Stress... The bodys reaction to the mind overriding the urge to choke the &W#( out of someone.

[OUTFXD]

Took my kid to a dr appointment.  He took me out to dinner.  

 

By the time I got headed home it was well passed dark.  I get out of the city onto a properly dark country road.  and I get some jerk riding my tail with those bright white headlights on High Beam and his driving lights on.   the glare in my rearview is so bright that I can barely see my instruments,  much less the road ahead of me.  But I can see the shadow of my car in the trees that line the road,  from the light cast by his lights.

 

"Maybe he doesnt realize his high beams are on" I think to my self.   An on coming car  rounds the bend in front of us and the guy following me dims his lights and turns off the road lights.  Car passes us and the High beams come right back on.

 

At this point I realize the guy is just being an A&^ and pull over , letting him bye.  

 

I think to myself  how easy it would be to run up on his rear bumper and shine my spot through his rear window.   I sit back in my seat and relax as his taillights disappear knowing that I am the better man. 

[Ivan_B]

5 minutes ago, OUTFXD said:

At this point I realize the guy is just being an A&^ and pull over , letting him bye.  

Next time, just stay calm and go 10 miles below the posted speed limit. Ain't nothing he can do about it. Let him cross the double solid line to pass you

Also, this is probably more of an off-topic thread.

[OUTFXD]

29 minutes ago, Ivan_B said:

Also, this is probably more of an off-topic thread.

 

You are correct.  Sorry,  I just needed to vent.

[Ivan_B]

But you are still the better man, right? ? Don't worry about jerks. They are probably just jealous that you are the one driving a fancy antique car. And to compensate for this, the "baboons" attempt to assert their "dominance" over others around them, which, of course, is usually expressed in a way offensive to a reasonable and intelligent mind ?

[Los_Control]

Sometimes I think it is just the way the past generation raised their kids with no manners.

 

I went on a little road trip Last Thursday. Was a 4 hour drive each way, so I hit the road at 5:00 AM .... Would put me at my destination just after 9:00 AM to load up a engine. Then still get home at a decent hour.

 

While going through some road construction on I20 about 6:00 AM it was still dark and rush hour traffic with people going to work. Traffic was slowed down to stop & go in the right lane .... Not much better in the left lane.

 

Looking in the drivers mirror there was a line a mile long in the left lane .... no chance to move over .... eventually a space appeared and I had room so I took it.

All I'm saying is it was stop & go traffic and I pulled in front of a semi truck ..... they left themselves way too much space for the speed we were traveling.

 

So for the next few miles the semi truck driver kept flashing  his high beams & driving lights into the back of my truck. .... I get it, he was pissed off.

 

What I walk away with, just a young driver that has no experience .... showing his road rage for such a trivial event at 30 mph or less.

Possibly his first run after getting his license, or possibly his last run if he keeps up the childish behavior.

 

Yeah I was pissed at his behavior at the time  ..... several days later, I do not feel I'm a better man .... I just feel they were a ignorant man and have a lot of growing up to do.

[DonaldSmith]

I'm an excellent driver. 

But not everyone thinks so. 

Visitng my daughter's parish, the epistle and sermon were about us all being part of the Mysical Body, all of us with different functions but part of the same body.

After Mass, on the way out, I told Father that sometimes when I am driving, people suggest what part of the body I am. 

He laughed. 

  

[plymouthcranbrook]

I have found as I will bet many of you have as well that I am very rarely annoyed by what other drivers do.  I have been driving for 56 or so years and if I haven’t seen it all I have seen most of it.  I watch while out and try to figure out what dumb way a driver will respond to any situation and expect that to happen.  I avoid driving before 9 AM and after 4PM if possibly as the number of clowns out there are less.  I still will drive in those hours if I have to but carefully.  And when someone cuts me off or does something stupid I find that what’s left of my manhood just doesn’t care anymore.  Just let it go and hope it goes far away.

[Dodgeed]

Yeah, I've been in similar situations, driver behind me too close and passing unsafely and seeing him do it again and again down the road. I always remind myself, he's just an A**Hole and he does it to everyone, not just me. I find listening to slow oldies helps in these situations. 

