Road rage; a close call

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Mike Rotch

Mike Rotch

Aluminium Overcast
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Australia
Down under
Well, it is amazing how things can escalate so rapidly.

I was running errands and doing a spot of shopping on Saturday morning. On my way home I was travelling along a 4 lane main road, and needed to turn into an adjacent 2 lane road to continue my trip in the right direction. Because the two roads carry a lot of traffic, the turning lanes usually have numerous cars waiting to turn, and the convention is that when the robot turns orange for the on-coming traffic (in this instance, the 4 laner), cars continue turning (into the 2 laner). As I approached the intersection (in the turning lane) the lights turned red. So I stopped, a) not wanting to chance getting photographed by the cops - there may have been a mounted camera in the intersection - and b) the robot was red.

So I looked in the rear view mirror out of habit and this guy in a blue Polo is going nuts at me for not turning through the red light.

at this point an Angel and a Devil appeared on each shoulder The Devil implored me to give him the bird, tell him to 🤬 -off and generally give him a piece of my mind. The Angel simply told me to keep my cool. So I ended up turning in my seat, comically imitating his extravagant waving arm gestures. I them turned back to face forwards.

Unhappily when I checked my mirrors I saw him getting out of his car. "Oh boy!" I thought. Now what. Again, the Devil and Angel. The red fella implied I should get out my car and bluff him back to his. I mean, I am 6'6" and 205Lbs, so I am not a physucal ninny. The Angel said play it cool and dont do anything stupid.

So I chose to sit in my car. When he approached the window I wound it down half way and proceeded to hear his annoyance at my "not going". The convesation went something like this:

Idiot: "Why didnt you go , cousin!" ( cousin is used in the same vein as 'buddy' for my American friends)

Me: "Cos the robot was red."

Idiot: 'But there is a green turning arrow!" (there isnt, I know for a fact there isnt, but anyway...)

Me: "Well then I didnt see it".

Idiot: "Fine".

He then got back in his car and that was that. It only occured to me later on that I was damn lucky. What is he had keyed my car? Broken a side window? Have a gun?

Why people have to be such idiots on the road I dont know. I mean, I flash my lights or hoot when someone is straddling lanes or going 40kph in the fast lane, but I never get that worked up.

*shakes head*
 
Lucky indeed, here is my story from a week or so ago:

Drove up to an intersection, was about to go through, thought better of it, as there where numerous parked cars blocking my view, just as well I did as an old style Monaro went past, skinhead driver giving me a filthy look as he go's by

I end up following him down the street at around 70 kays or so up to a roundabout

We both go through, he nails it, gets a chirp from th eback wheels as he changes gear (I try to go with him but since I have an Auto 6cyl. I aint gonna catch him :D) he then proceeds to flip my the bird, much to my amusement

I give him a clap :D

He then pulls over and I go past, you can guess what happens next

As I was on my way to work, i'm not about to lead him there, so we proceed up the road at around 90-100, not my choice but hey, I couldnt do much about it. This guy is so close I cant see his rego. plate

We do this for about 5 minutes with speeds increasing now to about 140km/h, eventually getting to another roundabout

I scoot through as I see another car about to enter the intersection, this guy has to give way

I then see him in the mirror trying to overtake this car but cant as there is another car coming the other way

I sieze my oppourtunity, I make a hard right, whilst under heavy braking (new rear pads) the rear steps out but is easily caught, I make a few radical turns and end a long way up the road

Where is this fella you ask? I look in the mirror and see him fly through the last roundabout we were at going straight through the intersection while I get away

One lesson from this is, if you have a choice dont corner yourself at a set of traffic lights where you are vunerable and can easily be caught
 
I don't handle road rage very well. It's one of the very few things that gets me worked up way too easily.

The worst case was sometime back in May/April of last year. I was trying to make a right into a gas station, and a guy in a red Dakota or something is trying to pull out, but he's all on my side blocking me. After like 3 minutes waiting for the guy to pull out I started honking like a madman. Dude gets out trying to impress his girlfriend/wife, whatever, and approaches my window. The smell of alcohol on his breath was overwhelming. I started laughing because I could tell how wasted he was. We exchanged a few choice words, then out of nowhere he hit me in the left side of my face(had a black eye for a week and a half) before trying to walk back to his truck. I had never been so angry before. Without even thinking I jumped my car foward, and hit the guy's right leg with my front bumper. Next thing I knew the guy was on the ground screaming and crying like a *****, and the lady in his truck was screaming hysterically as well. A friend with me at the time told me to leave, so needless to say I was gone.

Definitely one of the most stupid things I have ever done. Regret it every day knowing I could've gone to jail for a number of things that night.

I'm able to control my road rage much better now, but I still get a little stupid occasionally.
 
A scary situation Mike. Glad that you are safe, and I'm also glad that you kept your :cool:

I'm as cool as Fonzie behind the wheel. Rarely, if ever, do I get all huffy on the road as it's a waste of my time, plus I can't do much to change the other persons behavior.
But for the instances where I might run into either Josh or the guy that came up to your window Mike, I have Mr. 9mm in the glove box to fend them off.
 
