Here’s one for the ages:
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/03/27/watch-as-man-with-road-rage-gets-dose-of-instant-karma/
I can’t figure out how the camera work was done so well.
Although the trucker was clearly too aggressive, I believe that the driver who “videoed” the incident was also in the wrong.
Yes, he/she claims that his/her car was in the left lane because a left turn was coming up in a mile or two, but it is clear that the right lane was unoccupied for most of this video, thus meaning that the person doing the recording could have pulled over–briefly–to let that overly aggressive a-hole pass on the left.
I abhor those who tailgate or engage in other aggressive acts on the road, but refusal to pull over to the right lane when it is safe to do so is just plain wrong–IMHO.
Ya know I have been behind these self righteous individuals for miles that in an otherwise unpopulated road think it is ok to have 2 cars in two lanes going the same speed at the speed limit, no matter how much traffic backs up behind them.
One rule on the books slower traffic use right lane.
I am a conscientious I think driver, usually 8 to 10 over, pass many slow drivers in the left lane on the right, but if I am in lockstep with another car and somebody wants to go faster than me I will speed up, pull to the right lane and let them through. I wonder what the guy in lock step is thinking, I am going the speed limit so I will make you do also?
It is like a self appointed right to not be courteous and impose your will on others, sure ha ha the guy crashed but the jerk at the wheel of the car gets no respect from me.
“Keep right except to pass” doesn’t apply to a road like that one. You can see they’re in an area with residential streets intersecting with this roadway every couple hundred meters. The speed limit is likely 45 mph or so, and the speed of traffic in the right lane is likely highly variable due to vehicles entering from/exiting to the perpendicular streets.
I probably would have been in the right lane regardless of this, but would not be obligated to be there. It is disturbing to me that she occupied herself with filming the encounter rather than focusing on driving safely, though.
I saw one of those instant Karma crashes - two cars came screaming past us on the freeway, weaving in and out of 3 lanes of heavy traffic, doing about 80. A mile later, they’re on the side of the road, must have hit each other. Tooooo bad.
That driver should be ashamed of herself. There are enough problems in this world without the disruption caused by self-righteous fools.
Yeah. Sometimes an accident happens because someONE was being an idiot. And then sometimes its more than ONE idiot. Clearly here there were two of them.
And I don’t even call that road rage. I’ve seen road rage. That wasn’t it. Or if you want to define it that way, it was a quite mild case.
There is plenty of guilt to go around in the video. If a passenger had been making the video it could be considered enlightening to law enforcement if a wreck involving others had occurred. But the lady seems to be taunting a borderline psychopath as she pushes her luck in an effort to make a good movie. If the lady had lost control and wrecked would she blame the aggressive truck driver.
As others here have so often said it’s best to avoid the bad drivers. Most agressive drivers likely live somewhat miserable lives in there efforts to always get the jump on everyone ahead of them whether on the road or in line at Kroger.
Leave the rat race to the rats.
Everyone has a blinker and the lady had plenty of room to either slow down or speed up and get out of the way. Even if a tail gaiter is 100% wrong, you prudently get out of the way. As a driver, your job is not to teach lessons and record accidents; your job is to avoid them. With electronics the way they are, an optional solid state recording device on backup cameras should be available to record tailgaters and their plates the correct way. I think it’s doable and a cheap add on.
2 thoughts:
My son is one of those that hangs in the left lane - and he doesn’t do because of self-righteousness. He does it because he doesn’t like to change. Once in a lane, he stays there. - AND - he just won’t pass someone. Most of the time he’s in the right lane, but from time to time he’ll wind up in the left lane.
I have encountered people like him. You can tell because the will not pass someone even if they are turning and the road is clear. They hang in the lane for no apparent reason. The best way to deal with them is to pass when you can - safely, of course.
Then there are the folks that just flat like the left lane. No traffic merging in. You don’t have to think about the traffic, because you ARE the traffic. Annoying, but that is all it is.
Lastly there is the matter of trying to teach someone a lesson. Doesn’t happen… Don’t bother. It might make you feel better, but it only makes the situation worse.
“Then there are the folks that just flat like the left lane. No traffic merging in. You don’t have to think about the traffic, because you ARE the traffic.”
Yup!
I know a woman just like that.
While I will no longer ride in her car, when I did ride in it I noticed that upon merging
(s-l-o-o-o-w-ly) onto a highway, she would immediately cut over to the left lane and then stay there–driving below the speed limit.
During one of these white-knuckle rides, I asked her why she insisted on traveling in the left lane, and her response was, “I just feel safer over here”.
My response to her was, “Yes, but I feel extremely unsafe because of the people tailgating us and honking their horns at us”.
Thereafter I always insisting on taking my car, rather than riding in her car.
We have a lot of those idiots where I live, only the dynamic is a little different. We have an HOV lane on I-95 that is only effective from 7-9 AM and 4-6 PM. You’re supposed to have at least two people in the car to use the HOV lane during those hours but exceptions are made for motorcycles* and registered hybrids. However, at any time of day, you can find registered hybrid owners slowing down traffic in the HOV lane even when they’re driving the same speed traffic to their right.
