Road rage

[Blorg]

Someone posted this Louis CK discussion of road rage in another thread:



You'd think that people would become more cautious when they're hurtling along a hard surface at 50+ miles per hour, fragilely encased in a few tons of metal and highly flammable materials, but it seems like the opposite often happens-- they become more daring. Why? Also, why do some personalities change so dramatically behind the wheel? Are you/have you been a road rager, or do you know anyone who is? Have you ever gotten into dangerous situations because of it? I also think it's weird that the same people who are road ragers are often scared of flying in airplanes-- how can this be?

[stigmatica]

I have historically had road rage issues. I've never actually done any real damage to anyone, but I have had some cussing sessions behind the wheel that would be pretty scary in a non-car context. I'm way better now that I'm older, but you'll still find me throwing out a few curses here and there. For me, other drivers seem so stupid and/or rude at times that it triggers my kill instinct. It still does, I'm just better at ignoring it than I used to be.

[LordLatch]

Just leave the house earlier and your longest finger won't get stuck in the 'on' position
or
distract yourself with audio books like I do.

[jigglypuff]

the worst road rage i've ever encountered was in hong kong. i can definitely understand how that traffic environment breeds irritable drivers, but it's still fucking dangerous to fly off the wheel like that, which is my main gripe with road rage. i've seen drivers (and they're always men) hold up traffic with verbal arguments. it's just... LET IT GO. goddamn.

my bf kinda has it although he doesn't have temper problems otherwise. basically he'll get really angry when a driver does something stupid in front of us (usually forgivable, something all drivers are bound to do sometime) and he starts doing the angry honking thing which startles everybody and makes the whole street freeze. disrupting traffic like that won't really help anything. everybody makes mistakes so you're supposed to keep your cool and deal with these human beings on the road. imo, if you can't deal with that, maybe you shouldn't be driving.

[stigmatica]

My most recent bout of road rage was about a year ago, and I wasn't even driving. My son was driving (learning to drive), and some ass munch flew off onto the side of the road to pass him while laying down his horn. Yes, my son was driving like a granny, but damn. He's a new driver! The stress of trying to teach him to drive coupled with my paternal instinct to protect my son coupled with the asshole move snapped something in my brain. I rolled the window down and climbed half out with both fingers upheld while giving the driver a few choice words. He never even made eye contact with me, just lowered his head and kept going. I felt rather silly after.

"Uh uhm.. uh. Don't do what he did, and definitely do what I say not what I do son"

[pensive_pilgrim]

I've had big issues with getting impatient and frustrated to the point of anger, but I'm pretty good about not misusing the horn. That's actually one thing that really bothers me - the horn is for making people aware of your presence in an emergency, not yelling at them and expressing your disapproval.

(and they're always men)

[stigmatica]

I was driving in Atlanta with my wife, infant son, brother, father and mother in the car. I was in a parking lot looking for a place to park when a young girl went to walk across in front of me to get to the barber shop, where apparently her father was. We both stopped and looked at each other, then proceeded to do the you go, no you go thing. Eventually, I went first. Didn't think anything of it until getting out of my car after having parked to see a crazed man storming at me from the barber shop yelling obscenities and calling me a racist honkey. It took me a second to even connect the dots. He got in my face, and I was trying to explain that he was mistaken about the entire situation. (He thought I'd pretty much flipped off his daughter and cut in front of her or something. Obviously he was primed by my white skin to see what he wanted to see)

Then he put his hands on me. When he did that, it trigger something primal in me. I was no longer me at that point, but some throwback to our more animalistic ancestors. I was no longer rational. My fight or flight response was set into high gear. If it wasn't for my mom crying and jumping between us speaking in tongues, might have turned out pretty badly. That triggered my sense of humor to take over.

I think that, in a car, we have a tendency to perceive people as effectively "putting their hands on us" when they in fact haven't. Like the guy that passed us on the side of the road honking his horn. Never touched me, but the horn and the action felt no different than a slap in the face.

And yes. ^^ The horn. Blowing your horn = slapping me in the face.

[jigglypuff]

i read a study once that stated that young men were most prone to road rage and aggressive driving, but i can't be bothered to find it. idk about that but personally i've never seen a woman get out of her car and hold up traffic in order to engage in an argument with another driver. that's some extreme shit.

