Road rage: Are some people just born upset?

[msgt/ret]

Had an incident yesterday, I was in the inside lane of a double left turn and when the light turned green I made my turn. After completing the turn I hear a blaring horn to my right and the driver next to me is gesturing and obviously screaming something and swerves toward me. Then she jams on the brakes and slides behind me and rides my bumper. Fortunately there was an intersection ahead and I did a quick lane change and made a left turn and continued to my destination one street over. I don’t know what set her off but it seems some people just look for anything to cause an altercation.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[deafdave3]

Yeah, I agree. I believe some people are just upset all the time and just like to cause trouble. My first wife was like that. However, I commend your actions to deescalate the situation.

[Ram Rod]

Road rage: Are some people just born upset?

Short answer.........yes. The rest of them are just unhappy with life in general. Not necessarily a genetic pre-disposition. It's more of a conditioned response to an ever increasingly invasive world. Knowing your enemy is one of the best ways to combat him or avoid him. I've got plenty of tales to tell about being on the road. I've been on both sides of the pavement so-to-speak. Road rage is a crime these days in a lot of places. Use that to your advantage when you experience something like that. It's somewhat of a disease the way I see it.
Now.....if your doing 10 miles an hour under the speed limit, then I'm going to pass you no matter what. Please don't stick your finger out the window at me for your problem. 9 out of 10 law enforcement officers will tell you that going less than the posted speed limit determines some form of inhibition. I'm just saying. I'd rather take care of things myself as opposed to using my cell phone. It is what it is. Impeding the normal flow of traffic is against the law. I'm just sayin'. LOL!

[ccw9mm]

Are some people just born upset?

Yes. That's a very import lesson to learn, early on. Most situations have nothing to do with actions we'll have done, and yet such people will get bent anyway. Either they're wishing for a life in prison, or they're wishing that life would grade according to ass-holiness, or they're wishing that "success" and "respect" came via other methods than they do in the real world. Whatever, such people were born to take things badly. My goal: to stay out of their crosshairs, always.

[RoadRunner71]

Road rage is something everyone experiences one way or another. After sixteen years of professional driving, these are my Rules on the Road:

Rule 1: Drive safely. Pay attention to what you are doing. Obey traffic laws. Make sure YOU are not the one causing the problem.
Rule 2: Be courteous. Allow other traffic to merge. Let faster moving traffic pass. Be a gentleman(woman).
Rule 3: Stay calm. You choose how you react to any situation. Anger, fear and frustration clouds judgement and leads to bad outcomes.

Personally, I usually just try to let them go on about their business and hope they don't kill some one. I have only had three occasions when I felt it necessary to call 911 for road rage.

Glad it turned out OK.

[fastk9dad]

Had an incident yesterday, I was in the inside lane of a double left turn and when the light turned green I made my turn. After completing the turn I hear a blaring horn to my right and the driver next to me is gesturing and obviously screaming something and swerves toward me. Then she jams on the brakes and slides behind me and rides my bumper. Fortunately there was an intersection ahead and I did a quick lane change and made a left turn and continued to my destination one street over. I don’t know what set her off but it seems some people just look for anything to cause an altercation.

I see behavior like this all the time at a similar intersection. People are clueless and don't realize that they need to stay in their lane around the turn and then get made when you "cut them off" even though you were the one making the legal turn.

[merlin82plus]

fastK9dad wrote: People are clueless
bingo!

I get irked by the clueless, who now seem to be in the majority. I understand mistakes 'cuz I've made plenty myself.
Take clueless and add cellphone/text/hairbrush/etc, oh boy.

[shockwave]

The classic case was this one out of Birmingham, AL. Ended with one suburban housewife shooting the other in the face. The shooter got 13 years. You don't think that she got up that morning planning to gun down another motorist. Some people get weird behind the wheel. Like some freaky Jekyll and Hyde thing.

[BugDude]

Yep. I've come to expect the worst from other people on the road so I don't have unrealistic expectations. Avoid them, let them go, and just wave like they're your buddy when they're flipping you off. You can't control how they act, but you can control how you react. Don't give them the satisfaction of reacting how they would want you to.

[retsupt99]

You did the correct thing in ignoring and disappearing.
Deescalating the situation is the only thing one can do, any confrontation at all is a lose/lose situation.
Sometimes it's very easy to react, but it usually just makes things worse.

[Chaplain Scott]

I also think that a general anxiety in our country adds fuel to an already potent mix........ if I remember correctly, I heard on the news that 1 out of every 10 homes is in foreclosure. I have not lost my house, but back when diesle was $5+ a gal and I was looking for an additional job, I was feeling pretty scared and concerned. If 1 in 10 people out there driving are in the active process of losing their homes (and probably their vision of "the American Dream", well---fear, uncertainty and frustration can't be very far beneath the surface. Not excusing road rage, but its a crazy time we are living in.......

[Hopyard]

" Are some people just born upset?" YES, I think.

And others just learn to be impatient and angry and combative as they go through life. That is one of the by-products of our competitive way of life.

The ones who can keep it under control remain alive and stay out of jail. The other, sooner or later it catches up to them.

[pinklady]

You did the correct thing in ignoring and disappearing.
Deescalating the situation is the only thing one can do, any confrontation at all is a lose/lose situation.
Sometimes it's very easy to react, but it usually just makes things worse.

I agree completely.

[tkruf]

fastK9dad wrote: People are clueless
bingo!

I get irked by the clueless, who now seem to be in the majority. I understand mistakes 'cuz I've made plenty myself.
Take clueless and add cellphone/text/hairbrush/etc, oh boy.

+1 on the Clueless!

Some people are in their own little world and don't half pay attention to what they are doing.

[OldVet]

You have just witnessed the end result of sparing the rod and spoiling the child.