My wife, always accuses me of a bit more than a finger “wag” when mergers don’t yield. However, after listening to the discussion, it occured to me that since I’ve been in northern Florida, for the past few years, this has happened to me more frequently than I recall. I just realized why. There are no yield signs on any on ramps in our gun toting area {Jacksonville], so I guess the answer is that our drivers are so sophisticated, they practice the European policy of “priority right”, and expect us who are traveling at 75 MPH, to stop and let their 30MPH merge occur.
Live and Learn.
Len Kurtz
Yes.
Common courtesy works both ways.
rudeness also works both ways.
Back to the good ol’ golden rule poeple, please.
The other day I was very nearly T-boned at a 4-way stop by a driver who not only did not stop at the sign, but apparently was too distracted to even look forward to notice my car in the intersection.
every situation is different…
If you are put at serious risk, for example, you have to swerve or brake very hard, then I’d say go for the honk and the finger… the other driver might not have even realized they were doing something wrong and that might help them in the future, or if they are being intentionally aggressive the horn will alert other drivers in the immediate vicinity that something is happening.
If you’re cut off and just need to stop accelerating, or it’s otherwise “not a big deal”, then just let it go, it’s not worth your stress
Yes Atsen, at least back in the 1970s when I was a new driver the Pennsylvania driver’s manual specifically said people in the right lane should move over and allow entering traffic onto the road if it was safe to do so. Yes, the car entering is supposed to yield if there is just no break or opening, but the traffic on the highway is also supposed to give them a break if they can.
I carried a copy of that manual in my glove box because there was one jurisdiction that was rumored to ticket drivers who moved over to accommodate entering traffic.
I’m with Dad. There are 2 possibilities; 1) the offender does not know he cut you off and would not have had he known or 2) he’s perfectly aware of his transgression and doesn’t give a #%^^&. In either case, any action on your part serves no purpose. In the latter case, the honk and finger wag can escallate into less genial hand gestures and from there into participation into an international incident involving the Israilies, the Palestinians, the North Koreans, the Republicans and the Democrats.
Having said that, I really like Tommy’s approach except that you then spend untold numbers of hours filling out insurance claim forms and trying (unsuccessfully) to convince the court-appointed psychiatrist that you do not need to be institutionalized. Bummer.
We have all had our fill of bozos who bought their driver’s liscence at Sears. What scares me now is the increasing use of cel phones while driving. There is evidence that when talking, any talking, the part of the brain we use for driving turns off and the part we use for talking turns on. Apparently the two parts don’t like to work at the same time. End result is there are a lot more really stupid drivers on the road and the only functional solution is to slow down and drive as defensively as possible. This, rest assured will piss pretty much all the other drivers off. You are making amends by non-violently protesting the actions of the few to the detriment of all the other idiots on the road. I make a practice of this. I’ve gotten the one finger salute use down to maybe only once or twice a a day. I never use the horn so i can’t remember where it is in time for it to be of much use, and by the time I get the hand up to salute, the other guy is usually in a position where he (or she) can’t see it anyway. Does what it’s intended to do though, and I move on. Not exactly zen, but so far I haven’t gotten into too much trouble.
Add crystal meth to the equation and it probably isn’t a real good idea to make a practice of flipping other drivers off. There is no telling what an ice-head will do. You do not want to get mixed up with that.
What gives a person a right to “correct” anyone else’s driving? We all drive like jerks, no one is perfect, it’s humanly impossible. That person who cut Jacob off could care less what Jacob thinks of his driving. And, worse, he could get angry and might do something in retaliation or worse. I hate these people who think they have to teach other people a lesson. No one cares what a complete stranger thinks of them.
I say let it go, chances are you will never see that person again. Perhaps, like what was said on the show, the person just was distracted at that time and place.
I just wanted to say that I know people who were in the habit of “correcting” people on the road. I won’t go into details, but most of those people who did the “correcting” have died in car accidents.
I usually go with a finger, but it’s not the finger they suggested. Of course, I do NOT have a Zen approach to driving in any way. 
As to Tom & Ray’s other statement that the bigger vehicle has the right-of-way, I once experienced exactly the opposite phenomenon. In 1992 I was attending truck driving school. It was my turn behind the wheel with our instructor in the jump seat (with his own wheel, just in case) when I was cut off when I had the right-of-way, by a Ford Festiva. Those had to be the smallest, flimsiest tin cans on the road since the demise of the Yugo. Yet he cut off an 18-wheeler. Not JUST an 18-wheeler, but an 18-wheeler that said “Fort Scott/Kansas City Kansas Truck Driving School” on the side and “Student Driver” on the back. I’m not sure if the guy was, A) cocky, B) stupid or C) suicidal but it made enough of an impression on me that I still remember it clearly 16 years later.