Originally posted by Josh
IDefinitely one of the most stupid things I have ever done. Regret it every day knowing I could've gone to jail for a number of things that night.
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hey, the guy hit you what did he expect.
its one thing exchanging words but when they get physical thats a different story
 
Originally posted by boombexus

But for the instances where I might run into either Josh or the guy that came up to your window Mike, I have Mr. 9mm in the glove box to fend them off.
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On the way home, I was thinking that it would have been sweet if he had arrived at my window, to find me nursing a Glock on my lap. But then again, if he had been nursing a Glock in his pocket it would have been even less ideal.

Stupid lousy jerk driver :grumpy:

I think it's lucky for him that you weren't a kid with a bad attitude in a stolen car and packing a Glock.
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Yea, if I were a punk would wasnt scared of repercussions, if could have turned out nasty for both sides.
 
There was one time when somebody came up to my window. I didn't wind it down, I took out my phone and pressed 999 and mouthed 'I'm calling the police' then proceded to put the phone to my ear. He legged it back into his car sharpish.

Crap like that only seems to happen when i'm driving fairly nice cars, that happened when I was driving my Parents IS200 a while a go. Every time I drive their C200 K, nobody want's to let you in and people generally act like arseholes. If I drive a battered old Escort nobody seems to care what I do.
 
I am 6'6" and 205Lbs
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I would have knocked his ass out.

Reminds me of a story of my friends dad who is about 6' but was a body builder and is huge as hell. He had an insident where something simular to this happend and when he got out of his car to talk to the idiot with road rage who was screaming that he was gunna beat his ass the idiot saw the size of him and just calmly walked back to his car and drove off.:lol:
 
I have an aunt who has bad road rage or does something stupid. she's like 50 years old or sumthin. and she always flips some one off if they cut her off or does something she doesnt like on the road. gosh she such an idiot! and she's 50. i thought they would be more mature ...
 
I cause a lot of road rage. I have very, very long, thick hair that flows wildly when I drive my hot rod on the freeway. Guys always speed up to catch up to me to get a glimpse of what I look like. They often get disappointed when they see the end results. I have a very long beard that also flows wildly. Sometimes I'll blow them a kiss when they catch up, and if the car is filled with mexican gang-banger types, they tend to get a little pissy.
 
Originally posted by Josh
I don't handle road rage very well. It's one of the very few things that gets me worked up way too easily.
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Me too. I drive way too aggressively anyway, and it's compounded when stupid people do stupid things. There's nothing I hate more than the way I get when I'm driving, and I often arrive at a destination angry. It's dangerous.
 
I don't drive agressive but I do try to drive smart. I don't feel like sticking around behide people or situation where a potental accident can happen. I try to have a plan of action or strategy when I drive. It's kind of like a computer going over the best potential moves in a chess game. One of my fears is one day someone will think I pissed them off some how, we'll come to a red light, I'll look over and he proceeds to blow my head off. :scared:
 
getting followed is pretty scary....
There was this one time...i was driving along a 2 lane road at around 11 with my buddy in the pass seat...we were heading to a mcdicks for a late night bite...and there was this guy in front of us driving an older integra...
anyways, i could see 2 dudes in the car, and they had an N on the back (novice drivers display 16-19yrs) so i guess they see me behind them and they decide to slow down just as we reach a bridge...i guess just to bug me. so were going like 40kmh over this sinlge lane bridge and im getting pretty antsy with these dudes...so as soon as the bridge ends i check the other lane, shift her down and kick her past the teggy. i go back into my lane and resume cruising speed as i see this dude is right on my ass. so i figure he wants to race....i give it a lil bit try to get away but he keeps up with me...so i try to pull over but he pulls with me. so i decide to **** that noise and i gun it away from the dude. my car easily widens the gap as the teg falls back but im on a huge long farm road with nothing but fields to the left and right...and this guy obviously is trying to piss me off. anyways we end up coming back into town where i simply pull into a 7-11 parking lot and the guy just keeps driving.
its just scary when people follow you and you dont know wether theyre playing around or wether theyre deranged freaks that wanna give you some beats...and i didnt wanna pull over and get into a brawl in the middle of nowhere
 
