Mike

Why not just speed up or move out of the way?

Jason

Sometimes, if I am already going fast and I get tailgated, I don't go any faster to appease the tailgater. I'm not moving out of the way because I dont' feel like it. I simply tap the brakes and extend my longest digit and smile.

nyer

Jason, there are neighborhoods in NYC that a digit and smile could get you killed.
Best to just move over, slow down and let the idiots go on their way-they will die soon enough.

Jason

True, nyer but I tend to stay away from those places.

just

Jason

Do you always get the last word?

Cat

I witnessed my neighbor being victimized by a road-rager. He had followed her home and was screaming at her. She was afraid to get out of her car, so I ran out on my balcony with the phone. I was going to call the police and warn him to leave before they got there, but fortunately he left.

I can only imagine what it must be like for that man's family to have to live with a guy like that.

mark

nina, usually ragers only act out after they've been incited.
What did you do?

Jason

just,
yes most of the time.

never

That middle finger thing can get you in BIG trouble. I will never do it again. One time I was trying to get on the highway and I didn't know what I was doing and I was stuck in the wrong lane. So I started to get over and this guy zoomed up and blocked me so I couldn't get on and I missed the entrance and was forced to head down the same highway but in the wrong direction. I flipped him off ... safe enough right? He's headed down the highway. I exit the highway, make a U turn under it, and am now headed in the right direction. Suddenly I see him driving really slowly in the far lane. Guess he'd figured out I'd make the U turn and come back. I tried going really fast and blowing right by him but he caught up with me and was screaming at me and following me really close, acting like he was going to bump me. I couldn't lose the guy. I tried going really slow then. He pulls up next to me, reaches under his seat (I'm thinking, this is it, he's going to shoot me) lifts up his arm, and then points his hand at me like a gun and pretends to pull the trigger. What a psycho. But I'll NEVER flip anyone off ever again. Or least never a man anyway.

nina

Remember the guy who flipped out, got mad at a woman who supposedly cut him off and at a stop sign he came up to her door to yell at her and grapped her little dog and flung it into traffic?

Too many nuts out there.

Monica

Jason: You know, you never really know why the person behind you is tailgating. Maybe they are driving with a child who is choking and are in a rush to get to the hospital. Not likely, I know, but it's really not your call to make how fast they should be driving. Just pull out of the way, and let the highway patrol take care of it.

Sue

Has is occured to anyone that Jill, in fact, cut off the person in the truck? It would piss me off also.

AmberBock

Sorry Jill but you must wait until you can get safely out into traffic and not pull out in front of anyone. I drive in Raleigh traffic every day and you could have caused a very dangerous accident.

x

Human beings make mistakes. When a road is unfamiliar, as it was in Jill's case, it is quite easy to make a mistake. There are no conditions under which an innocent mistake could reasonable result in any of the road rage described by Jill and others. Quit blaming the victim for the nut jobs who frequent the roadways looking for a reason to snap.

badkittym

No, she didn't cut the guy off - he swerved in front of her, to try and prevent her passing on the shoulder; I'm not defending that particular move, which isn't just illegal, but also tends to upset people waiting in traffic.

It happens all the time here in So-Cal, but most of us just shrug and think, "idiot," and leave it at that.

To pursue a person all over the place, even off the freeway, and then get out of their vehicle to approach yours, is God's way of saying "Dangerous, Overreacting Idiot - get the Hell away!"

I've had people do the Jump-n-Dive move to me on the freeway - hey; whatever. I don't get mad, since it doesn't change a thing. To use a motor vehicle as a weapon is not only irresponsible, it's a clear indicator of a person with no self control.
-M

Amberbock

You don't accidently pull out in front of someone. She said "I figured I would just jump in there and it would get me out of my prediciment". That is not waiting. She pulled out in front of someone. Granted, the truck acted like an ass but she is NOT the innocent here. So if she had caused a huge fatal wreck would it have been OK because she was in unfamiliar surroundings?

the

What a joke, you are all fighting as if you were at the scene of the crime.

Jason

Road ragers want you to react and when you do something unexpected like smile or wave, it makes them look stupid. I like to let them pass and then drive next to them and wave, sometimes blow a kiss or even put my fingers in the "V" shape and lick between........

nina

Oh, Then that was YOU last week Jason?

Jason

Yes, Nina, that was probably me. Did you like the slurpee-on-the-windshield game?