Road Rage attack/incident

and sometimes you stand trial before a municipal court judge who is a appalled that someone would yell an obscenity in public.

There was a witness so its not a simple he said/ she said case

There was also someone in the car with the driver, no?

ros said:
There was a witness so its not a simple he said/ she said case

Unless there is audio and/or video footage it still is a he said/she said case. Witnesses lie. Witnesses can also be confused and inadvertently misremember events.

At risk of thread drift, I was thinking about the concept of a raised intersection. Wouldn't it be better to slow the cars down before they get to the intersection/pedestrian walks with strategically placed speed bumps prior to the intersection? Or is a raised intersection the only option for emergency vehicles?

ros said:
There was a witness so its not a simple he said/ she said case

if it's competing accusations, as far as law enforcement is concerned it's still he said/she said. The witness or witnesses' testimony is relevant to the prosecution.

ml1 said:
and sometimes you stand trial before a municipal court judge who is a appalled that someone would yell an obscenity in public.

That will become less common as federal judges are overturning such decisions based on the 1st. Amendment.

I'm involved in a ongoing case similar to this right now. This person assaulted me after a car accident, breaking my nose and was spat on by his passenger. When the police arrived, they couldn't arrest/fine them as he claimed they didn't see it happen and of course the other party lied. I've filed a complaint against them as suggested by the police but it's all moving slow because it's all really my word against theirs, no witnesses. This is all from road rage. I really hope these women get justice.

What's the matter with people today? I'm for the most part a courteous driver (taking turns, letting people in, not grid locking), but yesterday some driver flipped me the bird for not letting her turn (I had the right of way)before I went; and then later in the day I watched the tailgater behind me gesticulate wildly for me to move up while I was waiting to make a left hand turn so she could pass me. I was going to do that anyway, but was so annoyed I just stopped so she couldn't. Guess I was lucky she didn't try to shoot me

One time I inadvertently cut off someone and he started following me around Maplewood. I finally shook him off by driving to the police station.

'Road rage' is so common these days, even between pedestrians walking in crowded streets. I'm always surprised by how people get transformed when they feel nobody knows them, would we treat the same way people that we know? This situation is embarrassing and completely immature. I'm sure none of us is free of guilt of situations like this (not in the same degree!), so hopefully we all take this extreme case and keep our heads cool in our day to day interactions.

I think the dashcam can help a lot of people. I got one after a bad incident last summer. Now at least whatever is happening in front of my car is being filmed - all the time! This eliminates the he said/she said. As well, I can turn it to film anything else noteworthy I see on the road or sidewalk.

Okokokok said:
What's the matter with people today? I'm for the most part a courteous driver (taking turns, letting people in, not grid locking), but yesterday some driver flipped me the bird for not letting her turn (I had the right of way)before I went; and then later in the day I watched the tailgater behind me gesticulate wildly for me to move up while I was waiting to make a left hand turn so she could pass me. I was going to do that anyway, but was so annoyed I just stopped so she couldn't. Guess I was lucky she didn't try to shoot me

Isn't it also road rage when you get mad at someone motioning you to move up so you decide to block their path?

Well I wouldn't call it rage exactly. I was under no obligation to move into the middle of an intersection. If someone wanted you to "beat" an amber light so they also could turn would you accommodate them? I've had that happen a number of times where the driver behind me just circled around me after I came to a full stop, just so they could beat the light. The funny thing is that they most often happen in the morning when they are presumably trying to get to a job that they probably hate.

I enraged someone last week. This was on 95 in CT where most people are one stray bird poop away from homicide and the dude was from Florida - which is never good.

I was in the left lane, passing a line of cars in the middle lane. There was a small break in middle lane traffic so this guy decided to pass me. He jerked the wheel into the middle lane and floored it but couldn't quite make it over before he was right on top of the second to last car I'd moved over to pass. So he had to get back behind me. As I passed the last car I snapped on my blinker and got ready to move over. The instant my back bumper was even with the front bumper of the other car, Florida was on his horn and giving me rapid fire high beams. Whatever. So I move into the middle lane and he goes roaring around, then cuts me off twice, then back into the left lane and floors it.

Within 5 minutes we were in a traffic jam and I happened to have picked the correct lane. I passed Florida. I was hoping he hadn't noticed. Then he came roaring into my lane. Then the right. Middle. Back to left. Right. Left. Middle. Left. Middle - and in front of me. Success!

When someone is driving aggressively, I try to stay out of the way. I understand the urge to teachthem a lesson, but it isn't worth an accident or worse.

I do get a bit of satisfaction when someone who has been driving like a jerk ends up stuck In the slow lane at the next light. It's got to be infuriating.

I agree--when I see people driving recklessly or super aggressively, swerving through lanes to cut in front of everyone, I stay back.

Yep. Insane driving is a sign to me to get as far away as possible.

When I am tailgated, on goes windshield washer.

