What's with the Road Rage?

[LtScott14]

Told Wifey about the windshield washer vs tailgater plan and she laughed so hard thought she was crying.

Back in the day, I went shopping for a 2 gun shoulder holster to use when I was motorcycling. Wifey asks "if you need to carry 2 handguns while riding, why not take the truck and carry an AK47?" Wonder if the tailgating would stop if the "gaiter" saw a slung AK w/ 2-30 rd mags taped together on a biker? Local coppers might be a bit uneasy huh?

Well the M/C biking days ended when my BIL got hit and killed sitting at a red light.
The drunk that hit him received 3 yrs of home arrest/ probation.(he did spend 90 days in the county jail) 2 yrs later got arrested for another alcohol caused charge(Public Intox, and Battery), and 1 month later guess what? Another DUI. No more M/Cs for me. Now that causes road rage.

I do carry a Rem 870 in the truck now. Also carry 2 hi cap handguns. My commute to work is 9 miles each way. It still is Indiana, we allow lawful carry.

 

[churchmouse]

I love messing with tailgaters!
Windshield washing fluid while going fast is awesome.
Especially if they have their windows down!

I tend to put the truck in drive (out of OD) and lift throttle. It gets silly interesting at times.

 

[Enthusiast]

I've been told by an OTR truck driver that Indiana has more than it's fair share of rude drivers. I guess Hoosier Hospitality does not extend to the roadways!

 

[eldirector]

My favorite response to a "special needs" driver:
Pirate4x4.Com : 4x4 and Off-Road Forum - Powered by vBulletin

It still makes me chuckle.

My personal views:
- Cars are too easy to drive. So, folks now drive too fast and multi-task (read: stop paying attention). Reset every vehicle with a manual transmission, non-antilock brakes, and leaf springs, and then folks will HAVE to concentrate on driving.
- Cars are too sound-proofed. This lets everyone live in their little bubble, and no longer interact with anything around them. Heck, you can't' even hear emergency sirens in a newer car with the radio on.
- Everyone is always in a hurry. Not for any GOOD reason, just poor time management and biting off too much. Slow down, and enjoy life. No reason to rush to the end!

 

[IndyDave1776]

So, I just had an interesting experience on 465.

I was driving along in the center lane, when I realized that there was a car that had been keeping pace with me for a good minute or so in the right lane. I look over, and the guy in this car is just staring at me. So I give a little smile and a wave, then eyes back front. I glance back over a second later, and this guy is still staring at me.

He then speeds up, which only brings him closer to the bumper of the car he's following. The other car must have slowed down because a few seconds later he was right back to neck and neck with me. He looked back in my car, and I shrugged at him.

He then started gesturing wildly, and he looked like he was yelling something, but I obviously couldn't hear him. Having no idea what he wanted, I just held my shrug, when he hit his brakes, switched to the center lane behind me, then switched to the left lane, then sped up to get neck and neck with me again, and just kept staring, gesturing, and yelling. I was over it at this point, so I winked, blew a kiss, and looked forward again.

I had no idea what was going on at this point, but he started swerving as he stared at me - and came damned close to side-swiping my car. I instinctively moved a bit farther to the right - and that's when I realized he wasn't swerving, he was merging into the center lane, whether I was occupying it or not!

Luckily, there was no one in the right lane - I merged over, he got into the center lane and sped off. I don't get it -it's not like the center lane would get him where he was going any faster, the left lane he was already in was totally clear. Seriously, WTF?

It is hard to explain some people beyond taking comfort in the knowledge that in order to truly understand them you would have to be one of them--so the best I can offer is to be happy that you are not. So far as I can grasp it, most of these problems stem from self-centered attitudes and indifference to the needs of others or any concern for seeing traffic as a system that works much better when most involved are willing to apply a small modicum of decency and brain activity. The difference between people is that there are a few of us who drive like we play chess and a surplus of people who are highly impatient, opportunistic, and therefore unstable in their driving habits. If I had to field a guess, this guy probably had a burr under his saddle over considering your presence inconvenient for some reason connected with the general tendency for people to treat 465 like the autobahn. I have noticed that once this mindset takes root, that person is going to be a pain to you even if there are two other lanes without a soul in them. The only redeeming quality in this from my perspective is that generally I am quite safe from reckless/aggressive/dangerous/threatening drivers in my semi.

I've been told by an OTR truck driver that Indiana has more than it's fair share of rude drivers. I guess Hoosier Hospitality does not extend to the roadways!

This is true of most everywhere, but in my experience both Tennessee and Illinois are far worse. Nashville can be downright dangerous!

 

[Caleb]

I been tailgated while I was driving my dads old 1986 golf...at the next acceleration, I gave the old girl's skinny pedal a stomp and smoked the tailgaters out behind me with the diesel. They learned pretty quickly...

