Have you ever actually *witnessed* an act of road rage?

[Stuxnet]

Originally posted by: thirtythree
When I was 14 or so, riding with my friend and my friend's father, he was cut off by an SUV. The passenger stuck his head out the window and started swearing at us (I assume--we couldn't hear, of course), and my friend's father raised his hand in apology. When we got to the intersection, the light was red, and two big guys got out of the SUV and started walking back towards us. My friend's father got out and was talking to them while they were yelling and threatening him. He went to the back of the car and got his FBI badge and (I think) handgun. He just held the badge up, and one of the big guys pulled the other guy back into the car. .......kdjldkj

EDIT: Oh, I think he wrote their license plate number down too, but I never heard anything more about it.

This is why it isn't always good to let yourself get pushed around. Regarding road rage, it really is a crapshoot. In the case of your friend's dad, he tried to avoid an incident by apologetically waving his hand. These guys took that as a sign of weakness and thought "good... a pushover... we can REALY fsck with this guy".

I'm not saying that the path of least resistance isn't the smartest move when it comes to road rage and the uknown, but it's not always a sure bet, sadly.

Props to your friend's father though... it would have been really easy to just play the FBI card right up front and tell those guys to get the fsck out of his face.

 

[dabuddha]

Originally posted by: alimoalem
wtf is wrong with all yall backing off? someone pisses you off, you make them know it. i was driving from berkeley to oakland with my boy a few months ago and this dumb*ss is leanin back in his cadillac thinking he's a pimp n while in the traffic. i'm to his right with the front of my car about equal to where his front and back doors divide. the b*tch swerves into my lane not looking so he doesn't have to brake for the car ahead and i'm forced to pump my brakes (don't have abs) and had to turn so i was all the way in the right side of my lane. i progress with a 10 second honk (along with cursing of course) and i pull up next to the guy. when i get parallel to him, i stick half my body out my window and extend my arm with a fully extended middle finger (almost close enough to touch his car) and had my right hand on the horn. that's what you do.

like a year ago i was in oakland and this fool was tail gating me in a jeep in the left most lane. we were going fast but i slowed down to like 80 in the 55 zone. he was right on me so i slowed down to 60. then i sped back up. he started tail gating again. this time i saw a cop in the 3rd lane so i figured i'll piss the jeep off and try getting him a ticket. i dropped to 50 real quickly so he'd be forced to slam on his brakes. i pulled to the 2nd lane when he was still going like 70 and he just went by me. right when he saw the cop he slammed his brakes so the bast*rd didn't get the ticket but he almost did.


anyway, you oguys gotta stop standing up for yourselves.

Wow you have to be one of the biggest idiots I've ever seen here.

 

[Accipiter22]

when I was a toddler, several times, from my father doing stuff to people when i was in the car

 

[DaShen]

I road my bike with a group this weekend. It was a country road with two way traffic. A lady in an SUV pulls up beside me and starts to scream curse words and then drives off. The lady behind her swerves into my lane and honks her horn.

I got pissed off and geared up and caught up with them at the next stop sign. They were stuck behind a few other cars. When I pulled up behind her, I gave her a look (her windows was slightly rolled down. So I said, "Do you have anything to say to my face." She rolls down her window a little and tries to nonchalantly say, "You need to be more careful out there." :roll:

- I was obeying all traffic rules.
- I was not in the middle of the lane but pulled to the side about 2-3 feet from the edge.
- I was going at a fairly good speed for a country road. (the speed limit on that road was 30 mph). The two in the SUVs were going upwards of 50.
- I was also with a group of riders, in which all agreed we had done nothing to instigate anything. Didn't run any stop signs or lights...

People like those people are such losers. They need their license revoked. It is sad that most of the time, they only do that crap because they think they can get away with it, and the few times I have caught up to them, they back down.

 

[Accipiter22]

Originally posted by: jbourne77

Originally posted by: AMDUALY
My girl "friend" was driving and was cut off by this lady with a bunch of kids in a van. She then cut her off back and they had a little game going back and forth. When they reached a red light, the lady got out of her car and walked up to my friends car who rolled down the window for her. The lady then slapped my friend in the face and yelled at her for endangering her kids and walked back to her car. My friend was speechless.

That's another thing... if you stick a limb through my window, you lose it. Grab hold of it and floor it. Take that bitch for a ride.

YUP! you forfeit the right to have life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness if you pull that garbage with me

 

[skace]

I've never witnessed any road rage. I suppose that makes me somewhat of an anti-roadrage aura.

