Road rage. What would you do?

I would probably point to my glovebox and shout "GLOCK!" and then to my trunk "MAUSER!"

But more seriously, the best, and always the best, solution is simply to ignore it and leave them behind. Any other action can really only serve to make the situation worse.

 

give him the wank er sign then pull up they usually get scared and drive on but if he stops behind you and gets out see how big and young he is then if in doubt drive away fast

 

Dial 911 on the cell and at least steal some time from the jerk. The police are really good about responding to a road rage report. They'll pull the mope over and question him.

 

Couple of hundred, off duty police officer, hole in a rice paddy...

Oh wait, you're not on this side of the Pacific.

Never mind.

 

People these days are wierd- it is not worth getting into confrontations with anyone. Especially in the USA (and the UK to a large extent these days) where people can easily obtain guns...

 

Give these people distance, and humor them, however much it may pain you. I have been shot at on the highway (magnum, party arrested; misdemeanor since he didn't hit me or the car); and driven into at least once, at low speed, by a pregnant woman determined not to give me the right of way.
Despite what has been publicized about Road Rage generally, and notwithstanding people's increased awareness of it as an issue, i truly think it has gotten much worse. This may be due in part to the increased stress of modern day life in the US (and elsewhere, i dunno), and partly due to the fact that, once ensconced in their cars, people feel pretty invulnerable.
Acting out with them cannot help: you become part of the problem, from a law enforcement point of view, no matter who "started" it; and usually, it just increases the ante; unless you plan to drive them into a wall or ditch to incapacitate them, which makes them victims at your hands. So, in my estimation, its a no win.
Best option: have such pride in your driving skill that you just dismiss them as rank amateurs and work around them in a low key, non-confrontational way.

 

let him pass....
pull over to the next exit....
find the closest coffee shop, have yourself a cup of coffe, be thankful for all we have and realizing that it wouldn't matter....

 

That's hilarious. Pistols are banned in England so only the bad guys have them.

 

Shooting at someone is just a misdemeanor if you don't actually hit them? Is it just me or is this crazy? At least it's gross disregard for human life, gross negligence, death threat, etc... Misdemeanor?!?


Pat

 

I only wish I was as calm as you....

 

Interestingly enough, I had a similar situation not too long ago. Around 9pm one evening I was driving my father's Lexus down a long narrow two lane road through the woods (headed out to his house). I came up on this guy driving a panel van who was obviously driving slow just to "F" with me. He did a series of maneuvers to keep me behind him and slowly began to slow his vehicle. I immediately thought "carjacking" and kept checking my rearview mirror for a second vehicle. Hell, by this point I am in the middle of nowhere and they could have done with me and my father's car as they pleased...Anyhow, I put some distance between he and I just in case I had to get away from him. It's amazing how quickly your mind works when you are put into these situations...It would have been the perfect place to get me, the road was too narrow to turn around on quickly, and DEFINITELY too narrow to pull a Zanardi in a big LS 430! What should I do? The ditch is too deep to drive through, if he stops and it is a carjacking, who do I ram first? (My attitude is that if I am going to be a victim, for better or worse I am going to leave as much evidence as possible)...If the car behind me is smaller, than that's his a**. If either guy is dumb enough to walk directly in front of or behind the car, that's his a**. I am one of those people that would rather spend the rest of the evening trying to explain why some pr*ck is lodged underneath my car than to have my family go to the morgue to identify me...

Anyhow, the second vehicle never appeared, and suddenly this a**hole (uprevoked I might add) slides his van sideways in the middle of the road so that I cannot pass, jumps out of the van, and proceeds to throw his hands out and charge the car quite agressively. My father keeps a gun in his car, but I decided not to pull it. My reasoning was that this guy could have ANYTHING in that van and the last thing I want to do is turn this into a gun battle. My reaction was to pull the gun from the center console (he never saw it because I purposely kept it low and out of sight) and put it next to my right thigh (again, just in case). I put the car in reverse and backed up about 20 yards, and turned on all of the lights in the car so that he could SEE ME DIALING the police. Needless to say, he shouted a few profanities and ran back to his van. I gave the police all of the information I could remember, including a description of him and his liscense number.

I guess my point is that for whatever reason, you never know who you are going to come across on the road, what they are going through, and why. Thinking back on that night I become angry. I think to myself "I am not a small man, I could have beat the sh*t out of that guy and rolled his van into the ditch" - but in reality, none of us are that invincible, and in the end, it just ain't worth it.

