Road Rage

[Scrvoy]

As I was taking my wife to dinner celebrating our 22nt wedding anniversary yesterday the weather started to get turn stormy and the freeway quickly became covered in water. I adjusted my speed and was happily driving along in the right lane when an older Dodge van that was on the shoulder suddenly pulled right out in front of me. Fortunately there was a gap in traffic and I was able to miss hitting this idiot and as I passed him I blew my horn just to let him know to pay more attention, I used no hand gestures, body language, or verbal communication with him as I passed other than honking the horn. He in turn thrust his arm out of the window and flipped us of and pulled right up on my bumper. As the exit for the restaurant was at hand I exited and he stayed right with me.

My wife is a 911 operator so she hears all of the horror stories and gets calls on road rage all of the time. She turns to me and says “I sure hope you have your gun with you because there is no telling what this guy is going to do” I assured her I was in fact carrying and even had a spare in the center console for her. This reassured her and she contented herself with just writing down all of the needed information. As a 911 operator she knew the futility of calling 911 until the guy made some overt threat.

As it turned out he turned into Wal-Mart before we needed to turn off to go to dinner so it seems it was just luck of the draw that he followed us as far as he did. The entire point of this point is that my wife, who never before saw a real need to carry a gun was reassured that I had one with us and made the decision that she would be getting her CCW in the near future.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[P95Carry]

What is it about some folks and road rage. They must be like volcanoes about to erupt all the time they drive - almost looking for an excuse to flip folks and get mad - and worse sometimes.

I get mad as all get out with some folks on the road but no one outside my vehicle will know that - I mostly cuss them and then get on with things.

The worst seem to be the ones who almost always are the initiators thru error or blatent taunting behavior ... like the young punks that want to provoke a fight.

Seems your lady wife was further educated by the incident ..... that's good.

[SubNine]

I'm glad your little road rage incident turned out okay, and as mentioned before, sometimes it takes a wakeup call for people who think there's no need to carry a gun, to change their minds. Even then, some people still don't get it, but I'm glad your wife got the message.

Stay safe out there everyone!

[obxned]

Road rage alone is enough reason to stay armed. There are just way too many angry idiots on our roads.

[DirtDawg]

I remember the "Freeway Shooter" in Los Angeles in the late 80's, guys would honk their horns or flip someone off-bang! No more rude drivers! I noticed that people were a little more courteous (for Los Angeles anyway) after that.

[peacefuljeffrey]

The entire point of this point is that my wife, who never before saw a real need to carry a gun was reassured that I had one with us and made the decision that she would be getting her CCW in the near future.

SWEET!

It's great when a person (often it is a wife or girlfriend, it seems) who needs convincing to take responsibility for her own safety can be shown the reason without actually suffering harm to get the lesson across.

Let us know what she plans to get, and post pictures!

[dunndw]

I had a guy do that to me and my wife. He was in a parking lot and came over RIGHT in front of me as I was pulling out. No time to brake, just cut around him and kept on going. He was busy stuffing his face and dropped his coke in his lap. He tried to follow me onto the interstate almost hitting us several time. I have a little tuner car with nitrous as a toy. I hit the bottle, pulled away form him, crossed in front of a semi slowed down and cut in behind him to get his tags.
He tried to do the same thing but I think the semi saw what he was doing and wouldn't let him over. We got on the other side of the semi where he couldn't see us and waited for him to get bored.
he finally went away.

[pogo2]

Fortunately there was a gap in traffic and I was able to miss hitting this idiot and as I passed him I blew my horn just to let him know to pay more attention.

Honking your horn was probably a mistake. The incident was already over when you avoided the accident, and honking only runs the risk of triggering a bad reaction in the other driver if he is unstable.

[ccw9mm]

The entire point of this point is that my wife, who never before saw a real need to carry a gun was reassured that I had one with us and made the decision that she would be getting her CCW in the near future.

Some need to be "burned by fire to realize it's hot." Specifically, some need to actually be threatened to realize there are threats in this world, evil in people, and that scat strikes the oscillating/rotating thingy more often than most people realize.

Better late than never. Good for her! Good for both of you.

[BillCA]

Like anyone else, I do get mad when someone drives badly or stupidly, especially if they cause me to do some fancy driving to avoid an accident.

But any more I content myself with letting out a stream of expletives and then calm down.

Some years ago, I learned never to p*** off truckers after watching one guy flipping off a big rig driver, make fients at cutting right in front of the truck and generally just annoying the trucker. When the freeway ended at a stoplight, the trucker ended up behind this guy's tricked out Nissan Z-car. The Z-car stopped and the driver, an early 20's Asian guy started back to the truck with a baseball bat. Lesson #1: A 3500 pound Zcar is no match for a 12,000 pound big rig loaded with 50,000 pounds of steel pipe. Lesson #2: Fastback cars act as ramps for big rig trucks. Lesson #3: drive like an idiot and expect witnesses to tell the cops. :D

[aus71383]

You did the right thing. I honk my horn all the time. Like when I'm on the freeway and someone is swerving into my lane about to hit me because they don't even know I'm there. Cell phones seem to be the cause about 90% of the time.

Austin

[sass20485]

Yeah, got to keep your emotions in check on the road, There are PLENTY of morons on the road and I do get P!$$ed off, but I don't lay on the horn or make gestures. I just mutter under my breathe and get on with life. Don't want to get shot or have to shoot someone over something as stupid as a parking space or dumb@$$ move on the road.

[gear_monkey]

disregard

[Ron]

My wife is also a convert. She went from being very upset that I got a carry permit and started to carry, to now making sure that I am carrying when we walk our dogs at night. The Virginia Tech shooting really brought her around from the dark side when I explained that what the University had done by prohibiting the lawful carry of concealed weapons was to effectively set up a killing field for people like the shooter. The light really went on for her when she agreed that it was highly likely that less people would have been killed if there had been faculty or students who had been lawfully armed.

And, I can assure you that if my wife can be turned from an anti-gun position, there is, indeed, hope for any other members having the same problem with spouses or significant others.

However, I am very careful to do nothing to get into a road rage situation. No honking, unless the other car is about to turn into my lane, no fingers, or anything else that might provoke a nut.

Ron

[ccw9mm]

I honk my horn all the time. Like when I'm on the freeway and someone is swerving into my lane about to hit me because they don't even know I'm there.

A good example that honking, in an of itself, is not a provocative act. The horn, used in this manner, is a defensive tool, one for safety and preservation of life. In no way can honking in this manner be construed as provoking anything, despite that some on the edge may claim this set them off. That they think it is so does not make it so. Any overt aggresive act on the part of the criminal (the 'rager) is the crime. If only LEO's and the rest of society could remain focused on the reality and not the perception.