# Someone tried to ram me off the road - What can I do **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 2, 2004, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-tried-to-ram-me-off-the-road-what-can-i-do/267249 "2004-10-02T23:26:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![badmana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@badmana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badmana)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-tried-to-ram-me-off-the-road-what-can-i-do/267249/21 "2004-10-04T16:50:02Z")
Err, braking = breaking. Sheesh! ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-tried-to-ram-me-off-the-road-what-can-i-do/267249/22 "2004-10-04T16:57:12Z")
> [@badmana](#): > > What people are talking about is being clipped on the edge of a car at high speed with an object many times the mass of your own vehicle will result in a wipe out. This is how police stop running cars, by doing a fish “hook” by rubbing the other car’s bumper, braking rear tire traction and wiping out (most drivers do not know how to correct for this). > > In this case, a bus pressing any sort of weight onto the front edge of a car could have caused a severe accident. **World Eater** ’s car might have lost traction and spun out since the bus isn’t going to be as affected as a normal passenger vehicle. It’s only by pure luck that the bus didn’t cause **World Eater** ’s car to crash. With no damger, I’d say you were already hard on the brakes and turning away so the hit was barely a tap. It’s still dangerous but like others have said, the police isn’t going to be able to do much unless you have a video of it. Yes, it pretty much went down as you describe here. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-tried-to-ram-me-off-the-road-what-can-i-do/267249/23 "2004-10-04T17:21:37Z")
I know this is wandering into IMHO territory, but when traveling I-95 I often don’t travel in the rightmost lane, even though I go maybe 70. There are three to four lanes and since the rightmost lane constantly has folks entering and exiting, I feel it’s safer to stay in a middle lane where I don’t have to keep adjusting for traffic. With one or two lanes to our left, anyone who wants to speed on by can do so after assessing that my consistent behavior won’t change. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-tried-to-ram-me-off-the-road-what-can-i-do/267249/24 "2004-10-04T17:26:35Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > I know this is wandering into IMHO territory, but when traveling I-95 I often don’t travel in the rightmost lane, even though I go maybe 70. There are three to four lanes and since the rightmost lane constantly has folks entering and exiting, I feel it’s safer to stay in a middle lane where I don’t have to keep adjusting for traffic. With one or two lanes to our left, anyone who wants to speed on by can do so after assessing that my consistent behavior won’t change. That’s the exact reason I was in the middle lane. I later saw a sign for no buses or trucks in the left lane, so he could have only passed me on the right. ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Joe\_Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Random)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-tried-to-ram-me-off-the-road-what-can-i-do/267249/25 "2004-10-04T22:24:40Z")
> [@World Eater](#): > > For a guy that _deliberately_ tried to harm and my girlfriend, A & B would be a pittance. And you’re sure it was deliberate? Maybe the guy was just being very impatient (plausible based on his desire to pass you) and misjudged how soon to change lanes. Still an error on his part, but certainly not something that deserves a severe beating as punishment. > [@](#): > > The point is to let the guy know actions often have consequences. I fully understand the desire for vigilante justice. However, I don’t think it’s usually (if ever) a good idea. Mainly because most people would rather get revenge than to see actual justice done. > [@](#): > > Look I’m not saying it’s right or do this or that, I’m just saying what I would do. I could understand doing that if he repeatedly side-swiped your vehicle while shouting through the open window, “I’m gonna run you off the road and kill you!”, but not for something that is, more likely than not, an accident. > [@](#): > > Should I give the guy that just tried to run me off the road a big hug? No, but you **should** give him the benefit of the doubt. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2004, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-tried-to-ram-me-off-the-road-what-can-i-do/267249/26 "2004-10-05T01:11:44Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > I often don’t travel in the rightmost lane, even though I go maybe 70. There are three to four lanes and since the rightmost lane constantly has folks entering and exiting, I feel it’s safer to stay in a middle lane where I don’t have to keep adjusting for traffic. With one or two lanes to our left, anyone who wants to speed on by can do so after assessing that my consistent behavior won’t change. Works okay when traffic is only moderate, but starts to cause problems when traffic approaches what the road is capable of carrying. IOW, if all highways had one more lane than they really needed, it might make sense to reserve the rightmost lane as an accelerate/decelerate/merge lane. Unfortunately, peak traffic on most highways is about all the highway can handle, even when lane discipline is good. When it isn’t, problems ensue. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-tried-to-ram-me-off-the-road-what-can-i-do/267249.md?page=1)