Angry drivers

[CarolKing]

To me it seems like there is an upsurge of anger on the roadways. I have had several instances of some young male driver giving me the finger. This seems to have started about a year ago. I was asking my husband if this had been happening to him. He said no that it hadn't been. I was thinking maybe it's my car? Is there prejudice against Mini Coopers?

It just seems like there is so much disrespect out there. I never flip the other person off in return. One of these days they will flip off the wrong person. My day can be going pretty good then something like that happens. WTF?

What do you do when someone gives you the finger and you didn't do anything to provoke it? Just so tired of these disrespectful assholes. I just want to go about my business and places without such hassles. What the hell is wrong with these guys? They're fucking with my good karma.

 

[Stevenski]

I freely admit to being an aggressive driver but certainly not an angry one & there is a huge difference. After a decade of doing 30,000km a year in Sydney & Melbourne you either learn to accept that "shit happens" & go with the flow or wind up a raging lunatic on the road. Funnily enough I overtook a Mini Cooper S this afternoon who believes doing 65 in a 80 zone is perfect for the fast lane.

It is doubtful that your car (or you) is attracting unwelcome attention. Far more likely that is how a lot of people think it is a reasonable way to act these days. The best thing you can do to someone giving you the finger or wanker sign is to do any combination of the following

• Put on your best shit eating grin
• A big thumbs up
• Start laughing
• Dance in your seat
• High five the person next to you
• Beep your horn back & wave like you are friends

Pretty much anything that will mean you giggle when you think back to it. This is all situation dependent of course. My mum had guns pulled on her by a carload of Middle Eastern gentlemen & was told "We are going to kill you you white Aussie cunt" for no reason in traffic at midday. It may have been a joke to them but for a defenseless woman by herself it was terrifying as guns are not common here.

The only things that upset me on the road are

• People who move into the overtaking lane but don't speed up one bit.

This happens frequently when I have a 5km stretch of road stuck behind a truck & when the overtaking lane opens up for 2km the dickhead in front maintains pace with the truck. The next section is 70 but trucks are restricted to 20 so it is guaranteed an extra 5-7 minutes on the commute if you don't get past.

• People who deliberately use the wrong lane to queue jump in heavy traffic.

A daily occurance on the Sydney Harbour bridge & in six years I never let a smart ass cut in. If I have sat in several km of traffic why would I let you go up a turning lane to then cut in? Sorry bud I am willing, ready & able to have a not at fault accident to prove a point.

• People distracted by their phones

Easily my biggest peeve driving. If you are looking at your phone & the light goes green but you don't take off for 10 seconds that is 4-5 cars that will miss that green light because you are a selfish driver. You can tell by the angle of their head instantly & a quick pip of horn addresses it sufficiently. Then you have the random lane weavers who are dangerous as all hell too. Fuck distracted driving altogether.

 

[crawdad]

What do you do when someone gives you the finger and you didn't do anything to provoke it?

nothing.

although old me is a bad story, im better now. of the people i harassed, scared or worse i feel like a sack of shit...and i know this is what they probably wanted, guess they got it. glad i got that figured out when i did.

sometimes though i do provoke it not meaning to like when i stop at a red light and kind of stick into the crosswalk some and the person behind me can smell my ass im sort of stuck...but that matters little to militant pedestrians who feel its their god damn right to scream and yell about how i came to a stop as if i had intentions of using some of their precious space in the road. in those cases i'll just say sorry as genuinely as possible although i dont tell them why im sorry, probably best.

They're fucking with my good karma.

be selfish of your thoughts, do not react. once their expression has caused a reaction from you damage has been done to your vibe and i know all too well how hard it can be to shake that off.

peace.

 

[Baron23]

s there prejudice against Mini Coopers?

Nah, Mini's are very cool and hip.

Now, 'young male drivers' are, IMO, actually insane with hormones and don't get their head out of their arse until they are 40. Its why mothers want to marry their sons off fast, so that there is an adult to look after them until they mature! HAHAHA

I suppose I would be considered an 'aggressive' driver by some...mostly by the ones who think that they are "safe" and "good" drivers because they have their pork pie hat on the back of their head, both their hands on the wheel of their metaphorical Rambler, with tunnel vision on what's in front of them and absolutely NO situation awareness. I find these folks...'drifters' I call them as they just blindly drift through traffic with absolutely no idea of how much danger they create with their excessively passive driving.

I do think that the level of competence needed to be licensed to drive is far too low. Both 'aggressive' drivers (in the sense of tail gating, excessive speed, weaving in and out) and the 'passive' know-nothing drivers are great sources of risk on the road, IMO.

The one thing you shouldn't do with 'angry' drivers is get angry yourself and start playing chicken in traffic. I have seen it and the results ain't pretty. DO NOT give the little shit head the finger back, you never can tell when you are dealing with a person right at the edge and in possession of a weapon. Just keep on going and feel secure that they are fucking up their karma.

I live in Washington, DC. I really don't know how anybody can drive in this cluster fuck without being at a low simmer the entire trip. I need to get out of here...I bet my blood pressure would go down 20 points.

Cheers and stay safe out there, Carol.

 

[GreenHopper]

People be crazy, just try to be as safe and as aware as you can be.

you never can tell when you are dealing with a person right at the edge and in possession of a weapon.