 

[everman]

This was at a gas station. Someone got a little impatient with the person in front of them, who just finished putting in gas. They were too slow to drive off, so the car in back started honking, then they tried to PUSH the car in front of them out of the way with their own car. Some crazy older woman, the other car just drove off. No special gas prices or anything

 

[DaShen]

Originally posted by: everman
This was at a gas station. Someone got a little impatient with the person in front of them, who just finished putting in gas. They were too slow to drive off, so the car in back started honking, then they tried to PUSH the car in front of them out of the way with their own car. Some crazy older woman, the other car just drove off. No special gas prices or anything

I would get out with a cell phone to call 911, and then I would ask her for her insurance information.

 

[sunzt]

I tapped a guy cause he fell on my hood and took the emblem off of my car.

 

[Stuxnet]

Originally posted by: sunzt
I tapped a guy cause he fell on my hood and took the emblem off of my car.

You "tapped" a guy? Need more information. That could mean a lot of things, several of which bode well for neither of you...

 

[Accipiter22]

my contributions:


One time my dad was late coming home from work by like an hour. Turns out some lady cut him off while driving, so he said he 'taught her a lesson' by following her to her house, pulling in her driveway, and getting out and cursing her out and threatening her before driving off.


When I was young my dad would always try to get old people who cut him off to get out of their cars, he'd swear at them and their grandchildren.

 

[imported_Mike]

On the freeway, I watched this biker guy start swinging a chain up over his head. He then proceeded to beat on a white pickup truck beside him. I don't know what/who started it, or how it ended.

 

[state 08]

When I was 16, I had a close call being on the recieving end of an ass-kicking. I was going to the movies (I still remember the movie I WANTED to see - Minority Report) and I was taking a different route than usual, so I wasn't sure what exit I need to get off of. Well, needless to say, I was about to miss my exit when I came up on it, and I quickly got into the right lane, and in doing so, I cut off the wrong guy. I realized what I did, and I felt bad, but I didn't do it on purpose. So now, I don't know if it was my imagination, but this dude (6' 4", Bald, tattoo's, and some what built, and not mention his raggety ass ford truck just emits serial killer vibes) start flashing his highbeams. I ignored it. As I am pulling in to the theater, I tell my friend, "uhhh... dude, the guy I cut off is still behind me." and my friend responds, "Don't worry about it, he's probably going to go see a movie too."

So I test the waters, and circle the parking lot, and he's STILL following me. I passed some prime parking spots, and he didn't take them. So I said, "fvck that, we're gettin the hell outta here!" My friend thought I was over reacting. Then the guy decided to just leave. I still wanted to leave, but my friend kept tellin me I was overeacting, so I grow some balls and park. ONE second before we exited the car, I see the guy walking towards my car. At that point, I decided to BOUNCE the fvck outta there. I was doin' 70 in the parking lot, just so I don't give him a chance to follow me.

We ended up renting The Royal Tennenbaums, which imo, sucked.

 

[Number1]

Originally posted by: state 08
When I was 16, I had a close call being on the recieving end of an ass-kicking. I was going to the movies (I still remember the movie I WANTED to see - Minority Report) and I was taking a different route than usual, so I wasn't sure what exit I need to get off of. Well, needless to say, I was about to miss my exit when I came up on it, and I quickly got into the right lane, and in doing so, I cut off the wrong guy. I realized what I did, and I felt bad, but I didn't do it on purpose. So now, I don't know if it was my imagination, but this dude (6' 4", Bald, tattoo's, and some what built, and not mention his raggety ass ford truck just emits serial killer vibes) start flashing his highbeams. I ignored it. As I am pulling in to the theater, I tell my friend, "uhhh... dude, the guy I cut off is still behind me." and my friend responds, "Don't worry about it, he's probably going to go see a movie too."

So I test the waters, and circle the parking lot, and he's STILL following me. I passed some prime parking spots, and he didn't take them. So I said, "fvck that, we're gettin the hell outta here!" My friend thought I was over reacting. Then the guy decided to just leave. I still wanted to leave, but my friend kept tellin me I was overeacting, so I grow some balls and park. ONE second before we exited the car, I see the guy walking towards my car. At that point, I decided to BOUNCE the fvck outta there. I was doin' 70 in the parking lot, just so I don't give him a chance to follow me.

We ended up renting The Royal Tennenbaums, which imo, sucked.

