# What is it about cars that make people so bat shit crazy? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 4, 2011, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-cars-that-make-people-so-bat-shit-crazy/573431 "2011-03-04T00:35:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-cars-that-make-people-so-bat-shit-crazy/573431/41 "2011-03-09T00:42:36Z")
> [@Blaster\_Master](#): > > I see this sort of behavior often, given the traffic in this area and I generally don’t reciprocate unless I’m in a bad mood. Instead, if I’m in a particular mood, I use it to amuse myself instead. For instance, one time I passed someone who was going below the speed limit late at night, which they apparently didn’t like, so they tried to pass me. I sped up enough to make it look like I was going to stop them to the point where they just floored it going well over the speed limit and I just let them go. Surprise, surprise, a cop snagged them about a mile or two up the road, and I had a hearty laugh. Yeah, probably not the safest thing, but at 2 AM on an open road… meh. When I was living in San Jose, Palo Alto was (in)famous for having speed limits at least five miles per hour lower than the surrounding areas. When I would drive in PA I would amuse myself by . . . driving at the posted speed limit. Hey, if they want to drive faster, let 'em talk to their city council. The road from US 101 to downtown was particularly egregious. It was about two miles from the exit to downtown and, being residential, was 25mph the whole way. One night about 10pm I left a movie theater I liked to go to and was tooling down that road at the speed limit with a guy riding my bumper for about half the distance. Finally, he cuts left over the double yellow and jams the throttle to get ahead of me, right in front of a dark cop car on a side street. The cop car explodes into life – scared the hell out of me and I wasn’t even the target – and nailed the guy in less than 200 yards. I passed on by, at 25 mph. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-cars-that-make-people-so-bat-shit-crazy/573431/42 "2011-03-09T15:23:03Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > It’s a three lane road. I’m on the far right she’s on the far left. I go to merge to the center lane. I’m about 95% over when the lady on the left starts to merge to the center in my spot. > > At this point, it’s no big deal. This kind of mistake could happen to anybody. So I give her a polite tap on my horn to let her know: “Hey, I’m here.” She swivels back into the left lane. > > It was at this point she goes bat shit insane. Now she’s trying to speed up in her lane so she can cut in front of me. Apparently to teach me some kind of lesson. :rolleyes: Anyway she can’t because the traffic is too congested. I even tried to slow down a little bit so she could cut in front of me but that didn’t work either. (I didn’t want to slow down too much as to not piss off the guy behind me.) > > This goes on for a few blocks until, finally, what does she do in her angst to cut in front of me? She slams into a guy in the left lane! I just shook my head and drove on by. I went a couple of more blocks and thought to myself I should probably witness that accident. So I make a U-turn and park in the adjacent parking lot waiting for the cops to come. > > From where I was at, I couldn’t hear the conversation that was going on but I could tell by stupid lady’s body language that she thought _he_ (the guy that got rear ended) was at fault. Seriously! The audacity of this woman! > > The cops get there which was even more annoying because the cop seemed to be more bothered, than appreciative of my witnessing! Grrr! I _did_ get to talk to the guy tho’. I gave him my contact info. He _did_ seem to appreciate it. When witnessing an accident, give the party who you think is not at fault your biz card. I have done this 5 times in my life…and EVERY TIME I have gotten a call from an attorney where the guilty party was lying about something and my information probably helped (I only heard back once from a woman who said my info helped quite a bit). After the first time, I never waited for the cops. The one time he just seemed irritated I was there. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-cars-that-make-people-so-bat-shit-crazy/573431/43 "2011-03-09T15:34:40Z")
