Warning for younger aggressive drivers...

driving a large beater + parking lot at Christmas: one time I found myself in a parking spot and two guys in a small car thought the spot belonged to them.. There were two of them and one of me.....it was not worth fighting about, I reached into my pocket for my keys to let them have the spot.

At the time , I had a very large leather key folder with my keys, my wife's keys, work and hangar keys and keys for several properties that I was maintaining.

The one guy told the other " I think he is packing, lets get out of here" .......LOL, the spot was mine !

My only concealed weapon was a Swiss Army knife
 
Another Rural Rant.
The Excessively Polite Driver and the 4-Way stop.
And the city version with a stop on one street but not on the other. I have the stop and you don't, so don't stop and wave me through. Someone coming the opposite direction of you might not stop. In all fairness, there are a lot of intersections and some are 4-way while others are 2-way. You need to be looking closely to see which one it is.
 
NASCAR legend Richard Petty story: Richard would be in front , another driver would be on his tail lap after lap, just following and not trying to pass. Richard would let him there until he was following and not thinking.... Then Richard would drive hard and deep into the corner and recover......the half asleep tailgater would then drive too far into the turn, and not anticipating the need to recover, hit the wall
 
What’s the point in following him and blinding him with your lights? Especially if you are assuming he didn’t even understand why you were tailgating him. Sounds like a good way to escalate a situation with an unknown threat. (That’s a nice way of saying you were asking for a gun fight)

I was returning the favor and trying to teach him a lesson. Don't tailgate, check your bright lights and pass that car in front of you--that's why there are two lanes going each direction. Before I backed off, i flashed my lights several times, waving goodbye.
 
I was returning the favor and trying to teach him a lesson. Don't tailgate, check your bright lights and pass that car in front of you--that's why there are two lanes going each direction. Before I backed off, i flashed my lights several times, waving goodbye.
But in doing so you were creating the same dangerous situation he was previously. Do as you wish but your choice doesn’t meet my personal cost benefit analysis.
 
Bought a new Accord for my wife a couple of months ago. It has an automatic tailgating feature (radar based adaptive cruise control) with different settings including 'retired Wisconsin teacher' to 'Ma$$hole in F350'.
 
What the heck is a weave lane? Colorado thing?
Colorado has many ‘things’. The worst is the ‘sympathy slow’where folks in the extreme left lane slow because traffic in the extreme right lane has been held up. It’d never fly in Houston....
 
You wanna drive fast, drive fast... just don't be a dick about it. You wanna drive slow, drive slow... just get the hell out of the way. And whatever you do, put down the G D phone while you do it!!

DZ9w4e3UMAEl168.jpg:small
I'm totally stealing this pic!
 
I like the ones that are all self-righteous about how THEY are doing the speed limit, and I have no business going any faster than them. When they tell me about how they think its funny that I passed them and they caught up to me at the very next knot of traffic all driving line abreast, I'll ask them how much further down the road we'd all be if we used the lanes the way the engineers intended.

Over a 65 mile commute, I can shave 10 minutes off my drive and get about 5mpg more by using cruise control as much as possible, and not getting sucked into the conga line that is all those self-righteous pricks that think the value of absolute speed is calibrated to their 2010 Honda Prius.
 
I'll ask them how much further down the road we'd all be if we used the lanes the way the engineers intended.

Apparently the same amount if you’re talking to them out the car window... considering the speed limit has nothing to do with what traffic engineers know you’ll both be doing. :)

(Engineers don’t use the speed limit for their calculations of what rush hour traffic will be doing. They measure actual traffic at whatever speeds y’all are driving. And they know you’ll be bogged down at the same time as the Prius driver... overloaded roads are overloaded roads. It’s really rare any particular lane of traffic gets anywhere faster. If it’s moving that well, traffic fills in the gaps and quickly brings everyone back to the same average speed.)
 
Dangerous when he does it, "a lesson" when you do it. Got it.

Who said dangerous? Being tailgated at night by a bozo with hos bright lights on is annoying . . . . Stupid turd wouldn't use that fine left lane to go around me, just hung on my bumper in the right lane. So I demonstrated to him how annoying he was being. Had to slow to 35 in a 55 zone to get his butt to change lanes, he'd rather just stick two car lengths behind me.
 
