Aggressive Drivers.....

[SacredCow]

Last night, my significant other and I were headed home after going to visit a friend. We came upon someone in the right lane going pretty damn slow (probably 25 or 30 in a 50). Rather than go around him, or just slow down and deal with it (our turn was less than a block away- 100 feet or so), he gets RIGHT on the bumper of the slow car and starts blowing his horn.

Personally, I think that's asking for trouble this day and age- you never know when you're going to encounter some nutjob with anger issues and a .44 magnum. So I tell my s/o that I really wished he wouldn't do that, and he gives me some lip that maybe I should drive everywhere we go, if I have a problem with it. So I retort with something to the effect of, "Fine. Do what you want. But if you end up having to clean bits of my brain and skull from the inside of your car someday, you'll have nobody to blame but yourself."

Let's just say that it was a tense evening.... :eyes:

[MajorChode]

1. I wouldn't worry so much about someone pulling a gun

Even given the large number of wingnuts out there packing, the chances of getting killed by a firearm during a road rage incident are far less than getting hit by lightning (of course it's still not a good idea to carry an open umbrella in the middle of a lightning storm so you may have something there).

I'd be more concerned about the mentality that causes someone to do such a thing, but the average driving skills in the US are very poor so such is pretty common.

[SacredCow]

2. I dunno....

we had someone killed in a road rage incident less than a year ago, and not a mile from where we were at the time. In Louisiana, there are PLENTY of wingnuts- and Baton Rouge has seen a HUGE rise in gang-related crimes. I think it's more likely than the lightning thing, and why tempt fate?

[TZ]

3. I dunno we've had some bad incidents in the DC area...

What is more common though is to have both drivers end up outside of their cars somewhere and have a huge fistfight....

[SacredCow]

4. Oh, I totally forgot!!!!

Around Christmas, he did the same thing- someone was going too slow so he tailgated them and eventually got around them. They followed him to the store he was going to, and the dude got out of his car and was wanting to fight. (I wasn't present, so I got this story from my s/o). Supposedly, the dude's girlfriend/wife told him to get back in the car and they left.

[TZ]

5. yikes.

Yeah. This is not real good behavior. I was in the car with my younger sister when she started playing games with a tail gater..speeding up slowing down and then allowing him to pass and tailgate him. She ALMOST followed him off the highway (we were going to a play so was on limited time) onto a country road..god knows would have happened if she had done that..:scared:

[BeachBaby]

8. Stop calling me "sister".

But if you want to keep insisting that I'm younger than you, have at it.

[TZ]

11. lol

You do have something in common with her..once my Uncle was in the car with her driving and he asked her what time she expected us to land at the local airport...:rofl:

[SacredCow]

16. If it was just speeding, I wouldn't care...

Heck, when I happen upon a nice, straight stretch of road with nobody on it- I tend to hit the gas a little heavier, myself...

[SacredCow]

9. I grant that in all likelihood, the risk of getting shot is relatively small....

But why tempt fate? My MO behind the wheel is to stay the hell AWAY from bad drivers (too slow, too fast, drunk or otherwise impaired, yakking on a phone, etc....). I just don't see what good can come from baiting them- like they're all of a sudden going to have an epiphany- "Oh, crap!!!! I'm driving like a dumbass- I'd better stop!!!"

Anyhoo- he knows that I'm pissed about it, and he finally apologized but I'm doubting he'll change. Guess I'll be driving from now on.

[MajorChode]

6. There's so many better things to fight over

Women, money, beer come to mind.

[SacredCow]

10. I can't say as I've ever fought *over* a woman....

though at a bar one night, some friends and I witnessed some dude hitting his girlfriend in the parking lot. It did not turn out all that well for him (specifically his teeth). Of course, the girlfriend got mad at us for hurting her boyfriend. I guess we were lucky that the cops weren't called, or we'd have been in jail.

[snooper2]

7. Oh, that's no big deal

I would have got in front of that car and hit the brakes- hard :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Rabrrrrrr]

12. Does he have such out of control anger issues about other trivial shit?

If so, he sounds like pure danger; a ticking time bomb, waiting to go off at some point.

If he's so immature that he just pass a slow car or wait the extra few seconds, I wouldn't trust him with much else.

[SacredCow]

14. Actually, no...

He's VERY laid back in all other respects... One of the reasons that we get along so well 99% of the time is that we both pretty much tend to roll with the punches.

But get a slow driver in front of him... :scared:

[MajorChode]

17. What other bad driving habits does he display

Most aggressive drivers like that also exceed the speed limit, weave in and out of traffic, and do other things that aren't very smart. Rather than a bullet to his or your head the more likely scenario is to wind up as a smoking crater after a really bad accident. Drivers like that tend to think they are better drivers than everyone else, but the reality is they cause far more accidents.

[SacredCow]

19. He's not much of a speeder....

Nor does he really weave excessively, in my opinion (heck, I'd have been OK if he had snapped into the left lane and passed the slow car last night).

Really- it's just when he perceives someone is impeding his progress, and he feels he must demonstrate his ire to them by riding their bumper, horn-blowing, and (less often) an extended middle finger.

[MajorChode]

20. Take him to a NASCAR race every now and then so he can get it out of his system

[SacredCow]

21. I scored a pretty direct hit...

with the "cleaning up my brains and skull" comment. It was a low blow, and I am ashamed to have learned the skill of "laying on of guilt" from my mom, but....

:rofl:

[Jokerman]

13. Your S.O. needs to chill.

If for no other reason than his own health.

Speaking as someone who has had jobs that put me on the road for several hours a day, there are WAY too many inconsiderate jerks on the road to get worked up over. Getting angry at them will do nothing to change their behavior, it just increases your own stress level.

A few road rage incidents do end in violence, but years of anger over the stupid actions of others can be damaging in its own way.

[SacredCow]

15. I can't say that he festers in anger over it....

Had I not bitched at him, he'd have forgotten about the incident less than a minute later (though I know people who will let one bad driver ruin their entire day, or even a week!).

But the key phrase in your post: "Getting angry at them will do nothing to change their behavior..." BINGO!!! They're going to drive however they want- so just get around them and let it go!!!

[Lil Missy]

18. I just about got killed by some crazy fucker like that several years ago.

I recognized some road rage, and quickly changed lanes. I was near my home. And waited till the last minute to quickly pull over a couple lanes to take my exit.

That fucker backed up on the Interstate to get back to my exit, and speeded to follow me home. He flew up behind me, and I was not going to pull up in my own driveway. I stopped, (in front of my house, but he didn't know that.)

I saw him in my back mirror, he leaned under his seat and pulled something out to greet me. I don't know if it was a bat or a gun. I had a heavy foot on my gas peddle, and as he came towards me I asked "did I offend you somehow?" I was ready to beat the gas peddle!

He took one look at me, and said he thought I was some guy that woulld like to kill him. He apologized profusely, and said he'd had a very bad day. He hid that weapon behind his back, apologized again for having a bad day, and drove off.

I just about pissed myself!

Sure, everyone should own a gun, so you could make a stupid mistake like that and kill someone. Over stupid shit like a traffic snafu.

[SacredCow]

23. It's a crazy world, and getting crazier....

There is really no good that can come from engaging in jackassery on the roads...

scary story... :scared:

[Roon]

22. It's all because everyone is in a hurry...

Road rage, aggressive driving,random fights in the stores. It all boils down to because someone is in a hurry.

[SacredCow]

24. Likely so....

but life's to short to be fighting a clock all the time...

[Roon]

25. I agree

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