road rage
By martindale
@martindale (163)
United States
June 15, 2008 7:56am CST
Is it my imagination, or is road rage getting out of control on a much larger scale? In the last month, 2 people that work for me have had people actually get out of their car at a red light and tell them to get out of the car so that they could kick their a--. If it was the same person, it was not the same car. One of them called the police and the response was not to worry, just a little road rage. She had a partial plate number and car description. Are the police just plain not following up and is that endangering others by allowing this type of aggression? I keep a bat in my car at all times, or a major stick. At least if someone comes to my window, I can surprise them with a whop. Do you think we should have some means of protection with us for these situations? I'm not getting out of the car for it but I would definately feel threatened enough to bop and run, before dialing 911 because I'd probably at least run over a part of their body.
4 responses
@mentalward (14691)
• United States
15 Jun 08
You have to watch your reactions! If you did hit someone and/or run them over, guess who would get arrested? It's not fair!
I agree that I would probably want to hurt anyone who threatened me with physical harm, but it may always end up a story of "he said she said" and the one with the injuries would generally be deemed the victim.
I carry pepper spray with me. It works great, but you have to be able to get the heck out of there in a hurry, or you'll feel its effects as well! That's some nasty stuff!
I've seen it, too... road rage is on the rise. The police seem to be doing less and less to stop aggressive drivers, too. I think a large part of it is due to the weak laws we have in this country. People are allowed to get caught of, say, drunken driving, get a slap on the wrist, and let go to do it all over again. So the numbers of drunk, or aggressive, drivers is increasing.
That's one reason we moved to the country... to get away from the majority of them!
@martindale (163)
• United States
20 Jun 08
It's a little harsh and sometimes people take advantage of the ability to be that aggressive. I tend to be able to function well with it since I've always lived here.
@mentalward (14691)
• United States
16 Jun 08
I guess it's different in different states. Where I'm from, Maryland, and where I currently live, Virginia, if there were no witnesses to a person whose intention is to attack you, and you hit that person with your car, or even a baseball bat, you would be arrested and charged with assault, or manslaughter if the bad guy was killed. That is, if you are on a public road. If this took place on your property, it would most likely be the same as in Texas.
I think you guys in Texas have the right idea! I wish we could all protect ourselves without fear of going to jail!
@vinaykiran28 (5149)
• India
15 Jun 08
Its really unfotuante to see road rage today. Its all because of the amount of vehicles on the road and busy shedules. Every one wants to go fast and be as soon as possible at the place. May be because of use of mobile phones while driving is causing such sitautions. I would not indulge in any type of road rage. You might by chance get injured seviourly or injure other which might land you in troubles. Just ignore and carry on. Remeber be patient.
@martindale (163)
• United States
20 Jun 08
I don't normally have to hurry as I live close to work and my children's school. It's the people around this area. Some have long commutes.
@vinaykiran28 (5149)
• India
21 Jun 08
Yes we need to understand their problem as well. So I feel we need to obey the trafic rules properly so that no one is being troubled. Hows it?
@Jangalajim (56)
• United States
19 Jun 08
I've had a few run-ins over the years. But lately, I've not seen much. Mostly, people just queue up and ride with the flow. But there are a few that just have to pass everyone else no matter the speed of flow of traffic. But, in the case where someone wants to fight, I just drive on and ignore him. Both times I've done that, they just stood there looking shocked and dissapointed at not being able to get into a fight. Made me wonder if they were trying to stir up trouble and were unhappy when they didn't succeed.
@martindale (163)
• United States
20 Jun 08
I think that's true. If you are able to just drive off, that's great. Traffic here can corner you sometimes. Usually, I think they are mad about something else and looking to fight.
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