Road Rage: How do you deal with it?

[Minxy]

Originally posted by Im Back
very nice and do what lol? nothing. Prove it

They still keep a log and if your name/plate crops up again then it probably wouldn't help you any if you ever got pulled.

I dont like intimidating drivers, end of story really.

 

[Scuzi]

I try my best not to get worked up. I don't see the point in waving fists, driving dangerously to 'teach them a lesson', shouting abuse etc. I just let the numpty drivers past and let them get on with it. As long as they don't hit me or endanger me too much I'm not worried. I sound my horn to alert others of my position, not to tell others to '**** off'.

I don't see the point in road rage, if anything it endangers you more, adds more time to your journey and makes you as bad as the numpty who cut you up or did whatever to enrage you in the first place. It's easier said than done but if someone annoys you, take a few deep breaths and calm yourself down. They're not worh it.

The only rage I have ever vented is when a silly drunk woman drove out in front of me on my motorbike. I hit the car at about 40-50 mph and went flying over it. After I landed I got up and started kicking her car and punching her windows in but that was justified. I was in shock, disillusioned and didn't know what I was doing. I don't remember doing it, it's just what the witnesses told me, I passed out while doing it.

Regarding 'I'm Back', I can't understand why people are slating him as much as they are. I don't agree with what he did, I think it was downright stupid and irresponsible but I don't think it calls for the amount of stick he is getting. Another member has admitted pointing a firearm at another driver and he is praised so to speak. I'm not going ot compare the two events but in my opinion, pointing a firearm at another driver is just as stupid and just as careless. There are other more civilised ways of dealing with such matters.

Everyone should just calm down, don't stoop down to the level of numpty drivers. We all make mistakes, just accept it and move on.

Sorry for sonding like an opinionated hippy but thats my two pence.

 

[Mr.T]

I think why people are slating Im back so much is because he seems to actually enjoy these road rage incidents and be quite proud about them, while the other guy who pulled the colt did it as a last resort and probably didn't wanna have to

 

[Mickey_D]

Originally posted by Scuzi
Another member has admitted pointing a firearm at another driver and he is praised so to speak. I'm not going ot compare the two events but in my opinion, pointing a firearm at another driver is just as stupid and just as careless. There are other more civilised ways of dealing with such matters.

If you read my entire post, you'll see that I stated he'd made a "gun pointing" gesture at me, then tried to foce me off the road.

I was driving a top-heavy 6" lifted (read : not the most stable in a turn) off road vehicle. He was driving a very heavy sedan Volvo. If we'd contacted, I would have been upside down at 60+ mph.

IMHO he was threatening my life, I retaliated in the only way I had available that was going to be effective. And it worked wonders. I had run out of options having tried everything else.

You will also note that this was during the LA riots when skinny white boys weren't exactly the favorite people amongst the black/negro population, and the guy in the Volvo was black/negro.

Please also note that I said I pointed it at his front tyre, not the driver. I've been trained how to use firearms properly. The only time I point a firearm of any kind at a living person is if I have the full intention of double-tapping them in the sternum. The way I was taught, there is no such thing as a warning shot, or shoot to disable. If you shoot a firearm, it is to drop an enemy. For good. First time.

I think I'm just going to stop posting on these forums as people will rip a post to pieces and read a whole bunch of senseless crap into it without giving a thought that maybe the original poster had a reason for his/her actions.

Either that or my posts are going to be getting a LOT longer as I find I have to explain every sentance in explicit detail to cover all points of view and levels of education all at once.

 

[Scuzi]

In that case I retract my statement. I wasn't aware of the nature of the incident. Please don't take my previous post as an insult to you, I merely stated an opinion based on the information you presented in your post. Now that you have added more information I can better understand the predicament you were in and therefore I retract my statement about it being careless and stupid. Please accept my apology, I didn't intend to insult you.

Don't let one persons opinion put you off posting on the forums. You should understand that the written medium of an internet forum presents communication problems as people can take what you write in many different ways. Again, my post was not intended to insult you and I apologise if it did.

 

[Mickey_D]

No problem. I can understand the concern.

I wasn't insulted by your post and I apologise in return if it sounded like I was biting your head off with my previous post. It wasn't intended to.

