wow. judging by your language, you are probably one of those who think everyone driving slower than you should immediately pull over to let you pass.
Road rage is not and never is the fault of anyone except the person who has the rage.
I do the same. However, I have not noticed any road rage—this may change but right now everything seems to be going okay.
My father-in-law drives about 10mph below speed limit. And one day he’s driving down the road and comes upon a old lady driving about 20mph below speed limit…Boy was he pissed.
Sounds like he could benefit from developing a mature level of impulse control, or seek anger management help.
My late father-in-law drove 30mph on a public highway (not to save gas) and was defintely a traffic hazard. His wife ususally took over when they had to go anywhere out of town.
Psychologists have found that 85% of the driving population drives at safe levels consistent with skills, road conditions and condition of the vehicle. The other 15% ususally go too fast, drive carelessly or go too slow. The latter are in the minority. When Nixon mandated the 55 mph limit, I doubt if psychologists were consulted. Like Prohibition, this measure was hugely unpopular since it flew in the face of all normal human behavior. It would make sense in India where the normal speed is about that with the roads they have.
Likewise, driving for maximum economy is artificially slow, and angers most normal drivers. Last year I spent a holiday weekend in the mountains. The weather was perfect, and all resorts were packed. Driving home on Monday night, the traffic flowed smoothly, but I could only average just under 40 mph, and discovered I got fabulous gas mileage that weekend. It was a frustrating trip there and home, and whatever gas I saved was irrelevant.
Sounds like he could benefit from developing a mature level of impulse control, or seek anger management help.
Wouldn’t it have been better if this woman who was blocking traffic actually pulled over.
In some states it’s actually against the law to BLOCK traffic. If you’re driving below the speed limit and there are cars behind you…you MUST pull over. Now THAT’S an INTELLIGENT LAW.
My late father-in-law drove 30mph on a public highway (not to save gas) and was defintely a traffic hazard. His wife ususally took over when they had to go anywhere out of town.
Several years ago I pull in behind this guy (my estimate he’s about 75) to exit off the highway. He’s doing about 45 on the highway. Gets off the highway and in a 30mph zone he’s still doing 45…he’s pull way ahead of me…Then we come to a ACTIVE school zone which is 20mph…and he’s still doing about 45. It’s obvious that he wasn’t driving 45 on the highway to be safe…He was driving 45 because he hadn’t a clue.
All I am saying is if you and your father-in-law blow a gasket over some sweet slow-driving elderly lady, you both probably have a loose grip on your tempers already and will blow up about similar innocuous irritations. That ain’t healthy. A volatile temper is also uncouth.
As you have demonstrated in this and other threads, if you were not raging over some poor elderly lady, it would be something else that is wrong with your world and is out of your realm of your control. How shameful it is that your father-in-law would direct his rage at someone so defenseless.
“Road rage is not and never is the fault of anyone except the person who has the rage.”
Exactly! Too many people out there think they are justified in becoming enraged because some “left lane hog” refuses to move out of their way, or in some other way doesn’t drive “correctly.” If you have so little control of your own emotions and behavior that you become enraged by the “selfishness and inconsideration” of another driver, than YOU have a far bigger problem than that driver does.
All I am saying is if you and your father-in-law blow a gasket over some sweet slow-driving elderly lady, you both probably have a loose grip on your tempers already and will blow up about similar innocuous irritations. That ain’t healthy. A volatile temper is also uncouth
Please show me where I said he LOST HIS TEMPER…Sure he was pissed…So would I be…You really need to get a grip on reality. You OBVIOUSLY have issues with people who don’t agree with you or drive the way you drive. You feel that everyone should drive the way you drive because you’re so superior to everyone. That’s why when you’re driving below the speed limit and cars are behind you…you refuse to pull over because ONLY YOU know how to drive…and therefore you’re going to teach them how to drive by not pulling over…You really should get professional help…And I’m being very very serious.
You feel that everyone should drive the way you drive because you’re so superior to everyone.
I do? Really? You are telling me what I believe, and I need professional help? Please let me set you straight. I don’t have an issue with people who don’t agree with me or the way I drive, as long as you drive your car and let me drive mine. I am not a traffic cop and I have no desire to be a vigilante traffic cop. I don’t feel everyone should drive as I do. I do, however, acknowledge that I share the road with people whose driving styles are not the same as mine. I also think there is time and room enough for us all to get where we are going safely and on time. I don’t think I am superior to anyone. Even someone with uncouth behavior should be treated with respect. Have I somehow been disrespectful towards you or have I politely disagreed with you? If you want me to pull over so that you can operate your vehicle in an illegal and unsafe manner, well, like I said, you drive your car and I’ll drive mine. That isn’t an effort to teach anyone a lesson. It is simply an effort to operate my car in a manner that avoids accidents and will reward me with obscenely low insurance rates. By the way, it is working.
So, could you plese explain the difference between getting pissed off and loosing your temper? My view is that one who is pissed off has already lost control of his anger. I guess you could set the bar lower and say that maintaining control of you temper means you haven’t killed anyone today, but that I don’t play that way.
The fact that you have so many of these stories tells me you are obsessed with the way other people drive. You are totally obsessed. Otherwise, these incidents would not be so prominent in your mind. Let it go, man. Let it go.
Typical: I am doing about 30-35 in a 45 zone, coasting toward a red traffic light. This induces rage amongst the ones who want to approach it at 50 and slam on the brakes.