> [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](#): > > Signaling’s worthless. The point of signaling is to tell other drivers your _intention_ to do something _before_ you do it. I see many, many drivers begin to change lanes on the interstate, then halfway through the lane change, blink their turn indicator _once_. > > The other day, I saw a driver complete the lane change, then put on his/her turn indicator. > > If I signal, which I often don’t to be honest, I let it click a few times before I initiate the lane change. If I’m making a turn on a surface street, I try to turn on the indicator before I apply the brakes. This way, I’m actually indicating what I’m going to do before I do it. It does no one any good to indicate as you’re turning, because I can already see you’re turning. In the Minneapolis area, signaling means you will be cut off. I have experimented with this. If you signal, a large % of the people will accelerate to cut you off. So, around here, you signal AS you are changing lanes, not before. Hell, even a head turn many times provokes this acceleration. I kid you not. You need to do a VERY quick head turn/look and then immediately lane change. ---
**Author:** ![Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prelude_to_Fascination)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-cars-that-make-people-so-bat-shit-crazy/573431/44 "2011-03-09T16:51:48Z")
> [@BlinkingDuck](#): > > In the Minneapolis area, signaling means you will be cut off. I have experimented with this. If you signal, a large % of the people will accelerate to cut you off. So, around here, you signal AS you are changing lanes, not before. > > Hell, even a head turn many times provokes this acceleration. I kid you not. You need to do a VERY quick head turn/look and then immediately lane change. That’s crazy shit to me. I guess it’s time to turn into Machine Gun Joe Viterbo and blast those bastards. (Aside for one of the great movie lines of all time about Machine Gun Joe: “Loved by thousands, hated by millions!”) More seriously, a goal of mine is to drive so I have a cushion around me (not possible in traffic jams, of course, but at speed it usually is). So if someone wants to cut me off, and I can do it safely, I let the bastard have the space. It’s easier to keep my eye on him/her, and I get where I’m going in one piece. In other words, I try to stay as far away from the crazy/stupid people as I safely can. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-cars-that-make-people-so-bat-shit-crazy/573431/45 "2011-03-09T19:54:00Z")
> [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](#): > > That’s crazy shit to me. I guess it’s time to turn into Machine Gun Joe Viterbo and blast those bastards. (Aside for one of the great movie lines of all time about Machine Gun Joe: “Loved by thousands, hated by millions!”) What’s funny is that I have lived in several areas of the county…including Los Angeles for a bit…and they look at me as crazy (local Minnesotans) when I tell them the drivers of LA were much more civilized and polite. The Minneapolis area has been the worst for driving assholes from my experience. However, there are vast tracks of the country I haven’t lived in 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-cars-that-make-people-so-bat-shit-crazy/573431/46 "2011-03-09T21:56:22Z")
> [@PoorYorick](#): > > One lesson that I learned through bitter experience is when the cop says “Now you don’t want everyone’s insurance to go up do you? Why don’t I just let you guys exchange information and work it out between yourselves?” he’s NOT trying to be nice, he’s trying to get out of doing all that paperwork. In my younger, stupider days I got burned twice because, of course, the jerks that ran into me gave me names, addresses, and phone numbers that didn’t exist. > > Now I’m older and crotchety, and will say, “No, officer, I DO want to file a report.” > > Also, another tip learned from hard experience. In a traffic accident, the FIRST thing to do (if possible) is to take a picture of the other car’s tag with your cell phone in case he decides to run before the cops get there (happened to my wife). In the case of a non-injury accident, (where it does not appear the other dude is drunk etc) there’s no need to “file a police report”. The police are here to work on _crimes_, not civil matters. Yes, maybe the other dude does give you false ID- so? Your insurance co just pays off as a uninsured driver. You are not out anything. Now, of course, there’s no reason to screw your insurance co, so getting License numbers (both tag and driver) and perhaps even a witness is a Good Thing. Also- when you get into a fender bender- _pull off the damn road!_ Do not block the highway unless there’s a injury or a vehicle is inoperable. It’s dangerous to you and every other driver on th eroad. Many accidents are cuased by this. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-cars-that-make-people-so-bat-shit-crazy/573431/47 "2011-03-09T23:59:21Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > It’s amazing how many dipsticks drive along without a care in the world until they realize that the lane they need to be in to make their upcoming turn is occupied by another car, and they need to turn now. > Instead of driving a little further, turning around legally and safely, and returning, these idiots decide it’s time to stop in traffic and wait, or cut some poor unsuspecting soul off. What the hell people, think ahead. I got stuck behind this particular brand of moron in the afternoon peak hour on Monday. He forgot/missed/didn’t know/didn’t care that he needed to get into the left lane to take the off ramp. Rather than going ahead about 500 metres, he blocked the whole middle lane for about 20 minutes. Stupid, selfish and probably dangerous moron. ---
