You are nearly hit by a driver that wasn't paying attention. What's your reaction?

Question

I see this nearly everyday on the Northern California freeways. It is pretty normal to find careless drivers. The problem gets worse during rush hour.

Question: A careless driver nearly hits your as he cuts into your lane on the busy (rush hour) freeway. The driver never notices the fact that he just cut you off. What is your reaction? Include your state or area of the country.

Answer 1

I'd give him the one-finger salute.  I'm from Kentucky, BTW.

Answer 2

I'd probably beep my horn, and swear in my car. Then be angry for like ten minutes. Boston, Ma

Answer 3

in phoenix its common,, I hit my horn to alert the idiot, and yaay! we just got a bill passed to make it illegal to text while driving!!!  a little late however for the teen who killed a family of 3 last week.

Answer 4

My reaction would be "at least I didn't get hit".  I think it's stupid to get so enraged at someone who "nearly" hits you.  Yes, it's scary, but what can you do about it?  Accidents happen.  Count yourself fortunate that it didn't happen.  Just take a deep breath and keep rolling.  A lot of easily prevented accidents happen from enraged drivers who are only concerned about screaming obscenities at drivers who "nearly" hit them.  I live in Florida.

Answer 5

Yup. I live in Windsor, CA. (Near Santa Rosa) I get cut off all of the time. I own 2 Buicks, and that is all I want to drive. My family offers me their cars to drive to work and I refuse because something tells me it will get crashed. I bought a 1998 Ford Expedition just to drive to work. During the Rush hour traffic, I have been cut off and rear ended many times in the Expedition, and I thank God that the Expedition got hit and not one of my Buicks. But for me, getting cut off is routine.

Answer 6

My foot immediately leaves the accelerator pedal and moves to cover the brake, depressing it as needed to maintain clearance between my vehicle and the other driver. If directional evasive maneuvering is needed in addition to braking in order to avoid impact, I will move the steering wheel appropriately. After the immediate threat of a collision has passed, I will then quickly re-establish and maintain a zone of one car length per ten miles per hour between my vehicle and the vehicle immediately in front of me by adjusting my vehicle's speed using a combination of the brake and accelerator pedals.  During the time between the initial incursion of the other vehicle into the space directly in front of my vehicle and the time that I take evasive action, there may be an involuntary, but very necessary occurence of sudden increased heart rate and hightened focus that quickly returns to normal, but if you are looking for some negative emotional response to the scenario you describe, such as rage, anger, or the need for revenge, which I know you are or you would not have asked the question,  you will not find it in my driving. In fact, you will find that my driving is highly robotic, much like it would be if my car was being controlled by a computer. Driving like I do will set you well apart from and well above all the azzholes that you encounter every day. It will also get you to your destination without the stress you would othewise generate for yourself. I live in southern California, and I have been driving for over 30 years.

Answer 7

After using several colorful choice words I would try and remember the ingrates license plate and

notify the Highway Patrol about a reckless driver and what direction the moron was traveling.

Mississippi.

Answer 8

I would swipe the sweat off my forehead with a flicking action of my hand and say "Phew, that was close!"

Answer 9

I would be totally pissed, and I have to admit that this happens all the time here in Tampa, FL. I guess we're number 10 out of 85 for the areas with the worst traffic. And we definitely have some of the worst drivers. And what's more annoying is that probably 75% of the times that I get cut off, the people know that they're doing it.

Road rage is RAMPANT here...

Answer 10

I'd hit the horn, swear really loud inside the car, and give him the finger.  It happens all the time.  Everyone is in such a hurry and generally rude and don't know or follow even the simplest rules/laws.  Connecticut.

Answer 11

Florida  - I usually lay on the horn...against my wife's better judgement, I must say.  Problem is "road rage", if you rub the wrong guy, you could get shot!

Answer 12

That happened to me yesterday.

Honestly my first reaction was to look and see if he was talking on a cell phone and didn't notice that a car was coming on the main road while he was running the stop sign.

I used to think that was an urban legend about cellphone drivers not watching the road and that is why I checked. I am very convinced now.

On town street near Boston.

Answer 13

Thank God that he didn't hit me and keep going. Michigan.