I will have to remember this. Sometimes tapping on the brakes helps, but not always.

Formerlyjerseyjack said:
When I am tailgated, on goes windshield washer.

shh said:
I agree--when I see people driving recklessly or super aggressively, swerving through lanes to cut in front of everyone, I stay back.

I remember years ago, about a year or so after I graduated from high school, driving on South Orange Ave to the mall. We (me and a few other cars) were at the light on top of the hill right before you enter the S-turns. When the light turned green a crazy driver made a jack rabbit start and swerved around all the other cars. The car zoomed around the first turn and was then gone from sight. About halfway through I see the same car up in the trees. Probably a fishtail since the rear end of the car was in the trees with the front end facing the roadway. I will admit to a bit of schadenfreude, but I also stopped to see if the driver was okay, and it turned out it was a girl I had gone to high school with. We weren't friends or anything, but we knew each other. Like me she had been heading to the mall to meet up with friends. She was lucky in that she was uninjured and the car, other than being off the curb and in the trees, wasn't damaged. All the other cars that she had passed at the top of the hill just kept going, I was the only one that stopped. She was fine, but she was up in the trees right after a curve so she couldn't see oncoming traffic to see if it was safe to pull out or not. I went out into the road where I could still see her but also see the road, and let her know when it was clear to pull out.

So while it is true that the crazy driver you may see might be on their way to a hospital because they got a call that a loved one has taken a turn for the worse, it is also true that they may just be an inexperienced driver who overestimate their skills and thinks they're invincible. Either way, I agree that just staying out of their way is the best bet. It doesn't matter how legitimate their emergency is or isn't, if they get into an accident and you are right next to them, you may be taken out also.

No, I don't think it's road rage when you don't risk your own safety to move when you are not required to.

grahamb said:

Okokokok said:
What's the matter with people today? I'm for the most part a courteous driver (taking turns, letting people in, not grid locking), but yesterday some driver flipped me the bird for not letting her turn (I had the right of way)before I went; and then later in the day I watched the tailgater behind me gesticulate wildly for me to move up while I was waiting to make a left hand turn so she could pass me. I was going to do that anyway, but was so annoyed I just stopped so she couldn't. Guess I was lucky she didn't try to shoot me

Isn't it also road rage when you get mad at someone motioning you to move up so you decide to block their path?

I hit the hazard lights for one blink or two. The driver behind will think you are hitting the brakes (or at least that's the thought).

krnl said:
I will have to remember this. Sometimes tapping on the brakes helps, but not always.

Formerlyjerseyjack said:
When I am tailgated, on goes windshield washer.

Formerlyjerseyjack said:
When I am tailgated, on goes windshield washer.

All that tells someone is that you're aware they're there and don't give a crap. Which will likely only infuriate them more. Once I had antifreeze in my WW reservoir (don't ask)... it's not often I'm being ridden up on in the left lane, but the few times I was (with nowhere to go) THAT worked wonders for a bit.

yahooyahoo said:
No, I don't think it's road rage when you don't risk your own safety to move when you are not required to.

grahamb said:

Okokokok said:
What's the matter with people today? I'm for the most part a courteous driver (taking turns, letting people in, not grid locking), but yesterday some driver flipped me the bird for not letting her turn (I had the right of way)before I went; and then later in the day I watched the tailgater behind me gesticulate wildly for me to move up while I was waiting to make a left hand turn so she could pass me. I was going to do that anyway, but was so annoyed I just stopped so she couldn't. Guess I was lucky she didn't try to shoot me

Isn't it also road rage when you get mad at someone motioning you to move up so you decide to block their path?

It's not road rage. Impolite, sure. But road rage? No.

For some perspective: my Italian in-laws are in awe of how polite and cooperative US drivers are. Letting someone merge? Yielding for other drivers? Using turn signals? No honking? Stopping for pedestrians?

All are virtually unheard of in Italy.

And, flipping the bird and screaming obscenities out of the window is a common reaction to the slightest vehicular infraction.

On the other hand, I was in Hawaii on the island of Kauai a couple of years ago behind a driver stopped at a red light. After about 30 seconds, I honked the horn. The (local) person in the car with me said, "Oh, do you know him?" Turns out the only reason they honk horns in Kauai is to say hello.

I was in Denver visiting a friend and we were stopped at a red light. The light turned green and the driver in front of us didn't move so after a few seconds I honked. He said, "people don't do that here."

deborahg said:
On the other hand, I was in Hawaii on the island of Kauai a couple of years ago behind a driver stopped at a red light. After about 30 seconds, I honked the horn. The (local) person in the car with me said, "Oh, do you know him?" Turns out the only reason they honk horns in Kauai is to say hello.

yahooyahoo said:
I was in Denver visiting a friend and we were stopped at a red light. The light turned green and the driver in front of us didn't move so after a few seconds I honked. He said, "people don't do that here."

After a few legal tokes, who really cares?