[oldodge41]

I used to ride my motorcycle to work. 40 miles on very rural roads, at 5:00am, with deer everywhere. Almost every morning some clown would tailgate me and his lights would blind me. I could see my shadow on the road ahead of me. I would hit the turn signal, move right and wave him past.  He would floor it and leave me in a smoke filled haze from his diesel pickup. At the next town he would typically be at the convenience store when I rode past. Good thing he got past me, his favorite donut may have been sold before he got there. Funny thing is if I had my car or pickup he never tailgated me. Some days it pissed me off, other days I really didn't care. I guess it was up to me if I wanted it to bother me or not.

[nonstop]

I daily drive my old stuff.  Funny, on the freeway I am in the slow lane most of the time.  If I get tailgated or high beamed… I go even slower.  Not necessarily to be a jerk, but for crying out loud, I cannot pull to the right.  Most people are okay on the freeway.  On city streets on the other hand - people just drive stupid.  My biggest issue is the people that refuse to dim their high beams.  My stuff is still 6 volt, so it is not quite as effective trying to high beam them.  I work at night, so it really screws up my vision.

[Ivan_B]

On 11/23/2023 at 9:23 PM, nonstop said:

 If I get tailgated or high beamed… I go even slower.  Not necessarily to be a jerk, but for crying out loud, I cannot pull to the right.

That's my tactic as well. Hey, you got to do what you got to do. If you can't see well, because of them, you cannot go faster, can you?

On 11/20/2023 at 5:19 AM, Los_Control said:

So for the next few miles the semi truck driver kept flashing  his high beams & driving lights into the back of my truck.

In general, you should "let the fool go"... They'll get in trouble by themselves, it won't take long, and you don;t want to be part of it. I once had a semi trying to merge into a busy highway exit right in front of me. Very rude, and he already went past the dashed line for making a legal move. So letting him in would've been the smart thing to do, but what did I do? I started honking and actually made him stop because he could not merge into my car and I would not budge. I was just very angry that day, for them rude drivers... Anyway, nothing happened, he stopped and got into the exit a few cars later. ?

 

Speaking about trouble, I was once driving on an interstate, in a moderately busy traffic, and a motorcyclist passed be very aggressively... Street bike, no helmet, no protective gear, just shorts, long hair, and a back-pack. As I saw him weaving among the cars going further ahead, I thought: he must be on drugs or just insane... Two miles later, where the freeway was taking a 90-degree turn, I see the same bike completely flat on one side, laying next to a tall concrete divider curb. The guy is no where to be seen, because he flew over the divider ?

Edited November 25, 2023 by Ivan_B

[keithb7]

Ignorant drivers can bother me occasionally. I especially notice a ton of jacked up 4x4 trucks that never leave the pavement, with ultra bright headlights. 99% of the time I don't let it annoy me. The odd time I get a little peeved. I never make a responsive aggressive move though. You just don't know what the mental state is of the other person behind the wheel. I get out of their way and let them get on to however-it-is they want to kill themselves. They get their up-commins' at some point. Someone else with a brain just as small or smaller, with a brick on their shoulder, will put them in their place eventually. I smile imagining how they may get their karma some day.

Edited November 25, 2023 by keithb7

[Plymouthy Adams]

I remember some sage advice from long ago for dealing with stress (actually I think it was comedy skit) ...find the source of the stress, break both kneecaps......

[Ivan_B]

30 minutes ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

(actually I think it was comedy skit)

And I bet it was funny, but not necessarily applicable to real life. I was, once, surprised to find out that there is a genuine believe among some individuals that a real man/tough guy (or whatever it is called, these days) should never let anyone offend them and must immediately retaliate against any perceived threat to set the offender straight. And people just do not seem to think it over one more step further: what will happen if two such gentlemen meet each other...

[Eneto-55]

On 11/23/2023 at 1:23 PM, nonstop said:

I daily drive my old stuff.  Funny, on the freeway I am in the slow lane most of the time.  If I get tailgated or high beamed… I go even slower.  Not necessarily to be a jerk, but for crying out loud, I cannot pull to the right.  Most people are okay on the freeway.  On city streets on the other hand - people just drive stupid.  My biggest issue is the people that refuse to dim their high beams.  My stuff is still 6 volt, so it is not quite as effective trying to high beam them.  I work at night, so it really screws up my vision.

