So I was in college and had my 68 Mercury Cougar XR7 with a 302 I think and wide rear tires for cool. I had to take some back roads, gravel I knew pretty well. It was on a 1.5 lane gravel road and some guy in a Camero catches up and is tailgating me and flashing lights even though I was going over the speed limit. I knew a nasty curve was coming up and sped up as much as I felt safe, and accelerated coming out of the turn while watching his car slide into the ditch. I stopped and backed up to make sure they were ok, then drove on. No cell phones those days!
Thought of this when reading some stories in People Tell Stories Of How They Punished Someone To Get Revenge - MetaSpoon
Several years back, a young woman in a VW (naturally…) was tailgating me extremely closely, despite the fact that I was driving over the speed limit on a local road near my house. The road was scheduled for repaving in the next few weeks, and there were a couple of big potholes present, with a particularly deep one on a curve that we were approaching.
Yes, you guessed it. I intentionally dodged the pothole at the last second, but because she was following so closely, she had no idea about that pothole. The sound of her driver-side front tire blowing-out was… memorable.
Not so much road rage, but a punk aggressive driver. I was driving north on I-495 heading up to Manchester NH. This punk kid was so close to my Pathfinder all I could see was the roof of his car. And we were doing about 70. I had to take 93N and I knew there was this major pothole on the exit ramp. Being early spring they hadn’t fixed it yet. So I slowed down a little and went right over the hole. Being a truck and much larger tires I had not problem handling the hole. Not so much for the punk behind me. I saw him pull hard after he went pass hole. I drove around the cloverleaf to see what happened. He must have broken ball joints on car. Car was facing one way and his tire was facing 90 degrees out.
I was about 22 and a manager of a shoe store. I just got done doing a 12 hour shift and was on my way home. i jumped into my 72 ss/rs camaro and was heading home. it was dark out and I was the only one on the road. all of a sudden I see a car speeding up behind me with his brights on. he was right on my bumper so I sped up a little even though i was in the right lane and he could of went into the left lane and gone around me. still on my bumper I moved to the left lane so he could go on by. but he went behind me again. with his brights on I couldnt see who was in the car. so I floored it and put some distance between us. here he came again. this time when he got behind me I hit my racing lights. ( a switch to turn on my reverse lights to let other drives know you wanted to race}
well after I did that I here his brakes lock up and I kept going. well after that I see him coming and he gets on my rear bumper and turns on his red lights. the whole time it was a state trooper. so I pull over and he comes out screaming Im going to lock your ass up! so I say hold on a minute. you where riding my ass. I had know Idea who you were with your brights on. for all I know you could of been some nut job. so he stops for a second and says ok your right. but if you ever turn those damn lights on again I will lock your ass up. now get the hell out of here.
I am old so have lots of stories, I lived out in the boonies, 2 lane asphalt road, some guy behind me flashing a spotlight all over the place. So I am looking in the rear view and side mirror trying to figure out what is this? So I decide to pull over, and get out to see what this guy was up to. I may have been close or over the legal limit for beers. So I walk back in the pouring rain to what turns out to be a cop car, and he still in the car, you were speeding and weaving. I explained I did not know what was going on, trying to watch in my rear view mirrors. He says well my flashing lights are broken, and I did not want you to hit a deer, I said I will take it slower and he let me go, OH the good old days. Must have had enough good Karma built up for that day!
I hit my racing lights. ( a switch to turn on my reverse lights to let other drives know you wanted to race}
I have not heard them called racing lights before must be a regional thing but I have had more trucks than cars I have used the same setup with utility lights mounted on the rear bumper for those idiots that come up behind me with bright lights reflecting off my mirrors that don’t want to dim them works pretty good.
thats what we called them on long island. but that was also 45 years ago.
This one was many years ago. A friend had a car problem and asked me to drive him to Altus, OK one Saturday for a will reading from a deceased relative. We were in my 68 Roadrunner.
On the way home that night I-40 was under construction near Weatherford, OK so we had to go through town. On the east side was road construction posted 45 MPH and we got caught at the last light. A few seconds later I hear the “Beep Beep” horn of a Roadrunner and 3 guys in a 70 model pulled up wanting to race. They were drinking of course. Told me they had a 440 with a Sure Grip rear axle so I told them I had no chance (Ha) with a 383 and no locker. They kept on goading me until I consented but only from a 15 MPH rolling start. They agreed, counted to 3, and we were off.
I jumped those guys so bad it wasn’t even funny and had them 4 or 5 lengths in a quarter. It was pitch black and the road curved underneath an underpass. Doing about a 100 I thought “what a place for the state patrol to be” so I hit the brakes, downshifted, and went under about 70 or so. Those guys blew past me doing about 110 in a Limelight Green flash…
A few seconds later red flashing lights and I was irrelevant. The trooper blew past me in pursuit. A few miles down the road we saw them pulled over on an off ramp; all lined up in the position. A 110 in a 45 while drinking guaranteed a tow and jail for the night.
