Sunday, October 24, 2010

Road Rage and You...

While I was riding to work one morning last week, I had the good fortune to notice two guys with WAAAAAYYY more testosterone than the rest of us on the road trying to out do each other because one felt somehow slighted by the other.

The first idiot was driving a white Acura Integra. The second was driving a big ass, jacked up F-250 pickup. While we were taking the interchange from one highway to another, the Integra driver got a little impatient and decided to move out of the left lane and run up the right lane to the front of the pack. As the lanes merged, he rolled on the shoulder and slid in directly in front of the aforementioned big ass pickup.

The pickup driver took apparent offense to this act, and when the entrance / exit lane met up with the highway, he threw on his left turn signal for one quick blink, moved a lane to the left and romped on it, spewing thick black diesel exhaust from his modified tailpipe. Well, mister Integra saw this coming and reacted as any good Integra driver would.

He swerved into the lane in front of the pickup without signaling.

This kept up for about a mile until the pickup truck driver finally got in front of the Integra, after weaving through traffic and almost taking out a half dozen cars and a motorcyclist (thankfully not me). The little boy driving the pickup jumped on the brake pedal and locked up his rear wheels, effectively smoking the Integra out of sight of those behind it. The driver of the Integra had obviously had enough and dove for a nearby exit.

Folks these days just can't let a perceived wrong go unpunished. Somebody cuts them off and they will not quit until they get revenge. They don't give a rat's ass who they hurt, scare or piss off in the process.

I just wish those little boys would save their Johnson Jousting for somewhere other than the goddamned freeway.

I put myself in harm's way enough at work. I don't need that shit while I'm trying to get there...

9 comments:

Carteach said...

Had some thoughts on such activity, as it has become far more common than it used to be.

Perhaps.... people can shrug off the occasional occurrence of someone driving like an ass, and aggressively towards them... if there was a respite. But it happens constantly these days... all the time... every day... and good drivers see themselves abused without end. The folks who break so many rules (AKA Integra child) do that to others every time they drive, and those people made into small victims by the aggressive drivers KNOW they have no recourse.

Perhaps the feeling of being abused and powerless to stop it just builds till people snap.

Jeff said...

Prehaps an IQ exam should be part of your driving test as there are too many fools on the road these days.

Well Seasoned Fool said...

If you want to see a lot of road rage, drive the speed limit instead of with the flow. We drive test cars with full "Black Boxes".
All have recorders and many are GPS slaved with enabled cell phone monitoring. Company policy is no speeding, period. The data is uploaded every shift and analyzed.

Just imagine, if we had video, how many "Red Light Camera" type tickets could be issued. Probably some legalities involved here.

Shalom said...

Can't you write tickets while on the way to work? Seems like two easy ones...

Officer "Smith" said...

Shalom,

Unfortunately I was on my personal motorcycle.

Moose said...

When I can wind up next to people like this I lean out my window and scream,

"SO SORRY ABOUT YOUR TINY PENIS!!!"

AHHHHH. Much better than standard road rage.

Mad Jack said...

Carteach0 makes a good point.

Driving is a form of standing in line. When we drive, we tacitly agree to abide by the rules of the road, which include prohibitions against driving on the shoulder to get to the head of the line. Bad driving provides its own reward, which is moving closer to the head of the line at the expense of those people standing in line behind you. Drivers who violate the rules of the road do so because they have learned that their bad behavior is very likely to go unpunished, and at the same time will provide them with an immediate reward and perceived advantage.

Messrs. Integra and Pickup both need a time out while they contemplate their bad behavior. Thirty days without a license sounds about right.

FlyTrap50 said...

You have to just ignore these people. You may feel like you need to say something, but let me give you a real life example on a call I had a few weeks ago.

Girl honks her horn at her sister as she is picking her up from work. Lady in front of her thinks she is honking at her. They exchange finger gestures and pleasantries. Lady follows girl and her sister down the street. Lady's boyfriend gets out of the car and beats the snot out of the two girls.

Just let it go. You never know who you are dealing with.

Officer "Smith" said...

The truly insane part is that around here these little fits often end up with shots fired.