Your road rage stories? How do you handle it.

[ks123]

So, I was driving down the highway today and I noticed in my rearview mirror that this guy was about 1/4 of a mile behind me and hauling ass. He was in the left lane, I was in the right, and there was a car infront of me. I flipped my blinker on and got over and if this guy had been driving at a normal rate of speed it wouldnt have been a big deal and I guess he didnt want to slow down. He changed to the right lane, and whipped infront of me and cut me off then got back into the right lane once he got around the car that I was behind originally. Well, there was a wall of cars about 50 feet infront of us and he had to slam on his breaks and almost rear ended this truck infront of him. As I pulled up beside him, I couldnt resist and I gave him the finger. This guy FLIPPED out, he cut his wheel HARD towards my car and tried to run me off the road, his mirror was about an inch from my passenger side window, I knew he wasnt going to hit me and was just being an asshole so I held up my hands and gave him a very sarcastic "oooh im so scared look" and this enraged him even more. He attempted to do it again and I just looked at him like he was stupid, so he got onto the shoulder and drove about 1/3 of a mile down the road to a wide part on the shoulder and put his flashers on. As I drove by he had half of his body out of his drivers side window and punching his fist together in a "lets fight" gesture. I just drove by and waved at him, but I could see this guy was losing his mind. He got back on the highway and followed me about 1/2 a mile, all the while giving me the finger and making the "lets fight" gesture. I just looked at him, and again, gave him my biggest smile and wave. He eventually exited and stared me down the entire time and proceeded to continue to give me the finger and again, I just waved at him.

But I have literally never seen road rage like that in my life. I've seen people get pissed and act a little crazy but i've never seen someone attempt to run someone off the road like that and i've never had someone freak on me that bad for me giving them the finger.
So, I was wondering what you guys do when faced with road rage. And to those of you who go absolutely ballistic on the road, what is going through your mind?


Edit- for everyone saying I cut him off first and that I started the situation. I was doing 70-75 in a 60. When I put my blinker on he was 1/4 of a mile behind me. I didn't realize how fast he was going to begin with but when he got on me he had to be going 100mph
And no, I don't think he was rushing grandma to the hospital for chest pains

 

[matefrio]

Fish much?

 

[txinvestigator]

Did you learn anything?

And a secondary question, were you armed?

 

[ks123]

Did you learn anything?

And a secondary question, were you armed?

Learn anything? As in?
And yes, of course I was armed

 

[Maverick44]

Learn anything? As in?
And yes, of course I was armed

I think he's saying that flipping someone off is not a good idea. That guy may have been out of line, but YOU started that road rage incident by flipping him off. Not only that, you continuously escalated the situation by screwing with the guy. Had you actually had to use your weapon, that fact alone could have caused you a lot of grief.

 

[matefrio]

If you're armed keep your middle finger holstered.

There were two folks acting aggressive that night.

http://abc13.com/1338879/ this is an example of what happens.

 

[ks123]

I think he's saying that flipping someone off is not a good idea. That guy may have been out of line, but YOU started that road rage incident by flipping him off. Not only that, you continuously escalated the situation by screwing with the guy. Had you actually had to use your weapon, that fact alone could have caused you a lot of grief.

I was not angry in the slightest or out of control of my emotions, the only way I would have had to use my weapon is if he ran me off the road for real and tried to attack me once we were stopped, in that case, I would have been totally justified.

He cut me off to begin with passing within a few inches of my front bumper, I would say that was the start of the road rage incident, the finger was in retaliation. I know, A middle finger is as harmful as a 2000 pound vehicle trying to run your 2000 pound vehicle off the road but like I said, I wasnt out of control of my emotions in the least, the guy was being a grade-A douchebag and lost his mind over someone giving him the bird
Also, what do you do when some guy attempts to run you off of the road?

Edit- Not to be confrontational but I dont know what court of law would say "smiling and waving" at someone is "escalating" the situation.

 

[HKShooter65]

My .02

Deep breath.
Let the stress pass.
Wrath is one of the seven deadly sins, if you are appreciative of ancient wisdom.

Savor the peace of the rest of the day.

Live this:

 

[Maverick44]

I was not angry in the slightest or out of control of my emotions, the only way I would have had to use my weapon is if he ran me off the road for real and tried to attack me once we were stopped, in that case, I would have been totally justified.