Originally posted by F.Zamataki
getting followed is pretty scary....
There was this one time...i was driving along a 2 lane road at around 11 with my buddy in the pass seat...we were heading to a mcdicks for a late night bite...and there was this guy in front of us driving an older integra...
anyways, i could see 2 dudes in the car, and they had an N on the back (novice drivers display 16-19yrs) so i guess they see me behind them and they decide to slow down just as we reach a bridge...i guess just to bug me. so were going like 40kmh over this sinlge lane bridge and im getting pretty antsy with these dudes...so as soon as the bridge ends i check the other lane, shift her down and kick her past the teggy. i go back into my lane and resume cruising speed as i see this dude is right on my ass. so i figure he wants to race....i give it a lil bit try to get away but he keeps up with me...so i try to pull over but he pulls with me. so i decide to **** that noise and i gun it away from the dude. my car easily widens the gap as the teg falls back but im on a huge long farm road with nothing but fields to the left and right...and this guy obviously is trying to piss me off. anyways we end up coming back into town where i simply pull into a 7-11 parking lot and the guy just keeps driving.
its just scary when people follow you and you dont know wether theyre playing around or wether theyre deranged freaks that wanna give you some beats...and i didnt wanna pull over and get into a brawl in the middle of nowhere
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Come to think of it I did have a similar experience but I thought I provoked or pissed the guy off. I did a stupid thing but "fabricating" my own stickers that I placed in my window on the side. They read Hondas suck.com and getsomefrigginvariety.com, to make a long story short it was a ford ranger so I couldn't figure out how I would be pissing him off but he followed me home and on the last turn finally turned off away from me. I got a little worried because I didn't want to be driving and talk on the cell phone trying to get help. That was the first and last time I put those stickers up. I don't miss my "ricer" days (best way to describe that time).
 
I'm a pretty cautious driver and 90% of the time I do not get angry while driving. My cautiousness angers other, less cautious, drivers, though. Occasionally, however, someone will do something so amazingly stupid, ignorant, and dangerous that I get really pissed. I've had a handfull of confrontations in my 17 years of driving. No fights, though.
 
I've had a few run ins with road rage as well. I end up just ****ing with them and pissing them off more. Definitely not the best idea.

A friend of mine was at an interesection across from "as bad as it gets". One man was rather upset with the man in front of him, walked up and punched him through a rolled down window. Then went back to his car and got a gun, came back to the front car and shot the other driver and killed him. That happened in a small town about 10 years ago. Every time I drive through the intersection I think about it and how crazy some people can be.


Guys, don't lose your cool. And don't intentionally make the situation worse. Josh, in your story I would have gotten all the information from his vehicle I could. License plate, make / model / year, and the location he was and direction he was heading and called the cops. Then I would have sued the **** out of him. Instead, all you got was a black eye and a funny story. But it would have been all I could do to not smash him between the two vehicles. (:
 
Some guy in a Corolla decided to speed up, cut me off, and then stop so he could get ahead of me at the stoplight. Then he took off. It pissed me off and I couldn't contain myself, I followed him for a while. Keeping somewhat close to the speed limit. He was blazing down at least 20mph over the limit, and it was a busy street. Merging, not signaling, just wreckless driving. He turned off and I decided to tell him to slow down. He gets out of his car and ask him if he was in the Corolla, he was. I told him to slow down. He stammered out, "Don't, don't worry about me. Ev.. everyone else is going too slow." I just laugh and say, "Okay, whatever man." It's ashame that he'll have to slam into another car before he realizes he's a dip****. My god, I just wanted to say, "If I was going fast, I would of launched my car into your rear bumper at the stoplight and pushed you down Colorado." and, "I'm 18! I'm the one that's supposed to immature about this. Your 30 and 40, you should know better!"

Then a 350Z squeeled its tires at me at the next light. I just looked over at him, hopefully he knew I was thinking, "Dumbass" and turned back to the road.

God I hate people.
 
Originally posted by Goomba
Then a 350Z squeeled its tires at me at the next light. I just looked over at him, hopefully he knew I was thinking, "Dumbass" and turned back to the road.
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He probably just wanted to race. ;)


M
 
I used to get a lot more worked up than I do. I used to think that people driving slowly were idiots, but when I was banned, and the wife drove everywhere at 40mph (where I would be doing double that), I saw the fear she felt. I knew the corner was a quick-lift-on-turn-in-then-flat, but to her it was a living hell.

Now I just pass them as quickly (and safely) as possible.

Not so long ago, I was going down a standard country road, following a foreign-registered 42-tonner. I know the road well, so was patient for the passing places that I knew were coming. The problem was, each time there was a passing place, I would pull out to pass, and he'd simply move his rig into the middle of the road! I mean, is the ****er trying to kill me? And if so, why?

At the end of this road (some 20 miles after the first of three incidents), there is a motorway. We both got onto the motorway, and I followed him neatly down the on-ramp, holdiing the car in a lower gear. As we got onto the motorway, he took lane 1, and I immediately took lane 2. There was a faster car coming through lane 3. Dick-head truck-boy pulls straight into lane 2 as I'm passing him! Except now I'm nowhere to go except lane 3. Fortunately, the driver already in lane 3 saw the whole thing happen and skilfully avoided rear-ending me.

I felt honour-bound to flip-off the trucker. Hopefully the gesture was sufficiently international.
 
There are wankers like that everywhere it seems, I thought it was just limited to my home town

Good to see that the driver in the 3rd lane there Giles was switched on enough and observant to actually get out of the way, wouldnt happen here, you would just be rear-ended
 

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