 

[gunworks321]

I love messing with tailgaters!
Windshield washing fluid while going fast is awesome.
Especially if they have their windows down!

That is an especially cool trick when it is a convertible with the top down!
Man, they hate that.

 

[BE Mike]

It's the me generation. People don't care about anyone else. There are a lot of really messed-up people out there.

 

[eldirector]

My tactics for dealing with tailgaters:
- The Jeep's offroad tires have very deep tread, and are great at picking up debris and throwing it rearward. Just drive a little right of center, and toss gravel/grit/trash back a good car length or so. Works even better in the snow/slush.
- Brake late for curves, and take them a bit faster than normal. Actually had a lady drop BOTH her cell phone and coffee one morning, when she realized that the road was now OVER THERE.
- Drive EXACTLY the speed limit. They eventually get frustrated enough to go tailgate someone else.

I mostly just ignore them, though. What are they going to do? Hit me? The Jeep's bumper is 3/16" steel and radiator height for them. It would take something fairly significant to be more than a minor annoyance to me. It would be a very bad (expensive) day for them. So, I just ignore them.

 

[Caleb]

My tactics for dealing with tailgaters:
- The Jeep's offroad tires have very deep tread, and are great at picking up debris and throwing it rearward. Just drive a little right of center, and toss gravel/grit/trash back a good car length or so. Works even better in the snow/slush.
- Brake late for curves, and take them a bit faster than normal. Actually had a lady drop BOTH her cell phone and coffee one morning, when she realized that the road was now OVER THERE.
- Drive EXACTLY the speed limit. They eventually get frustrated enough to go tailgate someone else.

I mostly just ignore them, though. What are they going to do? Hit me? The Jeep's bumper is 3/16" steel and radiator height for them. It would take something fairly significant to be more than a minor annoyance to me. It would be a very bad (expensive) day for them. So, I just ignore them.

Funny... When somebody tailgates me and I'm not in a diesel, I let off the cruise/gas peddle and let the car coast down till they get the point or get annoyed to the point where they just go around. Works well most of the time...

 

[ArcadiaGP]

If you're being tailgated in the left/passing lane... get out of the left/passing lane and let them pass. No need to be an *******.

Had a guy a week or so ago, during those huge storms... speed ahead of me to my right, switch into the left lane in front of me, then absolutely SLAM on his brakes to try and get me to wreck. I couldn't see a damn thing because of the rain.

 

[beararms1776]

I notice a lot of erratic driving to. Some people just don't have any patience. They're always in a hurry to get to the next red light because 90% of the time when they pass me, that's where you catch up to them. Burn that gasoline!

 

[Bailey06]

I drive defensively most of the time while being on 465 or 65.
I have seen alot of idiots on the road .

 

[tsm]

I normally keep my pickup in the Interstate's right lane running at or just above the speed limit going to and from work (I find going faster pulls $ out of my pocket due to much worse gas mileage) using cruise control most of the time. Amazing how many people will run up directly behind at a high closing speed, slam on the brakes, and then just sit on my bumper instead of going around, even when the other lanes are clear. Maybe they think I'm going to suddenly accelerate for them?

Never do, and eventually they get the hint. So far, no one's tried to put their radiator into my bumper or trailer hitch, but if they do, I figure they'll get the worst of it!

 

[Caleb]

If you're being tailgated in the left/passing lane... get out of the left/passing lane and let them pass. No need to be an *******.

Had a guy a week or so ago, during those huge storms... speed ahead of me to my right, switch into the left lane in front of me, then absolutely SLAM on his brakes to try and get me to wreck. I couldn't see a damn thing because of the rain.

smells like insurance fraud

 

[MikeDVB]

smells like insurance fraud

Yeah, and on the interstate in the rain who is going to stop to be a witness? Your word versus theirs and the fact that you rear-ended them in a storm doesn't bode well.

 

[ArcadiaGP]

Yeah, and on the interstate in the rain who is going to stop to be a witness? Your word versus theirs and the fact that you rear-ended them in a storm doesn't bode well.

It was extremely apparent what he was trying to do.

I need a dash-cam... like everyone in Russia :P

 

[MikeDVB]

I actually looked into getting dash cams a little bit ago just due to all of the stupidity out there. I had a guy back into me, then claim that I backed into him, and neither insurance company would pay for the damages to my car...

Wasn't enough to make filing a suit worth it, but was enough that I wasn't happy about paying to have it fixed.

 

[Caleb]

It was extremely apparent what he was trying to do.

I need a dash-cam... like everyone in Russia :P

Know of a small dash cam unit I can hide in the jeep that won't attract thieves?

 

[MikeDVB]

Know of a small dash cam unit I can hide in the jeep that won't attract thieves?

I ended up just getting a window mount for my iPhone and I plug it in and put it on record when I'm driving around.

Detaches from the window easily when I get out.