He cut me off to begin with passing within a few inches of my front bumper, I would say that was the start of the road rage incident, the finger was in retaliation. I know, A middle finger is as harmful as a 2000 pound vehicle trying to run your 2000 pound vehicle off the road but like I said, I wasnt out of control of my emotions in the least, the guy was being a grade-A douchebag and lost his mind over someone giving him the bird
Also, what do you do when some guy attempts to run you off of the road?

YOU started that fight. Had you just chalked it up to him being an a-hole driver and left it at that, that incident would have never happened. Instead, you flipped him off and started the whole ordeal. You may think you were justified, but the courts might not. They would use the fact that you flipped him off and escalated the situation by constantly screwing with the guy against you.

What do you do when someone tries to run you off the road? Well, maybe back off instead of screwing with him. Want to know how to not put yourself in that situation to begin with? Try keeping the finger holstered. It does wonders.

 

[Vaquero]

I do my best to distance myself from other drivers. Aggressive or not.
It works well, most of the time.

 

[Hoji]

My .02

Deep breath.
Let the stress pass.
Wrath is one of the seven deadly sins, if you are appreciative of ancient wisdom.

Savor the peace of the rest of the day.

Live this:

Amazing that the same person can post one of the most misogynistic, ignorant statements I have ever read here, and then post something I completely agree with. Congrats again.

OP,

You completely started that particular incident. Yes, he was driving like an asshole, but you chose to engage and fan the flames.

Most people learn to be much more polite while armed. Until you learn to do this I suggest you leave your gun at home.

 

[Jakashh]

I don't even usually honk at people when they almost wreck in to me. I'm too non-confrontational, except for yesterday when I honked at someone in a new escapade for the first time after they turned right into my lane at a stoplight when I had a green light when I was 25 yards away from them, going 45 mph (the speed limit).

I swerved into the middle lane to my left and almost hit a car behind me while blasting the horn. **** that guy. But never did I think to flip him off or escalate the situation.

 

[AustinN4]

So, I was driving down the highway today and I noticed in my rearview mirror that this guy was about 1/4 of a mile behind me and hauling ass. He was in the left lane, I was in the right, and there was a car infront of me. I flipped my blinker on and got over and if this guy had been driving at a normal rate of speed it wouldnt have been a big deal and I guess he didnt want to slow down. He changed to the right lane, and whipped infront of me and cut me off then got back into the right lane once he got around the car that I was behind originally. Well, there was a wall of cars about 50 feet infront of us and he had to slam on his breaks and almost rear ended this truck infront of him. As I pulled up beside him, I couldnt resist and I gave him the finger. This guy FLIPPED out, he cut his wheel HARD towards my car and tried to run me off the road, his mirror was about an inch from my passenger side window, I knew he wasnt going to hit me and was just being an $#@! so I held up my hands and gave him a very sarcastic "oooh im so scared look" and this enraged him even more. He attempted to do it again and I just looked at him like he was stupid, so he got onto the shoulder and drove about 1/3 of a mile down the road to a wide part on the shoulder and put his flashers on. As I drove by he had half of his body out of his drivers side window and punching his fist together in a "lets fight" gesture. I just drove by and waved at him, but I could see this guy was losing his mind. He got back on the highway and followed me about 1/2 a mile, all the while giving me the finger and making the "lets fight" gesture. I just looked at him, and again, gave him my biggest smile and wave. He eventually exited and stared me down the entire time and proceeded to continue to give me the finger and again, I just waved at him.

But I have literally never seen road rage like that in my life. I've seen people get pissed and act a little crazy but i've never seen someone attempt to run someone off the road like that and i've never had someone freak on me that bad for me giving them the finger.
So, I was wondering what you guys do when faced with road rage. And to those of you who go absolutely ballistic on the road, what is going through your mind?

4th post

 

[Bozz10mm]

You saw the guy coming up fast in your rear view mirror. Basically, you intentionally cut him off and then gave him the bird. What did you think would happen?

"I couldn't resist and gave him the finger" Learn a little self control. The best way to handle road rage is to not create those situations in the first place.

