“But I doubt anyone would call what he did “aggressive.””
I would. There’s no rule that says there’s only one aggressive driver at a time.
“Asteroids” If each driver thought of the other vehicles as asteroids (inanimate objects) (see Slisette on Feb 18 - “hunks of metal”) , it would work out just fine. The object is to not be hit - or to hit - another asteroid (vehicle) . There is no need to consider other driver’s emotions or physical state (distracted, inebriated, asleep etc.). Just drive your vehicle so that it doesn’t interfere with the other ones. You can go as fast or slow as you please, even talk on the phone (if you are capable of doing several things at once)…just keep plenty of space between your car and all the others…seems simple enough. (Oh, you may also consider obeying all the various traffic laws because just avoiding other vehicles may not be enough for total happiness sometimes)
“But I doubt anyone would call what he did “aggressive.””
I would. There’s no rule that says there’s only one aggressive driver at a time.
Great. Go by my description, and explain what was aggressive about the other driver.
Then explain explain what was aggressive about me.
Then look up the word aggressive in the dictionary.
Why would I need a dictionary?
Because you obviously have no idea what you are talking about.
I remember an old story about a 1 lane bridge. An aggressive driver and a non-aggressive driver going in opposite directions met up on the bridge. After they had both stopped without hitting each other, one driver obviously had to back up. “I never back up for an idiot”, shouted the aggressive driver. “I always do”, replied the non-aggressive driver as he shifted into reverse.
And the non-aggressive driver didn’t need a dictionary.
No, but had the reverse not been working on the non-aggressive driver’s car, he would have been in deep do-do.
When I read some of the comments, I think we have aggressive posting which turns into post rage just as aggressive driving may turn into road rage.
Yes , I’ve noticed that many threads turn into a back and forth slamming match…
much like drivers are shielded by their sheetmetal armor…
BECAUSE the majority of posters are shielded by pseudonyms and are many many miles from ever coming face to face.
( of course you’ve all seen , mine is not a pseudonym and I’ve even told youall to stop in my Ford dealer any time you’re out this way.)
[cigroller] I certainly know how you felt. I suspect almost all drivers know that feeling.
However I suggest that you figure out how many seconds difference there was between the time you lost driving under the speed limit and the time you would have been able to make the same drive if no one was driving under the speed limit where it was safe to do so.
Likewise for those like my wife, I wonder how much time she saves driving using a 1½ seconds rule vs a three second rule?
It really bothers me, but I truly love my wife and she is a skilled driver with fast reflexes so I keep quiet.Here’s the good side: Reading some of these comments, and watching events in the driving world (including in my own mind at times), it simply seems miraculous that we don’t have more accidents and other results of our aggressive emotions on the road. We’ve all been extremely wound up at someone (else) on the road, but we see very few overt aggressive responses and usually manage to bottle it up pretty darned well – and most of the time we have mellowed out when we arrive at our destination. This is a fertile and vast field for research on how people can successfully modulate their “amygdala hijacking” and disconnect it from their actual behavior. The theories are great, but we need more data and this might be able to help us modulate our behavior in other parts of our lives, as well.
Maybe there is something reassuring about all of this stuff, after all.
"However I suggest that you figure out how many seconds difference there was between the time you lost driving under the speed limit and the time you would have been able to make the same drive if no one was driving under the speed limit where it was safe to do so. "
That would be nice. But its not about making time.
"However I suggest that you figure out how many seconds difference there was between the time you lost driving under the speed limit and the time you would have been able to make the same drive if no one was driving under the speed limit where it was safe to do so. "
That would be nice. But its not about making time.
??? What is it about?Its about safety. Interstate highways are not just big chunks of roadways where people just drive willy nilly all over. They are transportation systems - roadways with a permanent passing lane (or more) added, and long entrance and exit ramps. This way a really large number of vehicles can use the roadways for rapid and predictable transportation. This only works when driver’s understand how they work though. There are two simple rules that, if everyone followed, would keep these highways much safer and greatly reduce traffic issues. Rule 1) maintain a consistent speed. Rule 2) stay right except to pass. Anything else clogs them up.
Clogging them up does two bad things. 1) it defeats the purpose of having them to begin with. 2) it makes them much more unsafe.
In the situation that I was in, this one driver took a fairly uncluttered bunch of free-flowing traffic and turned it into a traffic snarl. The snarl was not from traffic volume. It was just from lack of attention and foolishness.
In my own position what it did was just lock me into a knot of cars & trucks. Since this person was doing under the average speed on the roadway, and not providing any way for any vehicles to get through, this creates a large back up of traffic behind him. This is a back up that did not exist before that. I am now stuck in this back up. So shall I have just dropped back perhaps? Went from my chosen speed and consistent speed of 75 down to 65 because I know it wouldn’t mean many “seconds”? Well, lets see I’m not going to solve anything there about my own safety. I could slow down all I want but it isn’t going to get me out of this newly formed knot of traffic. I obviously couldn’t go past him. But there was no space for me to use behind me either.
So perhaps everyone on the entire roadway, including myself should now turn into an erratic and unpredictable driver? No one should try to maintain a predictable speed or expect to be able to pass anyone using the passing lane? We should all instead just strive to match the irrational, erratic, and unpredictable driving of those around us? Oh, well sure. That sounds swell. Much safer.