As we went by my buddy yelled “Losers” and I gave them them the “Beep Beep” horn right back.
Was gonna be a pretty expensive losing race for them.
Never heard that term, can you explain it? I am on a way with words and would love to post it there, I make the novice assumption it means the green light on a dragstrip.
My older brother did the same thing with his 86 Jetta, but as a way to make the backup lights work, Although it’s possible he hit the switch just to see what people would do.
I came very close to being a victim of road rage. Mrs. Triedaq and I and seven other people were returning from a convention in Chicago in a 15 passenger van. I did my stint at the wheel getting us out of Chicago through rush hour traffic and quite a distance south on I-65. Mrs. Triedaq took over the driving and I rode shotgun. After we got off the interstate onto a lightly travelled state highway, I said to Mrs. Triedaq, “Can’t you get more speed out of this heap?”. Mrs. Triedaq stepped on the accelerator. She missed a speed limit sign for a little berg that was barely a wide spot in the road, and unfortunately, a state trooper was checking speeds with his radar. Instantly the flashing lights came on and we were pulled over. The trooper advised Mrs. Triedaq that she was driving over the limit. Mrs. Triedaq apologized and said she had missed the speed limit sign. The 15 passenger van had state owned license plates and we were all dressed up in our convention clothes. The trooper advised Mrs. Triedaq to be careful and didn’t even ask to see her driver’s license. Fortunately for me, the other passengers were asleep and Mrs. Triedaq didn’t want to wake them up or I would have faced the worst road rage imaginable from Mrs. Triedaq for having her speed up. For the rest of the trip, I kept my mouth shut.
For ultimate road rage karma see Steven Spielberg’s directorial debut.
OK , what if I don’t know what that is and don’t want to use Google to find out ?
the lime light color was also called Sublime. in 1971 it was called go-green
I would have faced the worst road rage imaginable from Mrs. Triedaq for having her speed up. For the rest of the trip, I kept my mouth shut.
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I can see it now either you sleeping on the sofa or in the dog house with the dog sleeping on the sofa.
As mentioned, Limelight Green was that bright green used on Plymouths in 1970. The same color used on Dodges was called Sublime Green.
My Roadrunner was what was called B-5 Blue; a color that was even used on current model Challengers until just a few years ago. Over the years B-5 came in about 20 different shades…
In the racing incident I mentioned there was really not any road rage but those guys did get a little sarcastic at first when I said I had no desire to race them. That sarcasm cost them dearly.
Not road rage per se but a few years ago I was on Illinois Route 50 when a little red car passed me while we were both going up a hill. I was going the speed limit so I knew he was going well over it. At the time, I thought, “Jerk!” and I hoped, uncharitably, that he’d get himself in trouble. A few miles farther down the road, a cop had pulled over–you guessed it–a very familiar little red car.
I’ve seen a few but never done any. On a lonely highway #2 in northern Minnesota going from my office in Bemidji to my office in Duluth, a car started following me really close. About 3-4 teens or so in it. Passed me, then slowed down to about 30. I passed them, then they passed me, rinse and repeat a few times. I had my Riviera so figured I could outrun them which I did. I don’t know what their game was and wasn’t about to find out. I was obviously not from there which meant I had money and no towns or anything for quite a ways. You never know what you will encounter up there. One reason I don’t like dealer stickers or license frames advertising that you are from way out of town.
Back in the late 60’s I was coming back from Mankato on the two lane highway. A girl was alone ahead of me and a car with guys in it ahead of her. They stopped in the middle of the road, got out, pulled her door open and jumped on her hood yelling at her to turn her bright light off. Then repeated it again a few hundred feet down the road. I would have gotten out if it went any further. I did report them to the Sheriff though. Back in those days, if you did any amount of driving, especially after a night shift in Minneapolis, you kept a bat under the seat and your doors locked. Of course before wide-spread use of power door locks.
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Bing like you I never liked dealer stickers ( free advertising that you don’t get paid for ) 0r license frames or anything that tells where you are from in my state your home county is on the tag but that changed quite a few years back now you have the choice of county sticker or a sticker with IN GOD WE TRUST in place of the county sticker that way no one knows where you are from.
Towing a race car with my van south on I75 coming into Atlanta in the far right lane. Heavy traffic in all lanes with a girl in a compact car entering the highway on one of 2 lanes on my right. She doesn’t time the rather long collapsing lane until it nearly ended. Nothing I could do, locked in place with traffic to my left, not enough time to slow, couldn’t speed up. She looked left, the up at my van, then back at the car trailer. She started mouthing and signing obscenities.
She fell back and worked her way in and up beside my left hand side. I was still in the far right lane… slower vehicle you know. She resumed the obscene gestures and mouthed obscenities. I smiled and waved… with ALL my fingers… Her lane abruptly stopped, forcing her to nearly lock the brakes to avoid rear ending the car in front of her while I just glided on along in the “slow” lane.