Responding to Traffic jerks

[Chimera]

@TheLoadedDog

When my sister is in the car, I have had several near accidents because I’ve been tooling down the road quite serenely, and then she’ll literally scream and clutch the dash with white knuckles.

The almost multi-car crash:

We’re eastbound on 494 in Bloomington (MN), getting ready to hit the ramp for Cedar Ave N bound (so you MN dopers know where we were). Bumper to bumper traffic. About six cars ahead of us, someone slams on their brakes for no apparent reason other than that they might have been pissed at someone so close behind them. I’m quite literally standing on my brakes, butt off the seat, eyes shifting rapidly between front and rearview mirror, going “ohshitohshitohshit” expecting to slam into the car in front of us and be hit from behind, wondering which is going to come first.

At the same time, some jackass in a gold Lexus is attempting to merge into my lane on my right, while (a) talking on his cell phone in his left hand, (b) smoking a cigarette with his right hand, and (c) moving left into my lane while staring off to the right somewhere.

I thought we were completely fucked, with imminent impacts on three sides.

Suddenly, Crazy Psycho Bitch wails in terror, shrinks down into the seat and starts sobbing like the world was ending. She screams “YOU’RE ROAD RAGING!!!” and acting like she’s in mortal fear for her very life. FROM ME.

I wasn’t raging at anything, Shitstain, I was standing on my brakes expecting to be in the worst car accident of my life, wondering if we’d both be injured, or worse.

But now, at that point, fuck right I was pissed. At her, for pulling this shit on me. For making it be about her, for making me once again the villain of her little story of complete fucking insanity. We were supposed to be headed somewhere for dinner, but when we got there, she was still making such a huge production out of sobbing and shaking in fear that we turned around and went home (at her insistence, because she didn’t want to be in public with someone who was so angry and mean). :eek: :rolleyes: :mad:
Good god, every time I tell these stories I am so freaking happy that I haven’t seen or spoken to her in five years. Even as messy and destructive as that divorce was, it was the greatest blessing and boon I could ever have recieved.

Anyway, sorry for the hijack people. Carry on.

[Duckster]

I read the OP. I read all the posts.

I am NOT talking about those who lack driving skills! I am talking about those drivers who are “purpose driven” jerks of the road, and how you respond to them.

Herewith is my response to “purpose driven” jerks of the road …

With scenario #1, you broke the law because you were late. You endangered others because you were late. You acted in a childish, irresponsible and immature manner because you were late. Had there been an accident, the staff would still not be able to get in, innocent people would be injured or dead, and innocent families would forever be grieving, … because you were late.

With scenario #2 you witnessed someone else break the law, then took it upon yourself to (illegally) detain someone, while in the process admit to intimidating the little snot until the police arrived. Round these parts that’s false imprisonment and assault.

In later posts you admit your behavior was an exception and not the rule. Round these parts we have lots of drivers who think they are exceptional and don’t have to follow the law. And, I bet, everyone would probably claim, “Oh, I don’t normally act this way …” if the opportunity ever arose to ask them.

You are the type of driver I see all too often. Many times my wife and I secretly wish we could pop the blue light atop our vehicle and pull over drivers like you because there never are enough cops around when we see such jerkish behavior.

[NajaNivea]

@minlokwat

As for NajaNivea, I suppose you see nothing wrong with bearing down another car, riding right up on his ass and pushing him down the road even though you acknowledge the physical conditions of the road may have warranted him driving slowly.

Yeah those Traffic Jerks, when will they learn?

Wait a minute… what? I’m sorry–I know this is a late reply, but I lost track of the thread. Yes, it’s true that the physical conditions of the road absolutely warranted driving slowly for someone unfamiliar with the road, but moving at fifteen miles an hour where traffic approaching from behind is very likely to be moving at 40-60 and unable to see us in time to be able to avoid rear-ending us is not safe driving. That’s excessive slowness and to my mind was far more dangerous than driving even 25-30 which would have been half the normal rate of speed, but absolutely understandable given the circumstances–as I said, I followed him at 35 for quite some time with no real complaints. It was only when he slammed on the brakes and caused a hazard that I became alarmed.

As far as me “bearing down on another car, riding right up on his ass and pushing him down the road”, I’m not sure you even read my post. Look:

I came up behind this guy that seemed to be moving kind of slowly, but I figured he was just being cautious around a set of curves–except that he didn’t speed up when conditions warranted it. We went through a very long, clear, lighted tunnel and he was still going about 35 mph. I finally flashed my brights at him (one single one-second flash) after we’d passed several turn-out lanes which he’d showed no indication of noticing.

I don’t tailgate people and I don’t try to crowd them. I slowed and stayed a comfortable distance behind him, cruising along at 35 for quite some time, until we’d gone through one set of clear, open, straight-line driving, well-lighted conditions and he didn’t speed up, and also passed several very safe, lighted, and well-indicated opportunities for him to politely move aside and let me safely around him. It was only at that point that I reminded him there was someone behind him with one quick one-second flash of my lights, and at that point he slammed on his brakes and caused a serious road hazard for what appeared to be no good reason.

I have every respect for someone who wants to be cautious on a potentially dangerous, twisty coastal highway in the middle of the night. I do not have any respect for someone who forces that same excessive caution on someone who who has better knowledge of the road and is not, themselves, driving unsafely. There are plenty of times I drive extra-slowly and cautiously, but I also have the good manners to move aside when possible to allow others who feel more comfortable to pass. I don’t create a parade procession by slamming on my breaks, forcibly blocking others in behind me and causing a slow-moving road block behind a blind curve on the edge of a cliff at night.

I want to make it clear that I’m a very safe, cautious, and mannerly driver. My husband teases me about driving like a grandma. I’m extremely paranoid about intersections–people run red lights here as though traffic signals have just been invented. Do you really think I’m a jerk for feeling eeky about sitting like a turtle on these blind curves and waiting to get smashed from behind by another local driving at a totally normal and reasonable rate of speed? That guy was seriously endangering me, himself, and any other car that might have come along, ostensibly because using turn-out lanes for the use for which they were designed makes you less of a man. As I demonstrated, I had no real complaints with the 35 mph. It only became annoying after he refused to let me pass. The 15 mph was downright dangerous, and that’s when he became an asshole.