So anyway. In the end, no my aggravation is not about speed. It was about the fact that this person through their lack of attention and complete ignorance of how to drive put me and everyone else around me in an unsafe situation at the same time that they defeat the entire purpose of an interstate. Nothing about my speed or my feelings about my speed would have changed that.
Had the moron simply passed the car and pulled back to the right lane where he belonged this entire snarl of traffic that I was now stuck in never would have occurred.
That’s what makes me mad.
I think about the old Burma Shave sign:
The safest rule, no ifs or buts
is drive like everyone else is nuts.
Even as a trained defensive driver I can’t understand why people do the things they do when driving. I think that there is a general lack of real training and licensing standards, and I also think that, as a rule of thumb, americans do not take driving seriously enough.
While I’m here, I’ll also state that a couple people in this thread (especially Joe H) have absolutely ridiculous beliefs about gun carriers. As a concealed carry permit holder, I have no desire to feel “powerful”. I just realize that there is evil out there, and in the remote chance that it happens to find me, I’d like to have a fighting chance rather than just submit to someone who has no regard for my life. Also, I’d bet 99.999% of people who pack legally would NEVER pull a gun out in a fit of road rage. We’re really not the stupid, trigger-happy neanderthals that some think we are.
An invention idea here.
For these situations where the fault is clearly the vehicle in front ( yes I caused an earlier argument when calling foul to the car in front ) we need a method of conveying the point TO that car in front.
Just carrying a nice focused beam light might not get the point accross and I’d bet the cops would have issue with that ( I have a handheld spot light…I know. ).
The idea would be a device similar to a small laser pointer but that laser would be powerful enough to cause vibrations on the target surface. Those vibrations would be…sound.
You could then speak in the device and the target surface ( say, the rear glass ) would resonate…’‘hey, dipwad, change lanes.’’ or whatever fit the situation.
This would allow only the target to hear the messege and not every one around like a p.a. speaker does.
ken green is a man after my own heart. I keep thinking I’m going to rig my car with a scrolling marquee - just a few preset messages and a push button for each one. I think they might all start with “hey dipwad…” Ok. Maybe just “Ahem…excuse me…”
And while I have fantasized about that I actually do seriously consider getting some of that car window paint for the interstates. I just put an interstate symbol in the middle of the window. On top I write “Pick a speed. And do it.” On bottom I write “Stay right except to pass.”
Of course, that would really draw dipwads out of the woodwork. Rather like painting a target on the car I imagine. But I might just do it one day anyway…
I think both parties have a gripe:
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People generally do not know how to drive. Left lane huggers, passing on the right, bad merging, distracted driving, and left lane huggers. (Yes I wrote it twice.) If you are going slower that someone behind you, you should get over to the right. I doesn’t matter if you are going the speed limit, you should still do it. Passing on the right is a symptom of this, but I have seen many people pass someone in the middle lane with an open left lane on the right. Or you are already in the right lane, and there is a guy in the middle lane and you just pass him on the right. I don’t get it. Is it really that much effort to put a blinker on, get over two lanes and pass on the left? I hate to be THAT guy, but I drive in Germany a lot and they have (usually) impeccable lane manners. When I come back to the US (NY Metro area) it’s a like a horror show. I’m passing a guy in the middle lane, and the guy behind me shoots two lanes over to the RIGHT and passed him and cuts me off while I’m getting back into the middle lane. It’s totally nuts! Passing on the right is dangerous, period. There’s a reason there is a rule about it, even though almost nobody follows it and no police officer has EVER given a ticket for it.
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When we interact with each other through cars, we lose our humanity. I don’t know why but people get angry at CARS and TRUCKS, and it’s easy to forget that it being controlled by a PERSON. If you were walking down the street and an old lady was hogging the sidewalk, would you scream at her as you walked by? I hope not! There’s a disconnect between this and when the two of you are in cars. What if everyone you drove near had to see you face-to-face. Maybe a video screen? Or you could get near-field audio. SOME way of getting you to remember that the person is real. You can scream anonymously and act like a baby, but as soon as you know someone will get a little more direct communication, I bet things would change. Well, unless you are a full blown bully-type.
I should say that Germans are TERRIBLE at #2. They will have great manners until you make a mistake, then the top blows. I’ve been the target of that a few times before I learned the German way of driving.
For me, like Tom and Ray, I have given up my urgency and brashness while driving. Someone wants to cut me off and blow me away, fine. I don’t hug the left lane in passive-agressive defiance, I just get over and do my own thing. I save a little gas doing this as well. When I need to go fast, I pass on the left or I wait at least 30 seconds behind lefty before I decide I need to pass on the right. I don’t beep, no lights flashing, but I learned a great subtle technique from Germany. The left blinker in the left lane. This is a polite and humane way of telling the person in front that they are preventing a pass. That is IF they even notice the blinker. Flashing brights at people is BAD manners, even in the unlimited speed zones of the autobahn.
By far the funniest thing I have seen is a lady in a Prius driving like a maniac and passing and weaving around. Maybe she is thinking “All these idiots are wasting gas and I am superior!” But they way she was driving I GUARANTEE that she doesn’t get any better milage than anyone else.