It sure would be nice if all of these people would follow lane protocol. Both people are obviously at fault in that stupid video, but lane protocol should be the law everywhere. Too bad it isn’t.
*THANKS, American Motorcyclist Association lawyers!
People who drive in the left lane CAUSE many accidents. Especially if they are driving below the prevailing speed. Now everyone who is doing the prevailing speed has to maneuver around this person. It’s extremely common here in MA and NH. NH finally passed a law 2 years ago so you can’t drive in the left lane unless passing.
There are good number of people in MA who drive in the left lane and purposely block other drivers. It’s their only way of feeling important. They’ll stay in the left lane even with another car for miles and miles doing at or below the speed limit. Then if that person exists…this left lane idiot will speed up to over 90 to catch up with the next car in the right lane and start the process all over again.
While I agree the idiot in the pickup was way too aggressive. I also think the woman in the left lane is a complete jerk. I HATE people like her on the road. They should NOT be allowed to drive on public roads.
That woman should be arrested. The video provides enough evidence that she was intentionally blocking traffic. After he went around on the right, she sped up to block him in and that is what lead him to lose control. Up until she did that, he had not been driving aggressively. She had the camera lens zoomed in to make it appear that he was closer to her than he really was. I suspect that she was varying her speed a lot to cause him to keep coming closer behind him, most of the time he was well back of her.
He should learn to handle his truck a little better though.
While she was making the video, she is lucky she didn’t run into anyone or into something. Not a lot different than texting and driving.
SHE
is guilty of ditracted driving ( doing the filming while driving )
Impeding the flow of traffic.
and
Leaving the scene of an accident !
Didn’t his left rear corner contact her right front causing his spin out ?
It’s pretty hard to tell but I can’t see any other reason for him to have spun.
This video made it to CNN this afternoon.
@Ken, no. The two cars never appeared to touch. The pickup truck driver lost control all on his own.
There was a case in Jacksonville where a similar but unrecorded road rage incident led to the death of the tailgating driver. The vehicles never touched, but in that case, a woman who was doing the tailgating wasn’t wearing her seat belt. She died, and the doctor who was being tailgated was prosecuted for vehicular manslaughter. He plead to a lesser charge.
Again, I think both parties are at fault. They should both be charged with a crime. Now THAT would be a good example of karma, seeing both of them prosecuted for their aggressive driving.
I frequently have to make a left turn from a 4 lane with center turn lane State high way to a 2 lane State highway. Both are 55mph. I normally drive 60 mph in the right lane of the 4 lane which is the typical flow of traffic. There is a sign informing drivers of the highway intersection at 1 mile. I have no problems switching to the left lane at about 1/2 mile. If there are more than usual vehicles in the left lane I will switch a bit earlier increasing my speed to the flow of traffic. It’s that easy!
I do believe she baited the tailgater into losing his cool. I live in deer country (yes I’ve hit one) and tailgating is beyond stupid. Once on a deserted 2-lane a jacked-up pickup came up on my little car’s butt. The following unfolded over about 5 seconds: There was a plastic garbage can blown into my lane up ahead. I thought, “Surely he sees it.” I waited until the last second to jink around it and the pickup went right over it, BAM. Didn’t seem to hurt the truck. I felt sorry for the owner of the can, though. I did chuckle a little. Was that so wrong? ;-]
I live in deer country and tailgating is beyond stupid.
Absolutely!
I also live in an area that is infested with deer (and police radar), and almost all of the roads in my area are one lane in each direction, with either no shoulder or a shoulder that is only about 4 feet wide. (Translation: Even if I want to pull over in order to allow a tailgater to get ahead of me, I can’t do it)
So…the typical scenario that I face on a frequent basis is this:
I am traveling at ~3-5 mph over the limit, and a driver (almost always a young woman) driving either an SUV or a BMW or a VW (and frequently with a cell phone held to an ear) will choose to ride about 5-6 feet behind my rear bumper, sometimes flashing their headlights in an attempt to make me drive faster. I refuse to go any faster, due to the incidence of car-deer collisions in this area, and due to the likely presence of a police car sitting in the farm field just over the next hill.
What is most amazing/appalling/mind-boggling is when I am behind other cars driving at the same speed, and one of these bozo tailgaters is still trying to intimidate me to go faster–as if I can vault over the traffic in front of me.
I waited until the last second to jink around it and the pickup went right over it, BAM. Didn’t seem to hurt the truck. Was that so wrong?
In my book, you did nothing wrong.
In fact, a few weeks ago, I had a similar experience, although it involved a very large pothole, rather than a trash can.
I “jinked” away from the pothole at the last second.
Was it my fault that the chick tailgating me hit it full force and blew out a tire on her Jetta?
Nope!
If she had been following at a legal distance, she would have seen the pothole in sufficient time to avoid it, just as I did.