What's with all the road rage?!

Question

So, maybe it's just the drivers in Ohio, I'm not sure, but there is some serious road rage happening out there. It's frustrating and scary. Let me tell you a quick story. My fiance and I are in his car (he's driving) and we are on our way to Best Buy. We are traveling down a major highway and my fiance gets in the exit lane. The lane is moving slow (about 25mph) because there is so much traffic. (It's 5:15pm on a Friday). A guy in a huge SUV behind us is so close to the back of our car that I can't even see his headlights when I turn around and look out the window. So, my fiance flashes his brake lights warning the guy in the SUV to back off. Well, he doesn't back off so my fiance pulls up his emergency brake to slow down without brake lights to scare the guy in the SUV. We finally come to a stop light and the guy in the SUV gets out and comes up to our car and starts screaming so my fiance rolls down his window and the guy was cussing us out. The only thing my fiance said was, "Why were you riding my bumper?" The guy proceeds by calling me the c word and telling my fiance to get out of the car. My fiance says no and says, "Can't you show some respect for someone serving your country?" (My fiance is in the Army and has an Army window cling to the back window. The guy definitely saw it. You can't miss it). Now, I'm not saying that my fiance should have received any special treatment because he's in the Army, I just don't understand why the guy was so mad and how he can disrespect a soldier like that. He was in the wrong in the first place. Am I right? What's up with people? Tell me your road rage experience. Why are people so angry?

Answer 1

I prefer to just back off and let the bad or angry driver go by. No need risking our safety. It isn't that I am afraid, I just do not need to dwell on this issue. It isn't even a personal affront until you let it become one. I do not let it become one.

On the other hand, my husband, oh !!!! grrrr !!!! He will hit the brakes to stop a tailgater.. he will honk at bicycle riders out of the bike lane.. he will yell at teens texting while they drive (and they can't even hear him, he is in his vehicle). One of these days a tailgater will ram into the back of him AND then, will it have been worth it?

Answer 2

i agrre with you,it seems where ever you go people are in too much of a rush to get where they are going and they don't care how they do it,are we liveing in a so fast pace world that no one enjoys their ride and sceneary anymore.the problem is i don't think it will ever change so sad.

Answer 3

I have learned the best thing to do is just to ignore them especially if I can't get out of their way. I had a lady tailgating me one day on the interstate. She was so close on my bumper I could barely see the hood of her car. I was in the left lane and there were cars in front of me so its not like I could go any faster. I tap my brakes to see if she would get off my bumper but when I looked in the mirror I noticed that she was fussing and pointing to the other lane. She was mouthing, "you need to get over". If she hadn't been riding my bumper so close maybe she would have seen all the cars that were in front of me. Sometimes I think people are just having a bad day and they take it off on everyone on the road or they or maybe their running late because they did not allow themselves enough time to get to their destination. I have found that people in big suvs and also big full size trucks to be a little bit more aggressive than other drivers. I'm not saying they are all like that but I have a lot of them to be that way at least where I live. I guess when someone gets behind the wheel of a big vechile they feel like they own the road.

Answer 4

You should never aggravate the situation, me i usually use my hazard lights to ask someone to get off my butt. Why is this happening well I think it is because now days everyone has something to prove, and no one wants to be on the bottom of the food change.

On a personal note people who drive SUV's alwasy seem to be the jerkiest anyway. It's like "Ugh me got big truck, me King!"

Answer 5

Men are more likely than women to be involved in road rage-related incidents.

Driving stats show that men are already 3 times more likely to cause a fatal crash.

Men are more likely to commit road rage because there is an established precedent for public displays of male aggression in our culture.

Over 1200 road rage-related deaths occur every year in the United States.

Answer 6

I totally agree. It's everywhere though. Montgomery County, MD is horrible!!! The average speed people go on the highway is 70 in a 55. If you are going any slower than about...60, you're pretty much impeding traffic. If there's a radar trap, however, the speed drops from 70 to 45. It's really annoying. If you try to drive safely you get run off the road or passed on the shoulder.

I agree about SUV drivers. As the other person said, it's like they think they own the road because they have a big car. They're not indestructible!

Answer 7

Hey My bf is in the army too!!! And I feel the same way as you do, although people should show respect to anyone. What an *** in the SUV I can’t answer why people are so angry but what he called you was just unacceptable. I totally agree with you in this situation. I wish there was a special number you can call to report people with road rage and they can take there license away!!!