Road Rage Victim

[WheelsVT]

I'm writing this to vent and calm down so sorry for the length...

Driving home early today to take the wife to first dr. appt for second pregnancy (thank you thank you I'm not in a hurry, and not driving aggressively. Within 5 miles of my house I vaguely remember passing a gold taho who pulled into the left lane behind me and started following closely. A couple miles and a few turns later, and he's still there. I'm starting to feel suspicious that he's following. I decide to test this by faking a turn into an office complex only to pull back onto the road, and sure enough he follows right on my tail! Now I'm freaked, and not going to lead him to my house so I keep driving and thinking.
I think that getting a few cars between us would be good so I pull a U into a subdivision, and wait for a few cars to get close enough so that when I pull out he can't follow. As I'm pulling off I see in the rear view that he was out of the suv (door still open) and was walking up to my car. He turns and jumps back in, and is now 3 cars back.
Now I call 911, and explain the sit. they tell me where the sheriffs office is, and I head that way. Unfortunately, I pass the turn and need to turn around. I turn at a light, and pull another U only to find him stopped at the light where I turned. My light turns green, and I turn left toward him and the direction I came from. He moves into the oncoming lane to block me , but the lane is wide enough for me to swerve around. I don't think he was able to make the U thanks to traffic, and there was no sign of him by the time I reached the sherrif's office.
Now I couldn't care less about a good yelling or scuffle, but in these days I'm more worried about a weapon. They tell me I did the right thing, but I find myself wanting more of a resolution so I don't look over my shoulder, and to know what I did to tick him off so badly. Usually when I piss someone off I know why it happened. Not the case here, and all the more reason to run vs find out.

[Logan]

Despite your overuse of smilies, I'm glad you're okay.

[MizzouRah]

any nut job that gets out of his car to confront you is probably just that.. seems like you did the logical thing to me...

[sterlingice]

Yeah, smart moves and probably had your head more in it than most of us in that situation.

SI

[Crim]

Maybe your secret girlfriend's husband wants to ask you some questions.

[Crim]

...or it's the Libyans.

[Draft Dodger]

that's fucked up.

a few years ago, I was on my way home late one night and got stuck behind a slowsie in a beat up Rabbit. I don't think he liked me riding his bumper, as he started slowing down until we got to a long bridge and stopped entirely. And when I moved to go around him, he pulled out and blocked me. This stupidity went on for a while until I ultimately had to literally deke him out with my own POS Sentra to get by him - a very dangerous manoeuver with the freaking ocean on both sides of us.

[WheelsVT]

Originally Posted by Logan

Despite your overuse of smilies, I'm glad you're okay.

figured they'd help illustrate my thoughts at those moments.

[WheelsVT]

Originally Posted by Crim

...or it's the Libyans.

The Libyans!!! Run for it Marty!!!

no this suckas electrical, but I need plutonium to generate the 1.21 jigawatts of electricity I need to power the flux capacitor. ... yeah that's what I needed.

Actually I just went and removed my bike rack from the roof, it's time for a haircut, I was wearing glasses when I usually wear contacts, and my plates from my former state are still valid. Ok, the last one is going a bit far.

[sterlingice]

No, I think that fell into "Loren " territory but at least you had some thought behind it...

SI

[Logan]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

No, I think that fell into "Loren " territory but at least you had some thought behind it...

SI

Well done...I was trying to think of who that reminded me of.

[WheelsVT]

oh well. sorry for the smilies. I don't know the Loren reference, but I get the idea.

[Vinatieri for Prez]

Sounds like you handled it quite well. Anyone who loses it badly like that even if they were cut off somehow or inconvenienced on the road is a looney. Hell, people make mistakes and shit happens. Getting your knickers in a twist about it is just stupid. But with the stories you hear now about weapons and assaults, you definitely have to handle the situation seriously as if your life or health is at risk.