I don’t know where you folks are driving, but I do this too. Basically I let my foot off the gas and coast if I see a light ahead is red and I’m going to get there too quick, but I don’t see this “road rage” being described. What I have seen in the past week is this same claim being posted in a lot of disparate network forums. Makes me wonder if someone is trying to mount a ground roots campaign of some sort.
Now, if you are coasting down to a stop light and someone passes you, that doesn’t necessarily mean they are “enraged” or even care what you are doing. If you slow down 1/2 mile early, then you are just being dumb, but within reason coasting to a red stoplight has not gotten anyone mad at me that I’ve noticed.
Or, maybe he just drives a lot of miles per year? Isn’t that a possibility? Or is this a slam dunk, “you are totally obsessed” situation?
Just the way people respond to stuff in this thread make me shake my head…I can see how rediculous their judgement is when driving on the road.
I’m with you, Mike…it’s easy to have tens, if not hundreds of these stories with enough driving experience because there are simply too many people with psychological and other problems driving on the roads. The speed nazis, the unfit-to-drive (e.g. “sweet” old lady driving 20mph below…by the way, Whitey, what does this old lady supposedly being sweet have anything to do with proper driving?), the self-obsessed hypermilers, the clueless, and the list goes on…
Please let me set you straight. I don’t have an issue with people who don’t agree with me or the way I drive, as long as you drive your car and let me drive mine. I am not a traffic cop and I have no desire to be a vigilante traffic cop. I don’t feel everyone should drive as I do.
YOU’RE THE ONE WHO SAYS YOU WON’T PULL OVER WHEN YOU’RE DRIVING BELOW THE SPEED LIMIT…Thank you for proving my point.
The problem with this stupid “you drive your car and let me drive mine” argument (which might sound good on the surface) is that it’s not a free for all out there on the roads. If everyone drove however they wanted, the road system would not work, there would be all sorts of accidents, and our roads would look more like those of a 3rd world country.
If you want to drive conservatively to save gas, fine. Just follow the rules of the road and don’t force everyone else to drive the way you do. Many people out there are driving in an economical manner without infuriating those driving around them, it’s called being reasonable, courteous, and having and common sense (things that our society is slowly losing touch with)…
YOU’RE THE ONE WHO SAYS YOU WON’T PULL OVER WHEN YOU’RE DRIVING BELOW THE SPEED LIMIT
Why should I? Is there a law that says I should pull over if I drive 65 MPH in a 70 MPH zone of a two lane road? No, of course there isn?t. In fact, police I talk to like the way I drive. Like I said, my driving record and insurance rates are impeccable. I don’t see the point in speeding or changing my driving style for some hothead who can’t give me a compelling reason other than it is his personal pet peeve.
Driving below the speed limit is not just legal. It is smart. If some hothead behind me doesn’t like it, well, that’s a shame. I will light a candle for him when I get home.
The whole “you drive your car and let me drive mine” argument simply means I am not going to speed or do something I feel is unsafe to make someone else happy. I don’t think it should be a free for all out there. I think we should all operate our vehicles reasonably and within the law. Anyone who wants me to drive faster than I deem safe inherently thinks he can drive his car and my car at the same time. Anyone that talented should be flying Air Force One.
When I was learning to drive a truck, I found myself driving a truck on ice and snow for the first time. Some of the other truckers behine me wanted me to drive faster. My trainer turned off the CB radio and said “You just drive your truck in a manner you think is safe and let those idiots drive their trucks their way.” He was right.
Think about it. It is raining really hard on a two lane road. The speed limit is 70 MPH and I am driving 55 MPH. The guy behind me wants to drive faster than 55 MPH. He would be happy if I sped up or pulled over. Let’s say I speed up and get into an accident. Whose fault is it? Let’s say I try to pull over and end up in a ditch. Either way, it would be my fault for allowing myself to be influenced by someone who does not care about my welfare.
So when I say “You drive your car and I’ll drive mine” it means “You are not going to pay my ticket or my increased insurance rates if I get into an accident, so you have no business telling me to operate my car in a manner I deem unsafe…but thank you nonetheless for your suggestion. Have a nice day.”
The fact that you have so many of these stories tells me you are obsessed with the way other people drive. You are totally obsessed. Otherwise, these incidents would not be so prominent in your mind. Let it go, man. Let it go.
I am obsessed with people who ENDANGER the lives of other people on the road because they are TOO important…or is that impotent…
I am not advocating people putting themselves or others in danger for someone behind them who is impatient…that’s a different situation. What we’re discussing here is normal driving conditions and roads.
I’m sure your usual style of truck driving in normal conditions was not angering the other truckers or vehicles on the road, but the OP seems to be doing that in their car, and so do many others that have posted in this thread. This is where the problem lies.
Like I said, my driving record and insurance rates are impeccable.
GEE…So’s mine…And I do it WITHOUT being a speed nazi. I NEVER EVER SAID you should speed…SHOW ME WHERE I EVEN HINTED THAT YOU SHOULD BREAK THE LAW. Try to argue with the FACTS presented…Don’t argue against something I NEVER said.
Driving below the speed limit is not just legal. It is smart.
As I said Thank you for proving my point. YOU ARE THE ONE IMPOSING YOUR VIEWS ON EVERYONE ELSE. YOUR the one with the problem. You think you’re so important that YOU HAVE TO CONTROL everyone around you.
I don’t see the point in speeding or changing my driving style for some hothead who can’t give me a compelling reason other than it is his personal pet peeve.
Other people have lives…That YOU’RE disrupting. Get a life will you.