Road Rules and jerks.....

[Brian37]

On my very first driving lesson, my teacher, a mate said " drive as if every other person on the road is a complete pig; this is not true, so that means you usually have pretty fair margin of safety"

In my 20's, with my spiffy little Datsun 1600 (bought new) I did a lot of driving for pleasure, even had girlfriend who lived 50 miles away.  Happy times.

Today, I drive about 5000 km a year. My goal in driving is to stay alive and undamaged there and back. What really crumbles my cookies is coming back to my car at the supermarket, to discover some twerp has scratched my car. Scratches usually cost around $150 to get fixed.

I once saw some road rage; at traffic lights; 2 cars ahead: a large troglodyte got out of his car with a baseball bat. What followed scared the living shit out of me. Road rage is rare in my city and doesn't usually involve any kind of weapon..

I tend to give way a lot; don't care. As the saying goes "I'd rather be late than dead on time"

Road rage ends up with shit like this:

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Road rage is stupid and can end up with people getting seriously hurt. The guy in the video above is lucky the man in the white SUV didn't run him over and kill him. People are stupid and everyone always thinks they're right in road rage situations, even though there's usually one person who is clearly wrong. I had a woman almost hit me one time on a suburban side street after she failed to yield behind parked cars that were blocking her side of the road. I literally had to jerk my wheel right to avoid hitting her and I turned around to follow her to take her license plate down. She then slowed way down as I was following her and called the police on me as if I was the one in the wrong.

Turns out she ended up getting a ticket (or at least the cop told me) because she admitted that she didn't yield behind the parked cars and that we did almost hit one another. The cop tried to scold me for following her but I quickly shut that down and asked the officer what if she was drunk? Or legally blind and was never supposed to be driving in the first place?

All in all, I probably should've just let it go. Unless I saw someone who was really out of control on the road or unless they actually hit my car, I'm staying out of it. It's just not worth it. You never know who has a gun and a bad temper and might be at their wit's end and is ready to burn it all down because you accidentally cut them off or something. You never know what kind of nut you might be dealing with. Pride isn't worth getting shot or getting beat with a bat on the side of a highway.

Best thing with road rage, in my opinion, is avoidance and deescalation.

"Road rage" is due to the moron getting impatient and dangerously driving and blaming it on everyone else.

Public roads are not private raceways or drag strips. Every accident someone has because of their selfish sense of self entitlement costs everyone in higher car insurance and if injured also health insurance. I see nothing wrong with keeping your distance and waiting to safely pass or safely make a lane change.

[Cod]

I hate speeders. To me they're in the same category as drunk or drug drivers and people who use their phones while driving. The penalties for getting caught doing these things are not stiff enough in my opinion.
I'm a careful driver, I stick to the limits and people who don't really get to me. If they are right up my arse I slow down.

I once had a big fat bloke get out of his car at traffic lights banging on my car wanting to fight me. I told him all he needed to worry about fighting was diabetes.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

‘Have you ever noticed that anyone driving slower than you is an idiot but anyone driving faster than you is a maniac?’ - Carlin

Boru

[Brian37]

‘Have you ever noticed that anyone driving slower than you is an idiot but anyone driving faster than you is a maniac?’ - Carlin

Boru

I don't worry about what other drivers are doing other than to keep my distance from them. I worry about keeping my distance and not getting traffic tickets. 

Again, nobody is going to pay my traffic ticket or any insurance hike for getting a ticket or having an accident. 

I am under no obligation to risk my driving record or my safety because someone else is impatient.

[Cod]

Also those turds who overtake queuing traffic on the motorway and then try to push in at the last minute. I never let them in.

[EgoDeath]

"Road rage" is due to the moron getting impatient and dangerously driving and blaming it on everyone else.

Public roads are not private raceways or drag strips. Every accident someone has because of their selfish sense of self entitlement costs everyone in higher car insurance and if injured also health insurance. I see nothing wrong with keeping your distance and waiting to safely pass or safely make a lane change.

I agree, it always begins with some asshole thinking they have the right of way (often when they don't) and escalates from there.

I'm at the point where I'd rather pull over and just wait a couple minutes until the person is down the road and out of my life for good, rather than get embroiled in some battle of "You were supposed to let me over" or something like that. It just isn't worth it.

Also those turds who overtake queuing traffic on the motorway and then try to push in at the last minute. I never let them in.

Do you mean when the road is closed off like a half a mile up and people wait until the last minute to merge into one lane?

Because that's actually how you're SUPPOSED to do it. You're SUPPOSED to merge in at the last minute, and people who are in the unblocked lane are SUPPOSED to let people over.

[tackattack]

@PRJA93 "You're SUPPOSED to merge in at the last minute, and people who are in the unblocked lane are SUPPOSED to let people over. "
You're not supposed to let people over. The onus is on the car merging to fit into traffic,not traffic to allow for cars to merge. It is the polite thing to do, but not anywhere close to a legal or societal "supposed to".

[EgoDeath]

@PRJA93 "You're SUPPOSED to merge in at the last minute, and people who are in the unblocked lane are SUPPOSED to let people over. "
You're not supposed to let people over. The onus is on the car merging to fit into traffic,not traffic to allow for cars to merge. It is the polite thing to do, but not anywhere close to a legal or societal "supposed to".

You're right in that it's not a "legal or societal 'supposed to,' but it is what makes for a better flow of traffic.

So, yea, you're supposed to.

Or, you can be a dick and refuse to let people over, causing bigger traffic build-ups and possibly accidents. I guess that's fine, if your pride is more important. In my opinion, THOSE types of drivers are the problem. Don't be a dick, let the guy in front of you. It's truly not that big of a deal. You'll probably end up being in front of him by the next few red lights. Let it go.

edit: Oh! The NY Times actually also did an article on this.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/13/us/wh...affic.html

[Gawdzilla Sama]

In 1966 I took Driver's Education in the summer. They don't seem to teach that any more.

[Jackalope]

In 1966 I took Driver's Education in the summer. They don't seem to teach that any more.

FWIW, Driver's Ed is required to get a license as a minor in WA state.