his lane, but his subsequent actions amused me greatly, as I had never encountered a road rager.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAn_5UcCvPA[/ame]

My cousin recently had a gun pointed at him for honking on some guy in a riced out civic that blew a stop sign


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Perfect! That was the very message I was headed for.

If I hadn't...
 

If I hadn't been on this post, some guy/girl would've been in a very bad shape right now. I was on my way to work this morning, an SUV tried to cut me off by taking the left shoulder going 80mph+. If I hadn't let off the gas/brake to let it pass, it would've either plow straight into the guardrails or swerve hard right into traffic, possibly hitting other cars and roll over.

I was thinking about just floor my V6 Accord (plenty of torque) and see how she/he will avoid the guardrails at 80mph+. Had a second thought about this thread and decided it's not worth killing somebody because of their stupidity.

I actually started carrying a baseball bat behind the seat of my old car because of a road rage incident..

Let me lay it out for you.

So I just got of work and I am heading home (I was like 19 working a shitty retail job) and the way home is basically a 2 lane highway like road that goes down a hill and its 45mph the whole way. Anyways I am just putting home doing the speed limit and my mother calls me so I answer.. (yes I know I should have let it go..) So I think at this point my speed might have dropped a little bit because out of nowhere this shitty red car starts going by me (passing in a none passing zone) and I am like oh ok I guess he didnt want to follow me. But instead of just passing and being on there merry way they both turn and flip me off at the same time and speed away.. Now I can take some shit. But when two bro dudes pull shit like that I was like aww hell naw.. (cussing under my breath) My mom was like what was that honey? lol So anyways my retaliation was to haul ass to catch up to them and proceed to ride there bumper (like literally 4 feet away) for the next few miles. Again I should not have done this.. Definitely should not have done this.. After a bit there is a stop light that you usually always stop at to turn at a T intersection. We both go into the turn lane and stop (and there is a very long line of cars behind us) when all of a sudden captain bro dude storms out of his car as teh light turns green and starts yelling at me with his arms flailing. He actually walks up and does the double hand slap on my hood which prompted me to lurch forward in a threatening manner. It took every fiber in my moral being not to ram him and speed off or better yet after the line of cars behind us continued to honk he finally was getting back in his car and I wanted to take of around his right side and clip his door folding it backwards into the front fender and speeding off.. but I refrained.. Other things to note, the car I was driving was a POS 96 camry that had already been wrecked twice and I had no reservations about running into things with it. Hell my dad and I had already put two noses on the car lol

Anyways..
Moral of the story isssss
1. Dont talk on your cellphone while driving and especially dont get upset when people get upset with you for doing it..
2. Do not instigate stupid situations by riding peoples asses.
3. It is an unwritten rule that you never touch another mans car.. And in my book striking my car is like striking a family member. You basically forfeit your right of human decency and are now subject to my wrath!
4. When you see bro dudes again later in life make sure you have friends to back you up in the car. :D
5. Dont stay on the phone with your mother during the entire event!

Man that was a wordy post.. Sorry bout that lol

Not sure what the laws in WA are, but some places will regard a baseball bat as a weapon unless you also have a mitt and/or baseballs/softballs in the car.

Besides, you never know when a pickup game of softball is going to break out. Gotta be prepared, right?

I have a bit of road rage that stems from wanting to show people how big of a **** they're being by being equally ****ish back to them. It's stupid and juvenile and I really go out of my way to try and stop acting that way by asking myself one simple question:

"Is it worth it?"

The answer is always, unequivocally, NO. It's never worth it.

I see road rage all the damn time, just last night, headed to Raleigh on I-40 in the right lane and a Civic slowly passes me on the left. In the next over left lane a BMW flies by the Civic, cuts the Civic off and then cuts me off. I was just like, "WTF" and then the Civic flies by the BMW, who was now acting like he was getting off on the next ramp. As the Civic approaches, the BMW swerves into the Civic's lane. The BMW then goes onto the ramp, and the Civic, from the center lane, flies onto the exit ramp and cuts the BMW off, slamming on his brakes. Stupid ass people.

I've done stupid shit myself - one time in my Lexus I was in the left lane and someone in a Maxima cut me off from the right lane on an empty road because he wanted to turn left. He could've slowed up and gone behind me to make his left (because empty road) but had to fly around me like a ****. With his family in the car. I stopped at the light, got out of my car and gave him the most epic stare for a good 10 seconds, then got back in my car. I hope his wife pissed her pants.

As long as other drivers don't behave like asshats, I'm generally pretty courteous. But damn, people make it difficult sometimes.

WHY do you think that Maglite used to make a 6 D-cell flashlight?

http://www.globalindustrial.com/p/to...f8xBoC-Nbw_wcB

It's just so that you can operate the light for 1 week straight without needing batteries - RIGHT! wink wink, nudge nudge....

I nearly have to resort to one of these.
http://contentinfo.autozone.com/znet.../1000/image/3/

no you wouldn't...
 

If you had a CCW, you would know when you can and can't pull it. Someone threatening you with no visible means to carry it out, is not justification to pull your gun.

Jaden

I used to let my emotions get the best of me in the road then I realized it wasn't worth.

Let these guys do the dangerous moves all they want on the road, eventually they'll get killed, get pulled over or ruin their own lives by killing someone else.

Its just natural selection.

Meanwhile, you, the level headed person, are still focusing on the road.

I give the head a shake when someone does something stupid and drive on

These stories make me even more glad I live where I do! Not that we don't have incidents but the gun pulling and life threats are not nearly as common. In 40 years of driving I have never once had anybody get out of a car and come at me (and as you can imagine I have a big mouth sometimes when something pisses me off)

http://images-cdn.9gag.com/photo/axZDxp2_700b.jpg

Yea that is kind of why I stopped carrying it in my other cars.. I just hated feeling defenseless. Sooner or later I plan to get a concealed carry permit thing and some sort of pistol but the problem is that I am so skinny that I cant really hide it on my body lol unless its a pp7 its gonna stick out like a sore thumb :(

VAG douches vs Honda douche