**Author:** ![MarkofT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@MarkofT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarkofT)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-cars-that-make-people-so-bat-shit-crazy/573431/48 "2011-03-10T00:28:00Z")
The main problem I see is that most of the drivers on the road consider that they are the sole reason we make cars, build road, sell gasoline. It is all purely for their convenience and they deign to let someone else use the roads if the don’t happen to need it at the moment. If they need to turn left and are in the right lane, whoever dares to take up the left lane had better know to get the fuck out of the way. If they missed their corner, all and sundry must stop immediately and clear a path so they can perform a 99 point U turn in the middle of the street. They just recently reconfigured an intersection in North Las Vegas where North Las Vegas Blvd bounces\* off of 2 other roads. They kinda of made a roundabout. But with traffic lights everywhere a path might cross. They have signs over all of the lanes saying which new road you will end up on if you follow it through. Yet a coworker tells me that every time she goes through after work, someone will swerve into her lane at the last possible moment before the lanes split to go their different ways. I’ve had to swerve around a semi performing the same exact maneuver. And if I were to let the collision occur, I know what their response would be to my query, “What the fuck are you doing?” “I had by blinker on, you should have moved out of my way.” No. Your blinker is an indication of what you would like to do. You may not proceed with that action until it is safe. If I am using that portion of road, it wasn’t safe. Either speed up to an open section of road, slow down (if it is safe to do so), or take the wrong turn and find a different route. Your turn signal may be a flashing yellow light, but that does not make it a yield sign. As far as i am concerned, my road taxes buys my the stretch of road from my rear bumper forward to the safe stopping distance as measured from my front bumper. You may use it after I am finished with it. - Yes, bounces. It is an angled intersection where the road to the NorthEast and the South are both North Las Vegas Blvd and the road to the SouthWest is Main Street and the road north is North Fifth Street. ---
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-cars-that-make-people-so-bat-shit-crazy/573431/49 "2011-03-10T04:59:41Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > In the case of a non-injury accident, (where it does not appear the other dude is drunk etc) there’s no need to “file a police report”. The police are here to work on _crimes_, not civil matters. I’d be careful with making blanket statements like this. I’m sure it varies with the jurisdiction. For example, in Alberta you are required to call the police to attend the accident scene for any car accident with serious injuries, if one of the drivers doesn’t have their license/registration/insurance with them, if you suspect the driver is impaired, or if one or more vehicle isn’t driveable. Also, any accident that results in combined damage to both vehicles of more than $2000 requires both drivers to attend a police station to file a report. I’d imagine if you have trouble getting the other driver to wait for the police to arrive to file a report, it would be even more difficult to convince them to go to the police station with you. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-cars-that-make-people-so-bat-shit-crazy/573431/50 "2011-03-10T05:59:31Z")
> [@Waenara](#): > > I’d be careful with making blanket statements like this. I’m sure it varies with the jurisdiction. > > For example, in Alberta you are required to call the police to attend the accident scene for any car accident with serious injuries, if one of the drivers doesn’t have their license/registration/insurance with them, if you suspect the driver is impaired, or if one or more vehicle isn’t driveable. Also, any accident that results in combined damage to both vehicles of more than $2000 requires both drivers to attend a police station to file a report. > > I’d imagine if you have trouble getting the other driver to wait for the police to arrive to file a report, it would be even more difficult to convince them to go to the police station with you. You are correct, I am mainly talking CA. But yes, in those cases: _for any car accident with serious injuries, if one of the drivers doesn’t have their license/registration/insurance with them, if you suspect the driver is impaired, or if one or more vehicle isn’t driveable_ you often do need to call the cops. I did mention “non-injury” and “not drunk” and later I mentioned “Fender bender” and inoperable vehicle". Of course, if they fail to ID themselves, you have no choice but to call the Cops. ---