Those are the "imports".
They've been driving 4WD SUVs in coastal SoCal for 18 years. Then they move to the hills. And think they "have experience".

Not just SUVs, it the proliferation of cars with AWD/4WD have emboldened drivers to think they’re better than they really are. Snow and rain are good equalizers. 4 x 0 is still 0 in terms of traction. It always amazes me to see people push limits on the road, only to run out of talent.
 
Someone wants to drive like the are in Mad Max? I will make an effort to let them by.

They ain't doing you no good if they are stuck behind you - let them get out ahead to shake the bushes for you.
 
I'm sometimes tempted to write tickets against the worst tailgaters and other myriad mobile maniacs, especially when people tailgate me when a passing lane is available. It seems that more and more drivers these days would rather tailgate, flash their headlights, honk the horn, and cuss, rather than simply pass the vehicle in front of them.

Mind you, I'm not a slow driver. I'm almost always speeding at least a little (and sometimes more than a little). I also avoid the left lanes unless I'm passing. So when I'm in the right lane going over the speed limit, and someone who could easily pass me on the left decides to tailgate me and otherwise act like an idiot drive aggressively instead, I'm tempted to slow down a bit so the camera recording has me at the speed limit, pull off at the next State Trooper barracks, and write them up. The rear camera catches both the vehicle's plate number and the driver's mug quite nicely.

The only reason I don't is because it's a bother. I've been told that civilians can write traffic tickets or request that a police officer write them on their behalf in New York, but it means subjecting oneself to the same annoyance and inconvenience that someone who receives a ticket endures (except without the possibility of a fine). I might still do it if I knew the ticket would be adjudicated close to home, but it would have to be a worst-of-the-worst driver situation.

Rich
 
Apparently the same amount if you’re talking to them out the car window... considering the speed limit has nothing to do with what traffic engineers know you’ll both be doing. :)

(Engineers don’t use the speed limit for their calculations of what rush hour traffic will be doing. They measure actual traffic at whatever speeds y’all are driving. And they know you’ll be bogged down at the same time as the Prius driver... overloaded roads are overloaded roads. It’s really rare any particular lane of traffic gets anywhere faster. If it’s moving that well, traffic fills in the gaps and quickly brings everyone back to the same average speed.)

I knew someone would step up and educate me on how the world REALLY works. Thanks!

I don’t actually “lean out the window” and talk to other drivers. But, this conversation always comes up work. And sometimes forums like this.

You are right about, stop & go traffic, where all lanes are crowded and dumbasses make things worse by trying to constantly change lanes. But that is not what I’m talking about. Most of my commute is that kind of traffic where one lone self appointed rolling road block keeps a line of cars hostage by staying even with a heavily burdened semi. Or, two lanes of traffic have seemingly succumbed to that white line delerium where the speed gradually slows down for no reason, until I finally see a break large enough to pass. Except now mr. Prius is willing to do 80 to stay in front of me and leaps over the lane to keep me from passing.
 
Most of my commute is that kind of traffic where one lone self appointed rolling road block keeps a line of cars hostage by staying even with a heavily burdened semi.

I will pass a semi as quickly and safely as I can, and if a semi is passing me I turn off the cruise. I have seen the results of what will happen if that big truck blows a steering axle tire. Anyone that just stays next to a big truck is just stupid.

These guys are trying to make a living, I'll do what I can to help them get around me, especially if I am pulling a trailer.
 
I'm the guy that most ****ole drivers hate. I only do, at most, 9 MPH above the speed limit. I use the 3 or 4 second rule on following distance, especially in heavy slow traffic.

My favorite thing to watch is the large ****ole trucks in the fast lane trying to go around me while I'm getting off the interstate. My airport exit is one of those rare left side exits. I'll merge over about a half mile before unless its bumper to bumper then I'll do about a mile. Inevitably one of those dudes will whip out from the middle lane and try to pass everyone and end up stuck behind me furious. Because they don't have the situational knowledge to remember that there's an left hand exit only seconds ahead. They honk, flash their lights and flip me off while I happily keep driving in my Subaru. Then without missing a beat they'll give a WTF look as I exit.
 