Zen Dad, definitely. Anything else could just promote road rage and things could get really ugly.
Someone else, who can’t control his anger, will eventually choose differently, but don’t let that be you.
Good anger management, and the acknowledgment that we are not necessarily in a place to judge others when we don’t know their situation.
For what it’s worth, at 100 yards from where I sit there is a freeway entrance (55mph) with a STOP sign at the end of it. I think that’s difficult and dangerous, but PENNDOT believes that reasonable.
You two are Dingbats but that’s the fun of your show. It’s the others on here who make me wonder how many drivers it takes to change a lane.
The law is that the driver changing lanes fits into the traffic flow – carefully. The “Ben Hur” approach (buzz saws attached to the chariot axles), or the “line of scrimmage” method (“may the smaller vehicle rest in pieces”), is rude, criminal, ignorant, dangerous, irresponsible, and reckless (but not “wreckless”). Anyway, the Buddist has the only sensible solution. When they demonstrate total ignorance stop the lecture, please! It’s driving, Bubsy – not bumper cars. Excuse the pun but a one-finger salute is pointless. At that “point” you’re just acting out, yourself.
Maybe the offending driver was from NJ. Here in NJ they teach new drivers to speed up on the entrance ramp. The drivers on the highway are supposed to move over IF they can to let the merging driver on. I like it this way. But many NJ drivers don’t know the law…
Although I would recommend not responding derogatively particularly while driving, I can’t say I deployed this methodology this week. John Carson used to joke that he saw a bumper sticker, " Ibrake to reload." I coined a new term “ATM road rage.” I was behind a guy at the bank ATM, and this New Yorker (visiting NJ -there ought to be a law) in a BMW SUV was yelling at his speaker car phone while very slowly doing a multitude of withdrawals and deposits. Probably a drug dealer. Now I’m boxed in on all sides so I gave him the horn and yelled at him to speed it up. I was met by a plethera of cursing. The bank manager came out and asked what was going on. Hey, I have an eight year old 4 ton van versus and would not hesitate to use it… In these cases the offending party thinks he is the injured party. As Yul Brenner says in “The Magnificent Seven,” “Ride on.” And eventually he did.
I did have my cell phone ready with 911.
Michael B.
Toots and fingers? Either one means moves other than both hands on the wheel and good driving technique. I’ll mostly side with Zen Dad…for all the good reasons cited above. BUT…so far nobody mentioned yelling as an adequate tension-releasing and substitute for revenge response(although this might not be advisable with passengers, especially children) There’s no way Jacob would be able to influence the rude/dangerous driver’s behavior by anything he did, short of crashing into him (not recommended) but sometimes ya just gotta yell at the jerks because it helps YOU feel better. After yelling, a couple of deep breaths would help restore the peacefulness so you can go on with your day (until the next jerk comes along!) Ooooohhhhmmmmm…
I choose the 911 method.
Is that where you are driving a Porsche and just accelerate away at high speed? Or, do mean calling the cops? 
Here’s an admittedly half-baked suggestion–where else is there to go with these types of ideas!?! There should be an anonymous database of license plate numbers from which one could send a form letter/email to the offending driver. There are, among other problems, vindictive exes, privacy and jurisdictional dilemmas, but it seems like a way to cut down on the one-finger salutes.
Install a gun that shoots suction-cup darts with I’M STUPID flags on them.
Or - get an air-horn and really let them know what you think.
If at night - install REALLY bright lights and blind them from behind.
The Zen approach is stupid.
My $02, or rather $01.
when someone shoots a real handgun into your car, let us know please
I think that distracted drivers should be made aware that they are driving in an unsafe manner, when they are merging or any other time. When someone is clearly distracted by their cell phone I will pull up next to the drivers window and lay on the horn…hopefully the person on the other side of the line will tell them to pay attention to the road.
Dear Tom & Ray:
On last weeks show a caller asked when to honk and when not to honk or when to give hand jesters. This reminded me of a story I heard recently from a friend of mine, whose name I will change. I felt I just had to share it with you and the other listeners of your show.
A few years ago Sarah had to leave work during the day to get to a doctors appointment across town. She was running late. When she got to the bottom of the on-ramp to the freeway nobody would let her merge. She was honking and trying to cut someone off to get in. Finally she slammed on the gas, cut in front of someone and was in. By now she was furious! She immediately got into the left lane and sped up quickly honking the horn, cursing and giving hand gestures to all those who wouldn?t let her in. After passing several of the vehicles she looked ahead and then realized why nobody would let her in?it was a funeral procession!
Sincerely,
John J. Champion
New Brighton, MN
P.S. I don?t know your friend Les Block