 

[andyfield]

Originally posted by Mickey_D
As for dealing with road rage? I've had a couple incidents, one involved the other driver having to be persuaded by my friend Colt to just back down, it's not worth it.

I was still in the military at the time, and it was recommended that I carry at all times (this was around the time of the L.A. riots and I was stationed in L.A.).

Moron tailgating me in my Jeep with a Volvo sedan. 6 lane freeway, I'm in lane 2 (to allow on and off ramp drivers easy access), it's almost 2 AM, road is clear of other traffic.

I can no longer see his headlights in my mirror he's so close. I'm rapped out at my 62.5 mph redline. I click on the 4-way emergency flashers to hint to him to go around. He blares the horn and flashes high beams and gets CLOSER!!

I slowed down to the 55 limit to entice him to go around (remember he has 4 lanes with which to safely pass me).

I didn't realise there was any more room for him to get closer, but I can no longer see his windshield wipers in my mirror (please remember my Jeep was lifted 6 inches).

"**** this, I've had enough".....

Pulled the manual choke to full, engine starts bucking and snorting and throwing a full-fledged smoke screen out the back. Pushed the choke back in as I was slowing down too much and the stupid engine backfires through the exhaust.

Cue all the unburned petrol that's collected in the mufflers igniting!!

BOOM!!

I about **** myself as it sounded like a 5 inch naval gun going off in my ear.

He backs off for a second because he now has a non-factory tinted windscreen and a slightly mis-shapen hood ornament.

He then gets enraged and screams up alongside me making a gun-shape with his hand and flipping my half the peace sign.

He then starts moving his car towards my Jeep like he's going to push me off the road.

Cue me pointing Mr Colt at his front tyre as I've had more than enough.

Cue idiot locking all four tyres (I think he might have tried to use the spare if it would have done him any good).

I think he sat there in the middle of a 6 lane freeway for almost 30 seconds until I disappeared over the horizon.



Now to those that say I should have pulled off the freeway, maybe that might have worked, maybe it might have put me right in the middle of his home turf where I could have been hauled out of my open-topped Jeep. At least on the freeway I had lots of lighting and open space to maneuver and see what he was up to.

touche! Nothing like the America way to show who's boss

Friend of mine is from Minnesota and it seems most of them aren't too shy of gun ownership there. Being in the military I guess its inevitable. Well handled.

Keep the posts coming, sounds like there was a brief misunderstanding earlier but all good now.

Myself I've been lucky with no road rage incidents in 5+ years of driving.

 

[Mickey_D]

Well, it's not too uncommon to see either a black bear or a moose around this area. Badgers have been known to poke thier noses out once in a while, too.

A lot of hunting goes on around these parts. It's estimated by the Dept of Natural Resources that between 250 and 300 deer are killed a year by being hit by cars, so people are encouraged to hunt them during hunting season.

In fact almost half of the insurance claims are for animal strikes!!

You hit a deer at 60 mph in a full sized pickup truck and you're looking at a complete write-off let alone a small passenger car!!


Andyfield, where in Minnesota does your friend live?

 

[TripleT]

Road Rage: How do you deal with it?

Get out and punch the other bloke durrr

 

[atpbx]

I had road rage from some tool who wasnt even on the road!
Id parked the van up to do a collection thinking id left enough room for another driver to get out, turns out i hadnt and didnt realise it, so i moved forwards and then put the van back again.
So anyhow this other guy starts mouthing off, really going mental, right in my face, offering to take it "behind his truck", so i smiled sweetly and replied "dont threaten me........" at which point he was raging, really angry, the whole situation was absurd, so i started laughing at him as he ranted on and on and on, "you think its funny? you think im funny do you?"

"well yeah, im going in the warehouse now, bye"

The last time i lost my temper was with a guy who jumped on his horn because he was speeding through a housing estate and objected to me reversing out into an apperently clear road, untill this dude screams up, so i think nothing off it, but he keeps beeping and beeping and beeping, so i pull out into the main road and stop the truck, get out, and walk towards his car, at which point he slams it into reverse, but there are cars behind him, so he tries to go forward but he cant, because of cars coming the other way, all the time im walking towards his car, not shouting, not raging, so to get away he drives across a raised traffic island banging his sump really hard and catching his exhaust.
Silly people.