-Cajun

 

I would bet that your driving may be a bit 'over-spirited', inviting people to get upset at you. I feel that moderate to aggressive driving while in a Ferrari just pisses off people even more. Try slowing down a bit. It's better to get home safe than to find yourself in a hospital with a .45 round in your chest......People are crazy these days and the right punk-lowlife won't think twice about pulling a weapon on you.

 

I also also found it strange that attempted murder isn't punished the same as murder, I mean it was your intent to kill so why not punish it the same you were looking for the same result

 

He can call me whatever he wants, as long as he gets out of the way.

Count yourself lucky that he pulled over and let you buy. Heck, he might have just been singing along to the radio.

Besides: "Whats-a behind me is not important."

I've never really understood the significance people place on random road encounters with complete strangers.
Does doing a "left-right shuffle" (on foot) to get past someone in a crowded mall ruin your whole day? Is this individual on your raise review board?
You're just shi*s that pass in the night.

According to a cable television program on the Autobahn, it's actually illegal to make rude gestures at each other in Germany. Verrry Interestink.

 

I this country a person cannot be punished the same for what he attempts to do and for what he actually achieves.

There is a punishment for attempted murder but just because a person points and shoots in another's direction doesn't necessarily make it so. What would be on trial is INTENT. If it was an act of aggression then yes, it can be construed as 'attempted' murder.

If the guy in the van was approaching me with a weapon in his hand and I felt my life was being threatened I would indeed defend myself with what ever means necessary.

In answer to the original scenario, I would have done just what ACW did. Smile, wave or back off, change lanes or take an exit.

 

What should be on trial is intent, if you shoot some one and they don't die from their wounds it is not your fault they did not die your intent was to kill them otherwise you would not have shot or stabbed or run over with a car if your intent was to cause death then it should be punished the same as if they died

 

In New York City YOU would have been arrested for having an unlicensed hand gun in your car (I'll assume unlicensed otherwise you should know you can't carry it in a glove compartment) if whatever you did with it was considered a crime, you would have done a mandatory one year in prison on the weapons charges alone. Don't leave a gun in a car....ever, lock it up or carry it on your person.

 

Merdav,

I am not familiar with NY law. In Louisiana, you are allowed to carry a gun in your car if you have a permit. All of our weapons are registered and we all have permits. I was shot at by a carjacker in Houston several years ago. This time the gun was exactly where I needed it when I needed it, and the whole thing was 100% legal.

 

Darn right!

Down here we jus' stick a six gun in our belt. LOL! With a few Speed Loaders.

Then I have the Remington 870 Riot Model in the trunk. If I ever have to grab that thing some lead will fly....18" barrel with a site bead..as if!

Carjacking in my neighborhood has fallen off dramatically..

Sorry to hear of your experience Cajun, were you on the East Side????

 

Just to reemphasize: there are some crazy ****ers out there. Think of yourself, as a rational person, who can get pissed by someone's rude or potentially reckless driving habits. Add to that the following factors: drugs or alcohol; mental and emotional defects; a bad day, ranging from a fight with the girlfriend/boss to something worse; add it up and your chances of meeting someone who is less respectful than you of you and your life are pretty high.
If i were in Cajun's position, i would have been glad to have the weapon. Problem is, if you are really in a situation that calls for it, you've got to use it, not just threaten with it. And that could get nasty. Particularly if you add to the above equation of drugged-out mental defective with a hard-on, a firearm in his or her hands. Just be careful out there, folks. Its a warzone, and with a high-profile car, you are even more of a target for people with issues.

 

the beauty of English law -- only criminals will protect themselves from attack with a firearm. so the criminals know there is very low probability you can do so. lovely.

act nice, but fore-armed is fore-armed and there is no substitute

speedy,

glad to meet another fan of the 870, truly the finest pump ever designed!
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I agree with you 100% Whart, which is why I made sure the gun was handy but he NEVER saw it. It was there simply as a last resort. I would NEVER have pulled it unless I was totally out of options, (i.e. he pulled a gun or a knife on me and I felt that it was my life or his).

Speedy 308,

My mother is from Houston and I have a lot of family out there. The incident with the carjacker happened back in '93 or '94 around the time everyone thought they were gangsters. My grandmother lives out in 5th ward and I was on my way out there to see her. I can't remember exactly where I was but I was not far from her house. Fortunately the guy did not hit the car and I escaped with only a cracked rim. The dumb a** was pulled over and tried to flag me down with his gun. When I did not stop, he began firing, I don't know whether or not he was shooting at me or in the air because I was on the floorboard with the gas all the way down. needless to say, I think I hit a pothole pretty hard because I cracked a rim and tore up my front spoiler pretty bad.