I had a similar thing happen. I was turning onto a road from a parking lot to the far lane. The car on the near lane for some reason thought I made him have to slow down (believe me, the guy was far down the road so I had plenty of time to pull out without making him have to adjust his driving) I'm guessing it turned out the guy was going about 80 mph in a 30 mph zone. I don't think much about it until I saw the guy a minute later on my bumper. He must have turned around and did about a 100 mph to catch up to me (this was not a highway). He gets out of his car at a stop sign but gets back in as I keep going (he has a buddy in the passenger seat). At the next light when we're stopped, he gets out and asks me to roll down my window. Knowing better, I decline (I had a friend get punched out through a window). He punches the window. The light turns green and I turn right at the intersection (planning a b-line for the police station about 5 minutes away -- I'm not about to take on two guys on in the middle of the road). He eventually stops following me.

The fact the guy would lose it because he was doing something stupid in the first place was really quite amazing. The fact he would endanger everyone on the road by turning around and driving as fast as he did even more so.

And all for what? He sensed someone left the parking lot a little sooner than he thought when he must have been speeding like a mad man? And even so, what if it was an honest mistake? There is only one explanation. The guy is just crazy -- the type that beats his wife, or kills a dog, or his next door neighbor over a fight about tree limbs.

Such is the human race.

[Maple Leafs]

The killer is still in the car!

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by WheelsVT

oh well. sorry for the smilies. I don't know the Loren reference, but I get the idea.

It's no big deal- we just felt the need to make a board reference

Search on Members List and find Loren and if you check our her post history, you'll know what we meant

SI

[cartman]

Sorry about that. I was just trying to tell you your right rear tire looked a couple of pounds low.

[Steveski]

I had a guy once cut me off and then pull in front of me. I stupidly shoot the bird at him. He stopped suddenly in front of me and I realize there were 3 other guys in the car with him. He got out of his car and started to walk towards me. I see the business suit he's wearing and suddenly realize this should be fun, so I quickly jump out of my car and make a quick move towards him. He jumps back in his car like a scared rabbit and drives off like crazy. It was funny. Though, I'm not into fighting, I really did not thing some guy in a business suit wanted to roll around on the side of the road with me.

But in the situation you were in, you did the right thing.

[Rizon]

My wife cut this guy off once on the highway (she's a bad driver). The guy then speeds up next to us and starts shouting obscenities and giving us the finger. I felt she deserved it so I let it slide, but the guy just kept going on and on and on and on.

So I rolled down my window and told him to fuck off. He LITERALLY slammed on his brakes, going from 70 mph to a dead stop on the HIGHWAY, nearly wiping out all cars behind him, JUST so he could get behind us and starting trying to ride our bumper. Luckily he was in a POS beat-up old pickup and we were able to outrun him.

[pennywisesb]

Continuing to drive is probably the safest thing you can do. There's really no point in confronting someone like that, because they are already being irrational by following you. Believe me, I live in LA, and people get shot for getting out of their cars in situations like that....

[Craptacular]

Both front and rear-mounted rocket launchers are always a good idea.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Craptacular

Both front and rear-mounted rocket launchers are always a good idea.

I've always believed that two things need to be added to whatever vehicle I am driving and one one elses. One: laser guided rockets. Two: a marquee where I could type whatever I wanted for other drivers- stuff like "way to use your turn signal" or "I'm sure that phone conversation is more important that realizing you're driving 40 on an interstate"

SI

[Logan]

I can see an in-dash keyboard to type messages to other drivers being a bit of a safety risk, maybe even a little worse than being on a cell phone. The rockets sound cool though.

Seriously though, I have a co-worker who wants to develop something similar to your marquee that would attach to your car, but it would only have pre-written messages that could be activated at the press of a button. Much safer.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Logan

Seriously though, I have a co-worker who wants to develop something similar to your marquee that would attach to your car, but it would only have pre-written messages that could be activated at the press of a button. Much safer.

Actually, after years of thinking of it, I had determined this was probably the best way to go- basically have a 10-key pad with stored messages for each. It's not as if you're going to have too many different "witicisms" to pass along to idiots on the road.