 

[Dawico]

So, I was driving down the highway today and I noticed in my rearview mirror that this guy was about 1/4 of a mile behind me and hauling ass. He was in the left lane, I was in the right, and there was a car infront of me. I flipped my blinker on and got over and if this guy had been driving at a normal rate of speed it wouldnt have been a big deal and I guess he didnt want to slow down. He changed to the right lane, and whipped infront of me and cut me off then got back into the right lane once he got around the car that I was behind originally. Well, there was a wall of cars about 50 feet infront of us and he had to slam on his breaks and almost rear ended this truck infront of him. As I pulled up beside him, I couldnt resist and I gave him the finger. This guy FLIPPED out, he cut his wheel HARD towards my car and tried to run me off the road, his mirror was about an inch from my passenger side window, I knew he wasnt going to hit me and was just being an asshole so I held up my hands and gave him a very sarcastic "oooh im so scared look" and this enraged him even more. He attempted to do it again and I just looked at him like he was stupid, so he got onto the shoulder and drove about 1/3 of a mile down the road to a wide part on the shoulder and put his flashers on. As I drove by he had half of his body out of his drivers side window and punching his fist together in a "lets fight" gesture. I just drove by and waved at him, but I could see this guy was losing his mind. He got back on the highway and followed me about 1/2 a mile, all the while giving me the finger and making the "lets fight" gesture. I just looked at him, and again, gave him my biggest smile and wave. He eventually exited and stared me down the entire time and proceeded to continue to give me the finger and again, I just waved at him.

But I have literally never seen road rage like that in my life. I've seen people get pissed and act a little crazy but i've never seen someone attempt to run someone off the road like that and i've never had someone freak on me that bad for me giving them the finger.
So, I was wondering what you guys do when faced with road rage. And to those of you who go absolutely ballistic on the road, what is going through your mind?

My first question is how fast were you driving? If you were going the speed limit that is one thing. If you were going ten under that is another.

In that situation and me going the speed limit I usually speed up a hair to get around the other vehicle or slow a hair and let the speeder go ahead. Not a big deal.

Secondly I don't flip people the bird as I am not in middle school anymore. Only an immature baby would do that.

Thirdly, yes, you are an instigator. He cut you off but you couldn't let it go. If you hadn't given him the bird he probably would been out of your life forever. But no, you had to show how superior you are.

Fourth, you had to keep pushing it by waving. You couldn't just ignore him, you had to keep it going.

I know there are people out there that will shoot you in the face for no reason whatsoever. The last thing I want to do is give somebody a reason. I try to be as polite as possible in all situations to avoid the trouble.

Honestly, you should leave your car and gun at home until you can act like an adult. It doesn't sound like you are ready for either.

You must understand that you don't know that guy. He might just be an ass, but he might be racing to the hospital too. You just never know.

After reading your post I didn't think you would get the accolades you were hoping for. I am glad to see that I was right and one of the reasons I really like this forum.

 

[RACER X]

I think the OP started the fight and escalated it

You knew he was coming fast and you were going slow, and yet you couldn't wait till he passed then pull out.

Then flipping the bird, just escalating it

I bet you put the turn signal on, somebody let's you in, and then you slow down even more

 

[ks123]

You saw the guy coming up fast in your rear view mirror. Basically, you intentionally cut him off and then gave him the bird. What did you think would happen?

"I couldn't resist and gave him the finger" Learn a little self control. The best way to handle road rage is to not create those situations in the first place.

I didn't cut him off. He was about 1/3 of a mile behind me when I got over

Edit- you know when you can tell someone is driving fast but you can't tell exactly how fast because you're looking in a mirror
Once he got up to where I was I realized he must have been doing 100mph. I still don't know how he managed to cut me off going that fast either

 

[ks123]

I was doing 70 in a 60.
And I'll be sure to leave my car at home now, I guess I'm going to get in really good shape from riding my bike everywhere

 

[Davetex]

You saw the guy coming up fast in your rear view mirror. Basically, you intentionally cut him off and then gave him the bird. What did you think would happen?

"I couldn't resist and gave him the finger" Learn a little self control. The best way to handle road rage is to not create those situations in the first place.

^This^
You put yourself in that situation, you have only yourself to blame.

 

[txinvestigator]

Learn anything? As in?
And yes, of course I was armed

I guess you didn't learn anything. What you should have learned is that flipping people off is immensely immature, ignorant and dangerous. You should have learned that you need to stop doing it.

Had that guy assaulted you to the point where you were forced to use your firearm, it would have been your fault. Chapter 9 of the penal code, where our self defense laws are, tells you that you lose any justification you may have if you provoke the other person. The finger is nothing but provocation.

You act of provoking the other guy also endangers the people around you.

You need to step back and re-evaluate your behavior.