What would you do? Road Rage incident

[Guest nicemac]

There is a phsycological phenomenom when we are in our cars. We feel cocooned and protected. We do and say things with the false belief there are no consequences to them and that we are untouchable. People see our unfiltered projections and react accordingly. Notice people don't do that when they are walking down the street? Somone cuts you off walking into a store and you both say "excuse me." In a car, you both honk and flip each other off. Just the unfortunate way that people work.

Works just like the interwebz…

…It would have been a very tragic and stupid idea to engage this guy. [/Quote]

You engaged him immediately. Once when you hit the horn, and you engaged him again when you flipped him off.

[BrasilNuts]

As soon as he made the shooting gesture with his hand I would have been on the phone with the police.

There is a phsycological phenomenom when we are in our cars. We feel cocooned and protected. We do and say things with the false belief there are no consequences to them and that we are untouchable. People see our unfiltered projections and react accordingly. Notice people don't do that when they are walking down the street? Somone cuts you off walking into a store and you both say "excuse me." In a car, you both honk and flip each other off. Just the unfortunate way that people work.

Motorists cutting each other off VS pedestrians cutting each other off - The Oatmeal

[Guest boatme99]

I have to go with Mike. It's tough, but you've got to be the bigger man. My driving (and alot of other) habits changed drastically when I recieved my first permit.

[Guest clownsdd]

No offense to anyone but you know the old saying

"2 stupids don't make a smart"

[hornett22]

My favorite:

Play stupid games,win stupid prizes.

[Guest tngw1500se]

Even if they start the fight, I quickly back down. After all I know I have the ability to win

OH! And you never want to get ahead of them. That's the worst position to defend from. Always let them go and stay a safe distance behind. When you see them in the ditch in a few mile, honk and wave!

[ttocswob]

2 stupids don't make a smart.

Play stupid games,win stupid prizes.

And I just learned the "three stupid rule:"

"Do not go stupid places, with stupid people, and do stupid things."

Applies even while driving - just get away from 'em, if at all possible.

Edited October 4, 2011 by ttocswob
fixfont

[Guest dfsixstring]

I used to work close to the M'boro area and used to take i24 home. I remember one afternoon, in rush hour traffic, this guy in an older full sized van (like a construction van) did the same number in front of a lady in a vehicle right in front of me. I don't tail gate and was safe enough behind to begin with. This lady blew her horn and the guy totally locked up his brakes to a complete stop. She was white as a ghost as I went around them and on my way. The guy driving was laughing so hard I couldn't believe it. If I had had his tag number I'd have called it in. I was shocked that there wasn't a single accident from this idiot's stupid decision. I have to say that I agree with most of what has been replied to here - you just can't win with people like that.

People that live like they have nothing to lose - probably don't.

[zenman]

You don't have to believe in something for it to be real.

Principles of Driving Psychology

[Guest Eagle One]

In the late 80s we lived in the Orlando, Florida area. I do telephone work and at the time our son worked with me. On the way home one evening he was in the center lane rolling slowly to a stop for a red light. A guy came out of the service station on the right of my son and cut Rick off. Rick honked at the goofball and the idiot went crazy. He jumped out of his car, in rush hour traffic on highway 17-92 at a major intersection and came after Rick. At the time our son had real long hair and the guy grabbed him by his hair and was trying to pull him out of the window of his Volkswagen bug. Rick still had his seatbelt on and was trying to get the guy to stop. Rick was reaching around for his handtools trying to get a screwdriver or some tool to help when he found his Arrow

T-75 cable stapler. Rick put the stapler on the guys upper arm and stapled him, he screamed and kept pulling Ricks hair. Rick stapled his arm 2 more times and by this time the police were pulling up. Many witnesses had called. The attacker was hurting so bad by this time that he was sitting on the ground moaning. The staples had gone rather deeply into the guys bone of his upper arm. He was bleeding pretty bad and the cops had called an ambulance. The medics arrived and the guy didnot want to go to the hospital so they tried to get the staples out and couldn't, they asked Rick if they could borrow a pair of his pliers to pull the staples out and he did not let them. They finally talked the guy into going to the hospital as the staples were in the bone and they were worried about an infection. After the cops cleared everything up Rick went to the police station to see if he was in trouble, he found the cops laughing about the "mad stapler". He got a copy of the police report and called the guy who had to spend the night in the hospital. Rick wanted to find out if the guy was going to cause any problem. The guy actually apologized to Rick and said he had just been fired and got home to find out that his girlfriend had moved out, Rick just happend to be the next person the guy saw.

[badben]

I'm retired from driving rental cars to various locations from a major rental company. I had many close calls from idiots, and the best thing to do is to always keep an escape route open if you can. Slow down and change lanes and get away if at all possible, NEVER flip the other driver off---he may really have a gun. Carry a cell phone and call police and report a "road rage" incident. In Wa.state, this will get cops in a hurry and they take stuff like this VERY SERIOUS.

[Guest WyattEarp]

And I just learned the "three stupid rule:"

"Do not go stupid places, with stupid people, and do stupid things."