SI

[cartman]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Two: a marquee where I could type whatever I wanted for other drivers- stuff like "way to use your turn signal" or "I'm sure that phone conversation is more important that realizing you're driving 40 on an interstate"SI

That day is closer than you might expect:

hxxp://www.au-my.com/english/Drivemocion.htm

[sterlingice]

Well, a couple of days ago, I saw a small truck, about the size of a moving van but it was an advertising vehicle. By that I mean, for like $75, you could get this truck to drive around with your truck sized billboard on the side (or so one of his rotating signs said) as part of his daily rotation or something like that.

Now if I had cash to burn, I'd enjoy following him around all day after renting out a couple of signs like
"Get off the phone and drive. Yes, you in the car right next to me"
and
"Only jerks with aggressive needs to overcompensate tailgate as closely as you"

SI

[cuervo72]

Did see a car with an LED in the license plate frame the other day. Only seemed to have one repeating message though.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Well, a couple of days ago, I saw a small truck, about the size of a moving van but it was an advertising vehicle. By that I mean, for like $75, you could get this truck to drive around with your truck sized billboard on the side (or so one of his rotating signs said) as part of his daily rotation or something like that.

I saw something like this for the first time driving back from Texas. It was foggy, and I couldn't tell why the thing in front of me looked like a motorcycle from behind but with a big cab. Turns out it was a billboard for...I don't recall, now that I think about it.

[Ksyrup]

About 15-20 years ago, I had a stack of business cards someone gave me that had a picture of Mickey Mouse with his middle finger extended and the saying, "Nice driving, asshole!" Obviously, they weren't much use while on the move, but occasionally I'd end up in the same parking lot as some moron who had pissed me off on the road and I'd leave one on his windshield.

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by WheelsVT

no this suckas electrical, but I need plutonium to generate the 1.21 jigawatts of electricity I need to power the flux capacitor.

1.21 GIGAWATTS!?!?!

[WheelsVT]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Actually, after years of thinking of it, I had determined this was probably the best way to go- basically have a 10-key pad with stored messages for each. It's not as if you're going to have too many different "witicisms" to pass along to idiots on the road.

SI

Reminds me of the Dukes of Hazzard type car horns you can install that have multiple horn sounds. In fact my grandfather had one. Replace that with a mega-phone with recorded sayings and you're all set. One better would be to wire it into the car so you can "flip on the PA" and everyone within half a mile hear a more personalized message.

[WheelsVT]

Originally Posted by cartman

Sorry about that. I was just trying to tell you your right rear tire looked a couple of pounds low.

dola
I KNEW the guy was a member here! I guess I wasn't respectin cartman's "author-i-tI".

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by WheelsVT

... wire it into the car so you can "flip on the PA" and everyone within half a mile hear a more personalized message.

[ctmason]

My father was once involved in a road rage incident of epic proportions. After accidentaly cutting someone off on the Interstate, the driver apparently began tailgating my dad and laying on his horn.

To give you an idea of a timeframe, my Dad was in his pretty new '76 Capri and, he tells me, he believes it was an LTD that followed him. After a couple miles of this tailgating, Dad exits and pulls over to the shoulder of the ramp. "I was ready to go ahead and fight," he reminds me. As soon as the guy gets out of the LTD, Dad puts the Capri into reverse and bumps the LTD (From Dad: "Thing had urethane bumpers it was great."). The guy who had charged out of the LTD now jumps back into the car, recognizing my father's not going to fight fair, and pulls off.

My Dad, not satisfied, now speeds off following HIM and returns on the expressway going the opposite direction, tailgating and honking the horn for a few miles before finally giving up the chase.

Yep, the late 70s were good days for road raging.

[Butter]

Originally Posted by ctmason

Yep, the late 70s were good days for road raging.

Throw in the exploding Pintos, and I bet it was loads o' fun.

[sterlingice]

Yeah, if he had hit him with an exploding Pinto, that would have showed him

SI

[Passacaglia]

If you guys want to see the worst movie ever, check out "Road Rage"

[MizzouRah]

Reminds me of the game, "Road Rash". I loved that game.