I have been trying for the last year or so to curb my road rage (ha! pun!), but I had a big blow-up this morning when two cars in a row cut me off and stopped dead in front of me to make left turns. The second car even waited after he could go to make me wait longer (as I sat in my car and yelled at him). I’m starting to think I have a problem with road rage.
On the other hand, people seem to be driving spectacularly badly these days. I don’t want to be getting upset every time I drive, but after the third, fourth, fifth time someone does something rude and/or thoughtless and causes me to slam on the brakes or take other evasive action, is it normal to start getting mad?
So here are my questions; how do I know if I have a problem with road rage? What can I do to fight it? Where can I get a hood-mounted rocket launcher? (I’m kidding about that one. Mostly.) Anyone else wanna share their road rage stories?
I feel your pain. I drive to work every day, and you can bet your life that there will be at least one dick brain will cut me off. There’s always one. Yes it makes me angry, but I’ve learned to try to deal with it. You have to adopt a zen like attitude when driving. Don’t do battle with other drivers, just try to think about where you are going. It’s just not worth the stress.
I love getting pissed at other drivers. It helps me vent frustrations. I swear, yell, and gesture quite a lot. That being said, I will not get violent - unless someone else starts it. It’s just my way of blowing off steam, but also, the other drivers on the road are complete assholes most of the time.
If I see someone behind me acting like a jackass (i.e. performing those same actions I just admitted to doing myself) then I always slow down, take my time through turns, etc. I know this makes me an ass, but I just have to do it. Does this mean something’s really wrong with me?
I would add that I exercise caution when getting angry with other drivers. You never know who might have a gun in their car. It’s just not worth the risk.
Your feeling are so completely understood, featherlou.
Were it not so noticeable, I love a flame cannon on the roof of my truck.
Driving vocabulary has been curtailed, lest **little cats ** hear my vitriolic outbursts.
My favorite peeve is on three lane roads, when an asshat slows in the driving lane, and at the last moment applies turn signal and moves to the center, such that two lanes are blocked.
We have target acquisition, the weapon is armed, requesting permission to fire
Well, I’m not getting out of my car for anyone, but if the other driver had come over to my car this morning, it would have been on. And I’m a non-violent pacifist. It kind of scared me to recognize in myself that I would have totally gotten into a fight.
Darling, you drive in Calgary. You are perfectly justified in feeling road rage. Anyone who has to drive the Deerfoot 500 would understand…
Let’s see…common driving “habits” in our fair city…
changing lanes in intersections.
speeding. (I know this is Alberta, but 90 in a playground zone is unacceptable)
wide turns (what? I have a designated lane?)
forgetting how to drive in snow (two weeks without snow and everyone forgets how to drive)
My neighbourhood is especially bad. I’m not sure why. It’s completely normal for someone to stop in the exact middle of the street for no apparent reason AND THEN GET OUT OF THE CAR. This is despite the fact the there is a perfectly useful curb lane.
Or be driving down the wrong side. Or reversing down the street. Or doing 20 on dry roads.
I feel for you.
Oh! And…Samarm, doing worry about us Calgary gals. Guns in cars aren’t so prevalent here just yet…
The common driving habit here that is really getting under my skin is the pulling out without signalling right in front of me. Especially when I’m the last car in the line. You can’t wait three seconds for me to drive by - you just have to pull out and make me put on the brakes, don’tcha? Oh, and the slightest suggestion of a drop in speed for people making right turns at red lights or four-way stops. Again, I have right of way going through the green, yet I still have to make way for you. So much thoughtlessness and selfishness going on. Everybody wants to be first; everyone wants to “win” at driving. I would be happy just to be left alone and go my way without being interfered with all the time.
So late Wednesday night I’m driving home in a howling blizzard. Road conditions are slushy and poor at best, snow-covered and icy at worst. I’m cruising along at about 60 km/h (well below the posted speed limit) in the right hand lane and approaching an intersection where I have the green light. I watch some dude in a Jeep roll up to the intersection and, without even slowing down, turn directly into my path. The brakes did nothing to slow me, so I had to make an emergency, controlled skid into the next lane to avoid this wizard. Luckily, no one was driving along side me, or there would have been nowhere to go except under the bumper of this jacked-up piece of crap.