Did the right thing man. Everybody got to go home unharmed.

 

[sunzt]

Moral of most these stories (and mine):

Cutting off someone, getting cut off, tailgating, or any trivial manner on the road means very little in the overall road of life. Getting enraged and trying to get revenge at one of these things not only is pointless, but almost always leads to worse emotions and situations.

Who cares if some guy cut you off or said some ****** while driving? What are you gonna do? Go out and follow the guy home and beat him up? Well, great you just committed assault and battery and the neighbors saw you beating up someone and driving away. You are now in jail, good job, but hey you showed that SOB never to ****** with you again didn't you?

You don't know why the guy in the other car did what he or she did. They may have been in a really big hurry to the hospital or they might have just been an ass. But why should it matter to you that they did that to you? Are your ego and pride so big and insecure that the fact that somebody, who may or may not be aware of it, pissed you off while driving that you took it as an insult to your manhood or pride?

There obviously are people that try to piss off somebody on the road for fun, but if that's how they get their kicks then it's just sad and I feel sorry for them that they have to do that to feel good about themselves.

 

[Stuxnet]

Originally posted by: sunzt
Moral of most these stories (and mine):

Cutting off someone, getting cut off, tailgating, or any trivial manner on the road means very little in the overall road of life. Getting enraged and trying to get revenge at one of these things not only is pointless, but almost always leads to worse emotions and situations.

Who cares if some guy cut you off or said some ****** while driving? What are you gonna do? Go out and follow the guy home and beat him up? Well, great you just committed assault and battery and the neighbors saw you beating up someone and driving away. You are now in jail, good job, but hey you showed that SOB never to ****** with you again didn't you?

You don't know why the guy in the other car did what he or she did. They may have been in a really big hurry to the hospital or they might have just been an ass. But why should it matter to you that they did that to you? Are your ego and pride so big and insecure that the fact that somebody, who may or may not be aware of it, pissed you off while driving that you took it as an insult to your manhood or pride?

There obviously are people that try to piss off somebody on the road for fun, but if that's how they get their kicks then it's just sad and I feel sorry for them that they have to do that to feel good about themselves.

Good post. I started realizing these things a number of years ago, and have since made a very conscious effort to control my road rage. I've lost control a few times since, but they've been few and far between, and I came to my senses much quicker.

One of the things that occured to me is that, no matter what, I am not going to walk away from a road rage confrontation feeling better about myself. I'm either going to get my ass kicked, or I'm going to kick someone else's ass. If I get my ass kicked, well, that sucks. I could get permanently injured or even killed. However, if I kick someone else's ass, I'm probably going to jail. I will then proceed to get my ass kicked while in the slammer, instead. On top of that, I'll feel bad about kicking someone else's ass.

That's a lose/lose situation.

I stand by my claim that if you come at me while I'm in my car, I will fsck you up (you'll probably get run over before getting stabbed by my aforementioned pen... but it's there in case you sneak up on me). But other than that, I will avoid a physical confrontation at all costs. What might appear to you as self-defense might be seen by a jury as assault or murder. On top of that, anyone can carry a lethal weapon, and you have NO IDEA what ANYONE else is capable of. This is why a physical response to someone should be an absolute LAST RESORT, and should only be used if there is no means of escape.

 

[Kev]

Originally posted by: Reggae4k
i got cut off on the brooklyn bridge one time so i pulled up next to the driver to give him a stare down. i noticed his windows were down and i was screaming "Hey assh0le", still no response.
so i proceeded to grab a fist full of pennies and threw it right at his face. at that moment he jerk his steering wheel and almost ran into the side of the bridge.

attempted murder FTW

 

[Stuxnet]

Originally posted by: Kev

Originally posted by: Reggae4k
i got cut off on the brooklyn bridge one time so i pulled up next to the driver to give him a stare down. i noticed his windows were down and i was screaming "Hey assh0le", still no response.
so i proceeded to grab a fist full of pennies and threw it right at his face. at that moment he jerk his steering wheel and almost ran into the side of the bridge.

attempted murder FTW

No kidding... because getting cut off is just the absolute WORST thing that can ever happen to you.

 

[arcenite]

Only thing I can think of is when I was making a right into my development one time... If there is someone behind me I try to pull all the way over to the right (while still moving at speed)before I make my turn... Apparently the guy behind me still didnt think this was enough and layed on his horn... I honked back of course and he gave me the finger... For what though? Some people are real douches...