**Author:** ![TravisFromOR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cc9497/32.png) [@TravisFromOR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TravisFromOR)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-cars-that-make-people-so-bat-shit-crazy/573431/51 "2011-03-10T06:07:33Z")
> [@Waenara](#): > > I’d be careful with making blanket statements like this. I’m sure it varies with the jurisdiction. > > For example, in Alberta you are required to call the police to attend the accident scene for any car accident with serious injuries, if one of the drivers doesn’t have their license/registration/insurance with them, if you suspect the driver is impaired, or if one or more vehicle isn’t driveable. **Also, any accident that results in combined damage to both vehicles of more than $2000 requires both drivers to attend a police station to file a report.** > > I’d imagine if you have trouble getting the other driver to wait for the police to arrive to file a report, it would be even more difficult to convince them to go to the police station with you. (Bolding mine) In Oregon, you must file a report if the damage is above the specified amount. (I don’t recall the amount of damage needed to file, it’s actually a pretty low number.) This can be done through the DMV–no need to go to the police station. ---
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-cars-that-make-people-so-bat-shit-crazy/573431/52 "2011-03-10T07:04:02Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > You are correct, I am mainly talking CA. But yes, in those cases: _for any car accident with serious injuries, if one of the drivers doesn’t have their license/registration/insurance with them, if you suspect the driver is impaired, or if one or more vehicle isn’t driveable_ you often do need to call the cops. I did mention “non-injury” and “not drunk” and later I mentioned “Fender bender” and inoperable vehicle". Of course, if they fail to ID themselves, you have no choice but to call the Cops. Yes, I know you mentioned “non-injury” and “not drunk” and “inoperable vehicle.” I was giving the complete definition for Alberta, even the parts that agreed with what you were saying. However, you also said that: > [@](#): > > In the case of a non-injury accident, (where it does not appear the other dude is drunk etc) there’s no need to “file a police report”. The police are here to work on crimes, not civil matters. In my jurisdiction, you still have to file a police report even if it is a non-injury, non-drunk driving, non-inoperable vehicle situation. If the combined damage is $2000, we have to file a report at the police station - this would seem to fit within what you describe as a “civil matter”. These days, it seems like it’s pretty easy to have that much damage - even less serious collisions can cause quite a bit of damage. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-cars-that-make-people-so-bat-shit-crazy/573431/53 "2011-03-10T16:46:16Z")
> [@TravisFromOR](#): > > (Bolding mine) > > In Oregon, you must file a report if the damage is above the specified amount. (I don’t recall the amount of damage needed to file, it’s actually a pretty low number.) This can be done through the DMV–no need to go to the police station. Right, same in CA. But generally your insurance company files for you. It’s a DMV matter, not a police matter. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-cars-that-make-people-so-bat-shit-crazy/573431/54 "2011-03-10T16:48:50Z")
> [@Waenara](#): > > However, you also said that:In my jurisdiction, you still have to file a police report even if it is a non-injury, non-drunk driving, non-inoperable vehicle situation. If the combined damage is $2000, we have to file a report at the police station - this would seem to fit within what you describe as a “civil matter”. These days, it seems like it’s pretty easy to have that much damage - even less serious collisions can cause quite a bit of damage. In CA, and in many states, the Report you have to file is with the DMV, not the Police, and your Insurance co usually does it for you. But in either case, you don’t need to call the police. Often the report can be done on-line. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-cars-that-make-people-so-bat-shit-crazy/573431.md?page=2)