What I see too often on the freeway (where I seldom drive anymore) is "city drivers" who take their city habits onto the freeway - going twice as fast, which means twice as dangerous.  Our current 'family car' is one of those that has the, what do they call it? - lane mitigation? - deal, where if you have the cruise on, and someone pulls in front of you, the car will throw on the brakes, to regain the "safe following distance".  If traffic is heavy, fine, merge right in front of me - I'm not running the cruise in settings like that anyway.  But when the passing lane is clear way up in front, and there is no one tailing the vehicle that is passing, just stay over there, at least until I can be seen in the inside rear view mirror.  (That used to be the way to know when it is acceptable to merge, at least back in Oklahoma.)

[Ivan_B]

2 hours ago, Eneto-55 said:

What I see too often on the freeway (where I seldom drive anymore) is "city drivers" who take their city habits onto the freeway - going twice as fast, which means twice as dangerous.

I think people just don't realize what happens in a crash at high speed. We just don't deal with such physics in daily life. I, sometimes, catch myself thinking the same. You are speeding down the street and thinking, well, if I catch that next light pole, the car will just bounce off it or something like that... Just like if you throw a toy car around the house. I am in a metal box with full control, what can ever go wrong... But then, I have to remind myself that this is not at all what will happen in a real crash.

 

I still remember that red asphalt film from high school driver's ed class. That was great, about half of the class did not want to drive after watching. We need more education like this for everyone. And physics, of course ?

Edited November 25, 2023 by Ivan_B

[Eneto-55]

1 minute ago, Ivan_B said:

I think people just don't realize what happens in a crash at high speed. We just don't deal with such physics in daily life. I, sometimes, catch myself thinking the same. You are speeding down the street and thinking, well, if I catch that next light pole, the car will just bounce off it or something like that... Just like if you throw a toy car around the house. I am in a metal box with full control, what can ever go wrong... But then, I have to remind myself that this is not at all what will happen in a real crash.

 

I still remember that red asphalt film from high school driver's ed class. That was great, about half of the class did not want to drive after watching. We need more education like this for everyone. And physics, of course ?

I think this can actually happen more in really heavy traffic, especially after some hours of driving time.  The closeness of the other vehicles, all traveling along at more or less the same speed, can create the sensation that one is not really moving that fast.  I experienced something similar to this some years ago, when cleaning the gutters on our house, up on the second story roof.  We had a couple of large Maple trees close along that side of the house at that time (since blown down in storms), and the branches were just up over the edge of the roof.  That green "wall" right next to me gave me a sense of safety, when in reality it was a false security - those small branches would not have helped in the least if I had slipped off the edge.  I found that I had to be extra careful in that area of the roof, to off-set that false sensation of safety.

[nonstop]

6 hours ago, Ivan_B said:

I think people just don't realize what happens in a crash at high speed. We just don't deal with such physics in daily life. I, sometimes, catch myself thinking the same. You are speeding down the street and thinking, well, if I catch that next light pole, the car will just bounce off it or something like that... Just like if you throw a toy car around the house. I am in a metal box with full control, what can ever go wrong... But then, I have to remind myself that this is not at all what will happen in a real crash.

 

I still remember that red asphalt film from high school driver's ed class. That was great, about half of the class did not want to drive after watching. We need more education like this for everyone. And physics, of course ?

I never saw Red Asphalt, but I think it should still be shown.  I work in accident reconstruction.  Between the classes, the scenes, and the investigations we do, I do not like speeding much anymore.  I have learned to let people be jerks and let them go.  I am paranoid driving and am extremely defensive.  Too many people have some false sense of security about themselves, and others are over confident in their driving skills!

[Mikec4193]

I use to work at the local county in DPW department...we would have to go take pictures after any fatal accidents...90% of the traveling public have no idea how close they are to the edge...especially the faster that they travel....I raced locally and I can tell you running up some guys back end is a thrill but not on the street it is not...

 

I have built and driven several older heaps...where I live you don't even want to drive them on the roadways anymore....so now I build them to a point and then I sell them...I have no desire where I currently live to drive anything old on the roads...

 

I recently bought a house in rural Kansas I will try it out there and see if it is any better than upstate NY where I grew up...

 

My 2 cents...

 

MikeC

 

 

[ggdad1951]

On 11/25/2023 at 4:52 PM, nonstop said:

I never saw Red Asphalt, but I think it should still be shown.  I work in accident reconstruction.  Between the classes, the scenes, and the investigations we do, I do not like speeding much anymore.  I have learned to let people be jerks and let them go.  I am paranoid driving and am extremely defensive.  Too many people have some false sense of security about themselves, and others are over confident in their driving skills!