Applies even while driving - just get away from 'em, if at all possible.

yup. hanging out with questionable people, in places that are prone to trouble, will find you in a questionable situation you may not care to be in.

I used to run with a rough crowd when I was younger, they had questionable morals and values, hanging out in places where there was either trouble brewing or closeby, and it usually didn't end up too well.

the people you associate with on a consistent basis are the ones that will have the most influence in your life, in most cases it will have a large effect on who you are as a person, how you conduct yourself, and how you are portrayed by your peers.

Dad was right, "birds of a feather, always flock together". them dads, they sure know what the heck they're talking about, although you'd have never heard me say that when I was 18. Dad ended up throwing the entire encyclopedia set in the garage sale. Mom asked why. Dad said, our son knows it all, we don't need these anymore.

13 years later, a lot of experience, and a lot of wisdom learned that Pop wasn't full of it after all.

[QuietDan]

. . . Pop wasn't full of it after all.

Tell him face to face before you lose him . . . his reaction might be different than what you'd expect. Or not.

My son's just a couple of years older than you, and a Marine. He's a Jedi Knight, going to save the universe from the dark side. I try to tell him that every once in a while.

[tnhawk]

Last year after a similar incident on I-40, I used my finger to call THP and report the incident. Several miles later, I smiled and waved as he explained his behavior to the nice officers.

[kesava]

hmmmm. Interesting responses.

[aquaman67]

On my way to Murfreesboro, whilst on I24 with wife and kids in tow to buy her a car I had a very interesting encounter. Long story shot, I was cut off, either on purpose or accident.

1) Your family is in the car with you.

2) You escalated, by your own admission, what could have very well been just an accidental cut off.

You could have seriously injured yourself and your family.

IMO you need to really think about what's important and what's not.

Someone scuffing your Pumas is not worth spending your life in jail or having your kid in a wheelchair for life, now is it?

EDITED TO ADD.

Here's how this should have gone down.

Guy cuts you off.

You let off the gas for 5 seconds and resume your trip, unmolested.

Edited October 16, 2011 by aquaman67

[chances R]

I really appreciate the thought provoking posts. At times my fuse is short, but this underscores the need to maintain a cool head and let things that really don't matter just slide.

[kesava]

1) Your family is in the car with you.

2) You escalated, by your own admission, what could have very well been just an accidental cut off.

You could have seriously injured yourself and your family.

IMO you need to really think about what's important and what's not.

Someone scuffing your Pumas is not worth spending your life in jail or having your kid in a wheelchair for life, now is it?

The cut off may have been by accident, but no matter the situation. The guy attempted to cause a life threatening collision after a honk. That's slightly more than scuffing my puma's. In fact, that's an improper and condescending analogy. I will admit that I am sensitive to the subject because of proximity and could be over reacting.

I suppose everyone expresses their frustrations differently. Although after a traumatic event that endangered the lives and well beings of your family... It's easy to "should-a and could-a" and I am sure it's simple for a 3rd party to do the same.

People often don't know when of if they have cut someone off. If someone routinely neglects to check their blind spot, or turn signal before they enter a lane, I ultimately feel that a honk is in order. Perhaps it's the honk that will get them to remember to signal or check and possibly later save a life. We all should do our part, right?

If you choose to transform into a raging psycho path because someone has honked at you and try to kill them via vehicular homicide, you by all intents and purposes, deserve a nice pair of metal bracelets and a bunk buddy who is fond of nightly roman greco wrestling. And by gosh, if all I could muster to show my severe dissatisfaction for the situation at the time is a middle finger... then damn, I guess I had the rest 'a coming'.

Thanks for everyones input. I think that I got the point, however, as systematic as it is on a forum; Not one person has actually answered the question that I posed...

[Timestepper]

Thanks for everyones input. I think that I got the point, however, as systematic as it is on a forum; Not one person has actually answered the question that I posed...

As a truck driver with slightly more than 2 1/2 million miles behind me, I've read this entire thread with great interest. And I took special notice of a member's reference to a "company safety Nazi." I'm not offended by it, but I'm willing to bet that my company Safety Director would be.

In the course of driving for a living, I'm willing to bet that I encounter more "idiots" in the space of a week than the average motorist does in a year. And it never ceases to amaze me how little actual thought the vast majority of the motoring public puts into getting from one place to another. Especially since I feel a personal obligation to not only get home safely myself, but to constantly be prepared to safely deal with those who don't seem to give a rat's rear end about anyone's safety let alone their own. Simply put, if two cars get together, there will always be an exchange of paint. Sometimes there will be injuries, occasionally there will be death. On the other hand, if a 2,000 pound car gets together with an 80,000 pound commercial motor vehicle, paint is obliterated and there will nearly always be serious injuries and death is not uncommon. And I don't want that on my conscience. So I take extra pains to drive 10 X or 100 X or even a thousand times more responsibly than John Q. Public. Because I'm selfish. Because I don't want someone else's idiocy to cause me bad dreams because they weren't as concerned with getting home safely to their family as they should have been.