 

[thescreensavers]

just now a car wanted to pass this car he swerved left and right almost hit a car to the right then he passes this cr and now is one car ahead and hen he swerves over 3 lanes to the left almost hitting a car and all this time holding down his horn.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

Originally posted by: DeathBUA

Originally posted by: NTB

Originally posted by: teddyv
A while back I was driving down a fairly congested 2-lane road and stopped at a light (yellow, turned red before I even got to the light) The guy behind me wasn't paying attention and did a panic stop ending up about a foot off my rear bumper. He was obviously pissed and blasted his horn while screaming all manners of things. I started laughing (it actually was kind of comical) and that apparently made him even more angry, he then slowly made the finger out/thumb up gun sign and got something out of his glove compartment. I called the cops and told them what was happening and they had a cruiser a block away. As the light changed and I pulled away the cop was right there and pulled him over, another showed up right at that moment, I pulled off just ahead of it in a gas station. Fortunately the guy behind gun-boy pulled off as well and we both watched as the Police did a full gun out felony stop. The guy the whole time was yelling he didn't do anything. I kind of felt sorry for him, he was obviously fairly well off and driving a nice car (new Volvo wagon.) We both gave our statements and the guy pled out with some kind of anger management. The prosecutor's office called me afterwards and told me if I see him in any other than incidental contact I should immediately call the cops.

holy crap :Q

Nate

I remember watching a full gun out police stop a few weeks back....i was caught in construction traffic and the state police had pulled this joker in a ricer over. This young guy's ricer had those frosted/glazed over windows all over, basically it looked like mirrors instead of windows. I couldnt hear the words but I saw that state trooper pull out his gun and probably told the guy to get out of his car which the guy did, then the guy opened all his doors on his car...THEN the officer approached his car.....i was thinking to myself that guy is so PWNED!

My road rage was yesterday having some idiot tailgating me, i did the classic brief slam of brakes to make my car buck like i was stopping hard, the guy freaked out so much he swerved onto the shoulder :laugh:

while its fun to the put the shits up them, isnt it simply more sensible to jus move out the lane?

if your in the fast lane, with some dude riding your bumper jus get out the way, its no big deal

 

[Stuxnet]

Originally posted by: otispunkmeyer
if your in the fast lane, with some dude riding your bumper jus get out the way, its no big deal

Not only is it not a big deal, but it's what you're supposed to do. Too many people think they're undercover mercs for the police. "I MUST MAKE SURE NO ONE GOES FASTER THAN 67MPH, BECAUSE THAT'S HOW FAST I THINK IS 'OK' IN A 65MPH ZONE!"

People... you are NOT cops (cops excluded)! It's not your job to police the roads. If you think you're already pushing the limits of physics at 75MPH in a 65MPH zone, and some meatball comes up behind you at Mach 4, just GTF out of his way. You're not doing anyone any favors by forcing him to hit his breaks or start lane-swerving around you.

 

[xSkyDrAx]

Black Friday 2005 : Fry's

Whole bunch of people tried to cut me off, I decided to put an end to that and cut off some other guy. He honked, I flipped him off.

Drives up along side me, gets out of the car. Some middle aged viet guy in a wife beater with his wife in the car yelling obscenities in broken english.

I yelled back for a few seconds and he drove off. Haha that fvcktard.

 

[Stuxnet]

Originally posted by: xSkyDrAx
Black Friday 2005 : Fry's

Whole bunch of people tried to cut me off, I decided to put an end to that and cut off some other guy. He honked, I flipped him off.

Drives up along side me, gets out of the car. Some middle aged viet guy in a wife beater with his wife in the car yelling obscenities in broken english.

I yelled back for a few seconds and he drove off. Haha that fvcktard.

People don't understand the consequences of "getting out of the car". When a judge starts breaking down a violent incident that was the result of a road rage confrontation, he'll try to determine what the ultimate escalating factor was, and generally hold that person accountable for whatever followed. Oftentimes (with some exceptions), that factor is the person who was first to step out of their vehicle. When two people are having an argument over something that happened on the road, getting out of your car is a BIG STEP and severely crosses the line.

 

[Bryophyte]

Originally posted by: Triumph
May I make a suggestion? Instead of using the played out and overused middle finger, try giving people a thumbs up. Like, "Great job with your driving, your ability definitely deserves a thumbs up from me!"

The other, even better thing to do, is to blow them a kiss. This sends people into a rage. I love it.

I've found that running my tongue over my upper lip to be pretty effective.