^^^ this, it's not worth the risk of suffering a nutter, once you have it may irreparably damage your day.

If they flip you off use it as an opportunity to practise your poker face - give them nothing and try to remain cool.

The only influence you have is over yourself and how you handle the situation as it happens and how you handle the feelings it evokes later on (i.e. don't dwell on it).

Beyond that there really isn't much else you can do, everyday there are more and more folk on the roads so it seems to be a more frequent experience.

 

[Baron23]

Beyond that there really isn't much else you can do,

Well, there are always fender mounted infrared guided missiles but they are frowned upon in many jurisdictions.

"Fox 2, Fox 2 on the Rambler in the left lane going 20 mph below the speed limit, over" LOL

 

[GreenHopper]

Well, there are always fender mounted infrared guided missiles but they are frowned upon in many jurisdictions.

"Fox 2, Fox 2 on the Rambler in the left lane going 20 mph below the speed limit, over" LOL

A friend of mine used to have a little box with buttons on it for lasers, missiles, oil slick and tacs. When ever another driver pulled some stupid shit he'd hit one of the buttons and enjoy the sound effects.

There was also an ejector seat button for when a passenger irritated him, now I think of it he used to hit that button all the time when I was in his car hmmmm

 

[howie105]

I remember being a kid and thinking what a bunch of dicks old timers were. Now kids think I am a dick and when they reach my current age a new crop of kids will think they are dicks too. Time passes but some things just keeps happening over and over. Please not I don't condone actual violence on anyone’s part and as always young or old you have to be willing to live with the results of your actions.

 

[CarolKing]

Thanks for the advice, cooler heads always prevail. Ignoring these assholes is sometimes hard to do but it doesn't do any good to chase after them in traffic even though you feel like it. So true somebody could have a gun, you never know.

There seems to be a lot of anger and frustrations out there and some folks have a hair trigger temper ready to get set off. IMO the driving age should be 18. Sixteen year olds don't have the common sense to be drivers.

It's amazing to see how nice these teenager's cars are sitting in the parking lot of some of these High Schools. I remember when I was in High School a quite a few kids were driving fairly new cars.

 

[Baron23]

it doesn't do any good to chase after them in traffic

Well, at least don't chase them past your own exit! LOL

 

[seaofgreens]

I was never aggressive, but I used to be fairly passive aggressive towards drivers that would tailgate when I'm already going 10-15 over the limit, with no real possibility of moving lanes.... I would just slowly let off the gas, then slowly start applying the brakes and just watch the rearview mirror as the other driver usually would explode in fury as our cars slowly drifted down 5-10-15-20 mph...

Now, I see a car flying up on my rear, I just pull off preemptively or switch lanes asap. Not worth making myself angry because of some other angry driver, and no appointment or job is going to force me to drive like a maniac myself anymore.

When people drive up shoulders during traffic jams though.... Just stop...

 

[His_Highness]

Sometimes I wonder if males become better drivers as they get to the age where testosterone levels decrease.

I'm only half kidding......

I was a very aggressive driver up until I hit my 50's and then I began to chill out. No more tickets, fewer angry moments and more of a 'whatever' tude.

I used to travel for a living and would often drive instead of fly. Back then getting stuck behind someone in the fast lane on a 3 lane highway who was doing the speed limit (or less) was enough to send me into fits of rage.

My family hated my driving and on more than one occasion I was told my driving made people nauseous because of the constant attempts to reach warp-speed while taking turns on as few wheels as possible. And yes...I did throw the 'brother finger' around at times. Stupid...pure stupid.

 

[CarolKing]

My dad was always an angry driver when I was a kid. He would try to pass somebody else out of frustration before a hill or an area where he couldn't see clearly, he would pass them on a two lane highway. We would be worried because another car would be coming. He maybe had to drive 75 miles mph but we would make it just in the nick of time. We would be white knuckling it all the time. It was hard driving across country with this man.

We would be traveling somewhere and he would get off on the wrong exit and he would always yell at my mom for it. He was an asshole most of the time but when he was driving it would get worse. He was always driving too fast. He liked cars that would go fast like his Pontiac Grand Prix, he would say it had that Hollywood dual exhaust pipes. He would get tickets but he didn't tell anyone about it.

Edit
I've decided the next time I get the finger, I'm going to give the peace sign and say love you too. I need to not let someone else's issues rub off on me.

When a kid I was always getting car sick. I wonder why?

 

[FlyingLow]

People expect the bird. I say that is too easy.

I like to shake an angry fist like an old man and say, "Why I oughta..." trailing off into a mumble.
People see the arm going up, fist coming up, and just anticipate that finger raising towards the sky.... I let them anticipate it, wait for it, and I don't give it to em. Leave them in confusion.

 

[capcoho]

Since my biggest pet peeve is tailgaters I came up with a solution that works for me. I adjusted one of my front window washing jets to fire straight up. When driving if someone tailgates me I just wash my windows, they get splashed and back off and in turn have to use their wipers to wash the solution off. Makes me giggle goofy every time.

 

[FlyingLow]

LOL I do that too Capcoho, except I got enough pressure to fire suds right off my windshield and over the top... people hate having dirty windshield water all over their car! Most effective on convertibles.