Merging onto the highway is an adventure, too. The car merging onto the highway has to blend in, not the other way around. A few years ago a semi was slowly passing me on the left. He hadn't gotten even with me yet, but was too close for me to cut in front. Normally I will move over, if able, for someone trying to get on, but this time I couldn't. I saw the Jeep coming down the on ramp and figured the timing would be right for him to pull in behind me with no effort on either of us. But he wanted in front of me so he accellerated, which put us even with the merge lane coming to an end. Things got exciting. C'mon people, lighten up.
 
I have 1.2M miles on the cars I've owned and maybe another 100k in rental cars. In 41 years of driving have never been in an accident and have had 2 speeding tickets. Never met any of the behavior I'm reading about on this post. There is an old saying, if you meet an *sshole in the morning then you've met an *aashole. But if you meet one in the morning and afternoon then guess what?
 
I knew someone would step up and educate me on how the world REALLY works. Thanks!

I don’t actually “lean out the window” and talk to other drivers. But, this conversation always comes up work. And sometimes forums like this.

You are right about, stop & go traffic, where all lanes are crowded and dumbasses make things worse by trying to constantly change lanes. But that is not what I’m talking about. Most of my commute is that kind of traffic where one lone self appointed rolling road block keeps a line of cars hostage by staying even with a heavily burdened semi. Or, two lanes of traffic have seemingly succumbed to that white line delerium where the speed gradually slows down for no reason, until I finally see a break large enough to pass. Except now mr. Prius is willing to do 80 to stay in front of me and leaps over the lane to keep me from passing.

LOL. You weren’t clear in your first post, but now it makes sense.

I have 1.2M miles on the cars I've owned and maybe another 100k in rental cars. In 41 years of driving have never been in an accident and have had 2 speeding tickets. Never met any of the behavior I'm reading about on this post. There is an old saying, if you meet an *sshole in the morning then you've met an *aashole. But if you meet one in the morning and afternoon then guess what?

Considering that you started your post with the very evidence that drivers do this stuff (speeding tickets, accidents galore), it would appear you’re missing something in your observations, or you’re being disingenuous about what you actually do see.

“There’s accidents and speeders all around me, but I’ve never seen it.” Not buying that silliness you’re sellin’, sorry. :)
 
I think our lizard brain fails us in this regard. Your first response comes from instincts honed on the African Savannah a million years ago. On the savannah, if somebody cut you off changing lanes, in order to survive you needed to reciprocate. But it doesn't serve us well in the 21st century. Give your primate brain a chance to think about it. Ask yourself, what was my goal this morning? Was it really to trade paint with someone on the way home? Or was it to get home and see my family?
 
I think our lizard brain fails us in this regard. Your first response comes from instincts honed on the African Savannah a million years ago. On the savannah, if somebody cut you off changing lanes, in order to survive you needed to reciprocate. But it doesn't serve us well in the 21st century. Give your primate brain a chance to think about it. Ask yourself, what was my goal this morning? Was it really to trade paint with someone on the way home? Or was it to get home and see my family?

Definitely agreed on that, but there’s also rationalization. Someone above right here in the threat has clearly has convinced themselves that saving ten minutes is worth doing illegal and dumb stuff. All sorts of rationalizations for speeding. Almost none of them hold much water.

My original post wasn’t intended to give the impression people “want to swap paint”, but it was intended to point out that if some idiot DECIDES to swap paint, a old dude in an 18 year old Subaru is going to find that way more amusing than anything else that happened that day.

And that kid wasn’t thinking with his reptile brain, he was thinking with a hormone that comes from a “brain” further down his body in the crotch area. :) He was square in that center bell curve of real data posted for fatal accidents, too.
 
Threads about speeding all end the same here on PoA: If you observe the speed limit you're an *******, an unsafe driver, and you're trying to enforce the law by not yielding the lane to the "faster" traffic.

Usually the "keep right except to pass" and "slower traffic keep right" mantra is trotted out.

Rarely does the passing on the right rule get mentioned as an issue for the frequent lane changer crowd, who I think wear out their high beam flash switch much more rapidly than needed... because.. that ******* in front of them is *gasp* driving the speed limit.
 
I smile and wave like I recognize them as some old friend. They’re either totally confused or really really mad. Hahahaha.