I wrote the previous paragraph to firmly establish my "credentials" as it were. Now I will answer the original "What would you do?" question: I'd do pretty much the same thing that the O.P. did with one slight modification: First, hit the brakes, lay on the horn and avoid the potential collision. Second, I'd use my middle finger, too. Difference is that I wouldn't roll the window down to do it. In fact I would deliberately keep it out of sight down on my lap. It's still there, I know it's still there. Hell, the emotions are still there. But the individual who just cut me off can't see it and it doesn't give him an excuse to further escalate his stupidity and obvious disregard for his fellow man.

So, kesava, your question has finally been answered. That's what I would do. I know it's what I would do because - as much as I would like to profess complete rational, angelic composure - it's what I do on a regular basis in the course of dealing with John Q. Motorist for 110,000 miles a year. Oh, and I also repeat what has become my own personal mantra: Illegitmas non-carborundum. (Don't let the b*stards wear you down!)

Luck to you!

...Timestepper...

[Timestepper]

Oh, and calling the cops is nice, but don't do it while you're driving unless you have a hands-free device or someone else in the car to use the phone for you. In fact, it's okay to notice the tag number, but please don't try to write it down while you're driving. I mean, I know everyone here is great driver and can multi-task and everything, but I get real tired of avoiding you while you're swerving around doing it.

Simple fact is that driving is like sex: Nearly everyone who has ever done it thinks they're really good at it, while the fact remains that most simply don't know what the hell they're doing.

[aquaman67]

The cut off may have been by accident, but no matter the situation. The guy attempted to cause a life threatening collision after a honk. That's slightly more than scuffing my puma's. In fact, that's an improper and condescending analogy.

Please allow me to clarify my scuffed pumas remark. I was referring to his initial lane change. Not his reaction to your escalation.

Now I wonder. Did you have to take evasive action when he first changed lanes? Did you have to hit your brakes or swerve to avoid a collision? Did you even have to let off the gas?

Or did he just squeeze in ahead of you and it pissed you off? Sure it may have been closer than you were comfortable with. But if you didn't have to take evasive action to avoid a collision (when he first changed lanes), did he really "cut you off'? IMO, no.

This whole thing went south, IMO when you decided to teach someone a driving lesson at highway speeds no less.

Maybe in his opinion he had plenty of room. Maybe he did signal but his bulb is burned out and he doesn't know it.

People often don't know when of if they have cut someone off. If someone routinely neglects to check their blind spot, or turn signal before they enter a lane, I ultimately feel that a honk is in order. Perhaps it's the honk that will get them to remember to signal or check and possibly later save a life. We all should do our part, right?

How about someone else who by his own admission routinely tries to teach other people how he wants them to drive? You're not seeing this as a problem?

[kesava]

rrr

Please allow me to clarify my scuffed pumas remark. I was referring to his initial lane change. Not his reaction to your escalation.

Now I wonder. Did you have to take evasive action when he first changed lanes? Did you have to hit your brakes or swerve to avoid a collision? Did you even have to let off the gas?

Or did he just squeeze in ahead of you and it pissed you off? Sure it may have been closer than you were comfortable with. But if you didn't have to take evasive action to avoid a collision (when he first changed lanes), did he really "cut you off'? IMO, no.

This whole thing went south, IMO when you decided to teach someone a driving lesson at highway speeds no less.

Maybe in his opinion he had plenty of room. Maybe he did signal but his bulb is burned out and he doesn't know it.

How about someone else who by his own admission routinely tries to teach other people how he wants them to drive? You're not seeing this as a problem?

You are right. I instigated the entire incident. I left the part out where I tried to rear end him. Your infinite knowledge and foresight on the past, present and future has shown me the way. Your fore drawn conclusions are impeccably accurate. Thank you. I can live my life now as a better person. You are truly a gift to us all.

Edited October 16, 2011 by kesava

[TMF]

[Guest Red5]

Thanks for everyones input. I think that I got the point, however, as systematic as it is on a forum; Not one person has actually answered the question that I posed...

???

The very first thing you typed was "What would you do?" I think most here have answered that question.

[MiddTennTaco]

As I was taught in Hawaii, making your fingers into a gun shape and pointing it at people in that fashion is terroristic threatening in the first degree which is a class C felony. Tennessee law may be different, but in Hawaii it's a serious offense.

Flipping the bird was your own bad decision. If you were young and single sure, go ahead and do whatever you want. But with your responsibility as a driver and parent you need to think it through better. Is it really worth it? Honking to "prevent" an accident is fine but using it to show portray your anger is pointless and as you have seen... dangerous...

Flipping the bird is just throwing fuel on the fire and paints you as an instigator. It also puts yourself, your family, and other drivers on the road at risk for no reason. What if the other driver was a ~complete~ lunatic? What if this dude just robbed a bank? You've already seen that he's driving with reckless disregard for everyone's safety. What makes you so sure he isn't also packing? Is mending your pride, ego, and hurt feelings worth getting rammed off the road or getting your family shot at by a psycho? Or do you just call 911 and let justice be served?

I would have shown the other driver that I was calling 911 and writing down his license plate/taking a picture. All the while smiling and laughing.