Have you ever been the victim of road rage?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it just me or are DC drivers worse than other areas of the country, even urban ones? People are rude, deliberately ungracious, etc. I get that this happens everywhere, but in general it just feels more stressful and unpleasant around DC. It might be just a higher number of lawyer/government assholes ruining it for everyone.

24YO here and people in general are just ruder and meaner in this area. I feel like I've become a nastier person just from living here. People suck.

+1

DC pizzing contest. A bunch of grown adults acting like children.

As someone who grew up in DC- yes it is worse there. And getting worse every day. It seems to attract a particular kind of insane, power hungry transplant which means horrible drivers. Every time I have to visit home and drive I am so thankful to have moved out!

How the hell can it be home if you claimed to have grown up in DC? You sound very confused.

Anyhow, when in Rome....

Pp said he or she is glad to have left there. I assume that he or she means that he or she left dc and travels back here occasionally.

HAHAHAHA Couldn't hack it.

[Anonymous]

I see people every day who try to get nice cars to rear end them. Do you really think those nice cars don't have stopping capability? LOL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Perhaps you and the poster share psychological damage from having been bullied.

Regardless, the behavior s/he described is road rage and bragging about it got them the condemnation it deserved.

Frankly, I have a hard time believing they're actually insured with that kind of collision record.

I'm a mental health professional. It's in my nature to observe behaviors and speculate on root causation. I'm sorry you feel the need to attack me for that. Do you feel as though you are easily angered when people say things you disagree with? Have you ever considered talking to someone about these feelings? It might help.

As for car insurance, I know nothing about that, except that claims that are not at-fault tend not to affect rates. I was hit by a drunk driver and had an almost-new S-class totaled, and my rates didn't change at all.

I'm hardly angry. You should ask youself the questions you pose.

Yes, of course.

But if you change your mind, let me know. I can put you in touch with people who can help.

Take care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He was out of line but you sound like you're partiality to blame. You say you "managed" to get in front of him to take an exit. Did you wait until the last minute and cut in front of a long line of cars patiently waiting? Did you cut him off? You did something that set him off. Also, why not switch lanes and slow down to let him get in front of you so you could disengage?

She is not to blame for his reaction, which was over-the-top, hostile, and likely illegal. Stop making excuses for this behavior.

No excuses for his behavior, but also no excuses for her behavior. Cutting in front of someone at the last minute can cause accidents, resulting in people getting hurt. It's irresponsible. She's lucky he didn't accidentally run into her, especially since her child was in the car with her. I'm pretty sure if someone cut in front of you at the last minute you would think it was irresponsible driving also. There are two separate issues here. The crazy guy's behavior and her reckless driving.

[Anonymous]

OP, over reactions of any kind have more to do with the mental state of the over reactor - not the target. Ideally, you would make yourself scarce from people who are that easily triggered. In analogous terms, you don't bring a gun to a knife fight, but if a gun is pulled, feel free to pull your own. If that person is so unstable, you probably would be better off evacuating - especially if your children and family are involved.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't slam the brakes on a tailgater because that act could have unintended consequences. What if his kid is in the car? What if he crosses the line trying to avoid you and hits someone else head on? Or on the sidewalk? Or even in a building? '

I hate them too and there's a part of me that gets satisfaction from them reaping the rewards of their bad behavior but.... there is too much on the line. It's life and death, and not just for the drivers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it just me or are DC drivers worse than other areas of the country, even urban ones? People are rude, deliberately ungracious, etc. I get that this happens everywhere, but in general it just feels more stressful and unpleasant around DC. It might be just a higher number of lawyer/government assholes ruining it for everyone.

24YO here and people in general are just ruder and meaner in this area. I feel like I've become a nastier person just from living here. People suck.

+1

DC pizzing contest. A bunch of grown adults acting like children.

As someone who grew up in DC- yes it is worse there. And getting worse every day. It seems to attract a particular kind of insane, power hungry transplant which means horrible drivers. Every time I have to visit home and drive I am so thankful to have moved out!

How the hell can it be home if you claimed to have grown up in DC? You sound very confused.

Anyhow, when in Rome....

You are confused as to why a person who grew up in a city considers said city home?

Reading is fundamental.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, only about half of tailgaters are doing it on purpose, i.e. aggressively. The other half are just shitty drivers who don't realize they need to leave enough room. They are the car equivalent of people who stand too close to you when you talk, or will choose the bathroom stall right next to yours when there's plenty of others available.

Dealing with aggressive, asshole-ish driver behavior makes me be a much nicer, more patient driver. Every time someone does something bad to me, I let more people in. Pay it forward.

This times a million! I have to drive to work now and it amazes me that people don't understand that you have to leave some space to brake between cars. I've seen two accidents over the past month that were basically caused by following too closely and rear ending someone while they were braking suddenly (because - traffic).

The annoying thing is that these idiots make traffic worse by creating more accidents, which drive people to drive even more aggressively. It's an awful cycle.

Exactly. It's especially bad with west coast drivers. For some reason the culture of the west coast, for reasons I cannot figure out, really is cool with cars following each other within like 4 feet.

It took me a while, being a native DC resident, to not be constantly wondering what the deal was with west coast drivers (and this is obviously more intense and less intense in certain cities/regions along the west coast- but certainly as a hold the coast does this more than the east coast) and why EVERYONE was tailgating me before I finally realized that's just how it is.

I would see long lines of cars all going 60 mph and leaving maybe 3-4 feet between them. None of them are tailgating, that's just how it is.

So that's the thing... different people have different driving styles. You could assume someone is tailgating you and they are just thinking they are keeping up with the flow of traffic.

[Anonymous]

No. I don't drive like a self centered asshole so no.

[Anonymous]

Exactly. There's no possible way someone less than a car length behind me at 60mph is going to be able to avoid hitting me if I have to use maximum braking to avoid something in front of me. They're going to hit me, period. And I'm not cool with that. So just because everyone does it, doesn't make it ok.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Exactly. There's no possible way someone less than a car length behind me at 60mph is going to be able to avoid hitting me if I have to use maximum braking to avoid something in front of me. They're going to hit me, period. And I'm not cool with that. So just because everyone does it, doesn't make it ok.

What in the world did you say "exactly" to? Did you mean to press the "quote" button before responding? Or are you just using "exactly" as a general exclamation?

[Anonymous]

I was recently driving in the Baltimore tunnel at about 30 mph in a long line of cars, keeping the same distance as everybody else (that's how I felt, didn't mean to tailgate at all). Yet, the driver ahead of me opened the window and gave the finger. I have no idea why they did that, just thought that a person is mentally unstable and switched the lanes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was recently driving in the Baltimore tunnel at about 30 mph in a long line of cars, keeping the same distance as everybody else (that's how I felt, didn't mean to tailgate at all). Yet, the driver ahead of me opened the window and gave the finger. I have no idea why they did that, just thought that a person is mentally unstable and switched the lanes.

There are many mentally unstable drivers out there today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Exactly. There's no possible way someone less than a car length behind me at 60mph is going to be able to avoid hitting me if I have to use maximum braking to avoid something in front of me. They're going to hit me, period. And I'm not cool with that. So just because everyone does it, doesn't make it ok.

What in the world did you say "exactly" to? Did you mean to press the "quote" button before responding? Or are you just using "exactly" as a general exclamation?

Wut?

[Anonymous]

Self driving cars can't get here soon enough