If their window is open I’ll ask some dumb question like “Hey man, does that thing have a turbo?” LOL.

I swear this is true. One time the guy at the light was so mad about it all, he ignored me smiling and probably other people giving him the stink eye too, just because of how lame he was driving.

Left turn light turns green, he’s in the straight lane and we’re both up front, me right, him left. He guns it to show how cool he is, and then comes screeching to a stop just before he t-bones a left turner from the other side. LOL.

I had my window down and normally I’d try to stifle it, but I’m sure he could hear me doubled over laughing out loud from the center of the intersection where all the left turners are now laying on their horns at him.

He reversed back to his spot to wait for the light and wouldn’t make eye contact anymore. Hahaha. I was laughing so hard my sides hurt for a few miles.
You’re brave. I always think the worst and think they’ll have a gun or knife so I try to avoid being snarky haha.
 
You’re brave. I always think the worst and think they’ll have a gun or knife so I try to avoid being snarky haha.

Ummm. I know you’re from out east, but around here we’re allowed to have our own gun for that rare eventuality. LOL. But there’s usually far better options.

Only gangbangers around here do any shooting from, or around cars. Even the worst road ragers aren’t dumb enough to pull guns in a State where a concealed gun is legal in any vehicle. :)

Armed society, polite society, and all that.

But honestly it’s in the delivery and being old. They can’t figure out if you’re serious or just old and weird.

You might not be able to pull this off yet, at your age. You’ll get to enjoy it later. :)
 
Maybe I read it wrong? You were entering the highway, then changing lanes in one motion, and expected the kid to yield? I might have it wrong. . .

Best advice I got was to strive to be invisible - nothing you do should make someone else change what they're doing.

You eff around out there, goofing, looking for payback, maybe get someone not involved dead or maimed.
 
Maybe I read it wrong? You were entering the highway, then changing lanes in one motion, and expected the kid to yield? I might have it wrong. . .

Best advice I got was to strive to be invisible - nothing you do should make someone else change what they're doing.

You eff around out there, goofing, looking for payback, maybe get someone not involved dead or maimed.

Who are you asking?

If you’re asking me, no... read it again.
 
So you responded to an aggressive driver by driving aggressively, and then chastised him for driving aggressively? Got it.
 
So you responded to an aggressive driver by driving aggressively, and then chastised him for driving aggressively? Got it.

Nope. My lane change was utterly normal and well over halfway into the lane he wanted to dart around and get into instead of merging with everybody else.

I just didn’t panic and dive out of his way when he decided to drive dangerously because the consequences wouldn’t have been anything but entertainment to me.

Go ahead, hit the 18 year old car merging normally... See how that works out for ya, kiddo. Hope you can insurance bump for years, and that Honda isn’t upside down already on the loan.

I might have to (yawn) go drive one of the other cars until I can pound out the bumper. If it even needs that.
 
I have 1.2M miles on the cars I've owned and maybe another 100k in rental cars. In 41 years of driving have never been in an accident and have had 2 speeding tickets. Never met any of the behavior I'm reading about on this post. There is an old saying, if you meet an *sshole in the morning then you've met an *aashole. But if you meet one in the morning and afternoon then guess what?

It does seem that most of the posts in this thread can be summed up as "I drive like an ass and deliberately mess with people, tell me how great I am".
 
Couple of years ago a kid ran a stop sign and T boned a cruiser that was carrying the police chief, mayor and city manager to a meeting. The kid driving the other car never even slowed down she was the daughter of the local state representative who was not well thought of by the city management. Things got interesting after that.
 
It does seem that most of the posts in this thread can be summed up as "I drive like an ass and deliberately mess with people, tell me how great I am".
Gotta agree - humans taking their neuroses and personal baggage on the road - been guilty of it myself, but have grown out of it, mostly, I hope. Too much mass, with too much inertia, to let emotion take over.
 
Couple of years ago a kid ran a stop sign and T boned a cruiser that was carrying the police chief, mayor and city manager to a meeting. The kid driving the other car never even slowed down she was the daughter of the local state representative who was not well thought of by the city management. Things got interesting after that.

Shows what the priorities of most narcissistic politicians are. Kid dies, they’re still thinking about politics.
 
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