Yeah, there was some expletive deleteds uttered. But, no, I didn’t get in front of him to return the favour by trying to run him off the road.
News flash: The red stop light means STOP. And your 4-wheel drive vehicle does not give you licence to attempt to kill other motorists.
Judging from your posts I would say that you know that your anger is getting out of hand.
I understand the anger. I used to imagine that I had the power to vaporize such drivers.
As someone else said, you really do need to get a grip. There are lots of wacko people out there and most of them owe cars. To add to the problem, folks seem more tense these days. While you feel that you could be provoked into fighting someone, that person may be fighting a losing battle against getting her or his gun out.
that’s the whole point; if the Jeep was driving carefully, it wouldn’t have done that.
I was driving on Wednesday as well. I know what the Dread Pirate is talking about. When the roads get like that around here (or anywhere I guess) you have to act accordingly. If that means pumping the brakes a block before the stop sign, that’s what you do.
This thread reminds me of my favorite road rage quote.
"There seem to be only three types of people on the road these days:
the insane (those who drive faster than you), the moronic (those who drive slower than you) and…you. "
from Time article on road rage 01/12/98
The Zen approach is advocated in that article as well as being the best philosophy…to help yourself.
I used get road rage. Featherlou it’s just not worth it. I am 32 yrs old and about 10 yrs ago I didn’t care. I can give you 2 examples. I had a guy riding my bumper one day. So I tapped the brakes to try and get him off my ass. He didn’t like that. He swerves his car in front of mine and proceeds to tap his brakes. At that time I am cussing him and giving the finger and such. He then starts feeling around to the back seat or floorboard and comes up with a 4-way tire iron to which he decides to wave around to try and intimidate me. It didn’t and I got even more pissed. Then he comes up with a knife and is waving that out the window. My street was coming up and decided that was my cue to just go home. Ahh smart decision.
Then my most ultimate STUPID,STUPID,STUPID stunt I pulled was getting road rage and actually chasing the car. It was a man and woman. Can’t remember exactly what led up to the event, but the man decided to pull a flashlight out and point it at my car. I pursued the car and after about 1 mile he pulls over. I jump out with the intention of yanking the bitch out of the passenger seat and giving her what for. God knows I couldn’t have took on the man. Oh what a suprise I got when I reached the passenger side door and the driver pulls a can of mace out. I don’t know how to this day the man missed me. I was maybe a foot away or less. All I seen was him pointing something at me and then I went down screaming when it hit my coat. I thought it was a gun. Scaird the shit out of me, because it could have very well been a gun. I tried to chase him after that, but his Camero was just faster than my Lebaron. Stupid. I can’t say that enough.
I have learned over the years and by the grace of God I’m not dead. But it does happen. I just chill when I’m driving now and realize that not everyone is going to drive the way I want them to. There will be a driver that will piss you off and get on your last nerve. Learn to just let it go and don’t sweat the small stuff. You learn by your mistakes and luckily mine didn’t cost me my life. It very well could have though.
Thanks all you ragers. I’m glad to see I have a lot of company. My GF says I am the worst and I need professional care. Sometimes I yell, and every now and then I do let people know that I think they are number 1 by giving them that special salute.
The temptation to use it was getting to strong, so just to be safe I did take my gun out of the truck. (Just joking) But rude and careless drivers do piss me off.
I might yell and gesture and get mad, but I don’t change the way I am driving. I won’t speed up, chase, or deliberately cut someone off if they did something to anger me. I’ll just bitch about it to myself (I usually drive alone anyways), and get that frustration out. Since I’m on the road about 1.5 hours a day to go to school, sometimes the only way to deal with that commute is to bitch about it and get it out of your system, but not to actually do anything TO another driver.
My SO says I’m too impatient, but there really are a lot of bad drivers out there. I suppose there are many more good ones, but you just don’t notice those!