 

truth right there!

 

I TRY to let things go, and a few weekends ago I had to get pretty agressive to get a semi to stop being a jerk.  Driving down I35 I pass a semi on the left and pull back over, plenty of room, start to creep up on a car ahead and a car passing me on the left, so when clear I use my signal and pull into the passing lane, semi had pulled over as well, but I had MORE than enough room to pop over and pass (2 or 3 car lenghts).  He didn't like, hammered it down flashing his lights and flipping me off the whole time and up against my bumper.  So while I was doing 73 (in a 65) I suddenly am doing 81 or so, and he's riding me flashing his lights and flipping me off.  So as we pull next to a semi in the left lane I slow to that semi's speed and let him sit.  I then speed up and pass that semi and he rides me still, cuts to the right lane and starts being aggressive.   So I speed up (he does as well) and then hit the brakes having him overshoot me and now I'm behind him.  He now "wins" and goes on his merry way dropping back down to 75 or so, I then pass him as I take the next exit ramp and think: he risks is CDL because he didn't like someone legally and safely executing a passing manuever.   People like that should not have a CDL driving a death machine because they get offended by someone doing things they think are wrong and get agressive.

[Ivan_B]

45 minutes ago, ggdad1951 said:

He now "wins" and goes on his merry way dropping back down to 75 or so, I then pass him as I take the next exit ramp and think: he risks is CDL because he didn't like someone legally and safely executing a passing maneuver.

How about you write down his license plate and then submit a written complaint about reckless driving to the MN Highway Patrol, next time? Also, if you run into bad traffic situations frequently, you might want to install a dash camera. Then, being a responsible citizen like you are, you can report traffic violations (with documented proof) any time you want.

[Los_Control]

@ggdad1951 story is just about like mine, I waited my turn in the right lane, when a opening in the left lane came available I moved over.

That pissed off the semi truck driver .... they rode my arse flashing their high beams all the way.

I suppose the big difference in my case, we were in a construction zone where traffic fines double and we were doing about 45-50 mph. There was no option to change lanes again til after the road construction ended.

 

I wonder what the ticket for the semi truck driver for aggressive driving in a construction zone would be?

 

Last week was coming coming home on HWY 208 going through the outskirts of a small town.  At a intersection I had a yellow caution light, opposing traffic had a flashing red light. Speed limit was 40 mph in this area.

A dang semi treated the intersection as a 4 way stop and pulled out right in front of me ..... I just barely got stopped and avoided running into his rear axle on the tractor.

If I reacted a 1/2 a second slower I would have nailed him and it was 100% the semi drivers fault. ...... Yeah I was laying on the horn watching the kid look out the drivers window as he crawled away.

 

I have the upmost respect for truck drivers and the job they perform that we all need. ..... starting to wonder about the younger generation on the road.

[Plymouthy Adams]

youth is wasted on the young, often there is no intelligence associated with them......and if you wish to defend their intelligence, let call it lack of experience.

[Eneto-55]

2 hours ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

youth is wasted on the young, often there is no intelligence associated with them......and if you wish to defend their intelligence, let call it lack of experience.

Well, I once overheard an Amish business owner say that he wished he had started his business when he was 16 - because he knew everything then....

[Veemoney]

This discussion reminds me of the times I would drive to assignments East of Chicago. I'd be going thru the mountain highways at night in my 85 Chevy 1/2 ton with my motorcycle in the back and herds of truckers would assemble in the evening to control the roads. I'd seen truckers use the run-away lanes, the sounds of air brakes, smelled the burned rubber and smoke from the tires as I made my way alongside the giants that ruled the roads many times. Lines of trucks moving from the slow lane to the fast for passing and then back with not much room in between their bumpers. With a truck in front, alongside and behind you can only try to keep up on the downhills. Usually after a few hours of driving with the pack and trying to fit in and stay out of the way someone will compliment someone's driving on the CB with some choice words it was funny and along with the coffee kept me awake. On one such occasion I was the subject as they put the squeeze on me, and I received honorable mention on the squawk box by those that chose to acknowledge me. I normally enjoy driving at night but I always remember the one time I got off at the next available exit when the bumpers and bright lights got to close for comfort in the rear-view mirror.