[Ptah]

Are you/have you been a road rager, or do you know anyone who is? Have you ever gotten into dangerous situations because of it? I also think it's weird that the same people who are road ragers are often scared of flying in airplanes-- how can this be?

Hm. I can fall into what some may consider an "aggressive" driving mood, and distinct from that I can (although not easily) be set into a rather agitated mindset by asinine drivers around me, so when they occur together I can get a little more "aggressive" than typical... but I still wouldn't consider it "road rage" (as I understand it).

That is, I figure "road rage" is turning carelessly angry behind the wheel, perhaps as aimed at someone whose driving has aggravated you? As if a total emotions-at-the-wheel or something. I can't relate to that. I am rarely if ever unaware of the dangers involved in even everyday, well-behaved driving. And how it requires a certain nontrivial degree of attention to the vehicle, your control over it, and everyone and everything else on the road.

When I'm really lit up "angry" behind the wheel -- the most I do is curse out loud to vent the anger (usually in the form of vitriolic insults issued the the offender), but I get even more attentive to the road, the others cars on it, and my motions through it all. Like a "hyper focus" in case I need it, or something.

But even just "normally", I guess I can fall into the bad habit of expressing idle vexations at the nonsense around me. No turn signals, recklessly fast or slow, failing to merge properly, etc. Just more of the "wake up, people!"-type reaction from me, there. Basically, when I see others failing to apply due attention and awareness to their environments.

(My pet peeve as such: people fucking with their phone whilst driving: no mercy. I would if I could purposely push them off the road to their doom... that wouldn't be rage, it would be gratifying justice)

What some may call the "aggressive" driver side of me comes out, for instance, when I'll swing out and around to pass someone who is doing something stupid-slow, etc. Or if I'm acting in what I call "anti-asshole" mode... let's say I see someone peeling up in the rear view, hoping to swerve through an opening between me and another car in the adjacent lane, etc. I'll purposely position my car such as to block them, if I can. Yes, if they are a real asshole, and if (and to the extent) I think I can safely continue as such, I will: that includes swerving, changing speed and other maneuvers to keep thwarting them. Basically, I fuck with the impatient, as such.

Here and there I've had some people kick into what seems a "road rage" at me, as follows from the above (so far, always on the highway). I find it amusing. They're all lit up angry and I'm still fairly level-headedly thwarting them. Yes, it is amusing and slightly distracting to fuck with people like that, but I still keep very aware of the roadway, the cars, and such -- even farther out than I normally do, just in case something goes wrong. Why? Because I want them to lose control.

Then, there are times that my cool is broken just enough to flip them the bird, just to let them know that I think of them. So, there's that. Like when I'll swing out past a slow, swerving idiot on their phone... Fuck you, you idiot.

Edit: the thing that truly gets me irrationally unfocused while driving? Trying to navigate through unfamiliar roadways in traffic, to a schedule and/or through bad visibility conditions, etc. The fear of getting woefully wayward/lost presses down on me with intense pressure, to that point it cracks if not shatters my ability to remain fully calm and attentive to the road, etc as usual. I'm more concerned about whether I'll miss a turn or a ramp MULTIPLIED by the fact I can't and won't drive unsafely to "make it at the last second"... it's too much. And asshole, inattentive drivers get under my skin quicker than usual... but I'm powerless to do anything to/against them because I need not to get lost. Knowing how this can unravel me something awful, I actively avoid such scenarios. And if you're thinking, "dude, get a GPS", I can tell you just were to stick it. Those things are useless, nevermind handicaps.

[pensive_pilgrim]

What some may call the "aggressive" driver side of me comes out, for instance, when I'll swing out and around to pass someone who is doing something stupid-slow, etc. Or if I'm acting in what I call "anti-asshole" mode... let's say I see someone peeling up in the rear view, hoping to swerve through an opening between me and another car in the adjacent lane, etc. I'll purposely position my car such as to block them, if I can. Yes, if they are a real asshole, and if (and to the extent) I think I can safely continue as such, I will: that includes swerving, changing speed and other maneuvers to keep thwarting them. Basically, I fuck with the impatient, as such.

Wait, so someone who wants to pass you dangerously is an asshole but when you engage in dangerous pissing-contest games for the sole purpose of antagonizing that person, you think you have some sort of moral superiority?