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Got angry what happened to a Toyota Echo at 6am on the freeway. He was on the rightmost lane - two to the left, going the speed limit (60mph). A black Tahoe (or is that A-hoe?) slams the accelerator with the engine roaring loudly and swerves around him, eventually moving two lanes over. Sorry, I gave him the bright lights and wish I could have done something more substantial.

Just pass civilly. Miller Lite needs to air a "Man Law" commercial prohibiting this. :D

Reminded me of an exchange I had with a coworker a few years back (all friends). I was wearing a very yellow shirt.
"Only a gay man would wear a shirt like that."
"Only a sexually insecure man would worry about it. At least we KNOW where I stand."

People who go out of their way to "make a statement" are in their own little ways insecure about something. At least we KNOW where the Echo driver stands.

Tony,

Permission to start a "Man Law" thread? :D

Tony,

Permission to start a "Man Law" thread? :D

Second that motion.

Got angry what happened to a Toyota Echo at 6am on the freeway. He was on the rightmost lane - two to the left, going the speed limit (60mph). A black Tahoe (or is that A-hoe?) slams the accelerator with the engine roaring loudly and swerves around him, eventually moving two lanes over. Sorry, I gave him the bright lights and wish I could have done something more substantial.

Just pass civilly. Miller Lite needs to air a "Man Law" commercial prohibiting this. :D

Lust let it go, man. Stuff like this sparks road rage. After my wife and I had a knife pulled on us after a driver was enraged (actually I wasn't even provoking him -- I just got in the way), I've realized it's not worth it.

Hold off on the horn, flashing of the lights, fingers, etc. The person in the Tahoe could have had a gun, and if you pushed him/her over the limit, you could be a victim of assault. I know, because I used to suffer seriously from road rage before I started to Hypermile (actually hypermiling was a self-imposed therapy that turned into a great hobby/challenge).

You can't change the driving habits of others, randomly. Just swear all you want in the car, but I recommend to just let it go.

RH77

Hi Rick:

___Good advice as always!

___Chuck, how did the Echo driver react over the next mile or two? I suspect he/she drove on as if nothing happened given it has probably happened more then once. Just wondering if you noticed or not? I would have driven along side and gave them the thumbs up myself as well as making sure they knew what I was conveying was in a very positive light.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

The Echo driver let it slide and I never caught up (although they were not speeding).

I was about 30 yards behind it all.

My lower boiling point about what goes on the freeways is common knowledge.

Lust let it go, man. Stuff like this sparks road rage.

I've come to the same conclusion. My experience is that getting angry only makes me feel worse and doesn't go an inch toward resolving a bad situation. Part of hypermiling for me is to keep my head on a swivel and look for problem drivers before I even enter their very small universe. When possible, getting out of the way well in advance reduces the odds of an encounter without reinforcing the other driver's intimidation tactics because he never got a chance to use them.

You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger" -Buddah

I have more work to do on freeway anger management.

At least I've stopped racing some of these guys.

Do ya'll remember when you drove "normally," if there was ever a time? I can remember being bothered by someone passing me, or thinking I was going too "slow" for traffic. Now, I'm constantly passed and don't even bat an eye because I know I'm saving on fuel costs.

Isn't caring about not caring great? :D

There is no doubt the truck driver quickly tailgated the next person.
Probably swerved and cut the next driver off too.

Then went home to kick his dog.
Just because he could.

I'm convinced these people have an addiction. Addicted to high speed dangerous driving. Me, like many here came through treatment for this ailement.
Many, many more need detoxification. :Banane40:

There is no doubt the truck driver quickly tailgated the next person.
Probably swerved and cut the next driver off too.

Then went home to kick his dog.
Just because he could.

I'm convinced these people have an addiction. Addicted to high speed dangerous driving. Me, like many here came through treatment for this ailement.
Many, many more need detoxification. :Banane40:


Fortunately, I don't think much about nine years working for a bullying boss. If I did it would approach novel proportions and generate a lot of unwanted negativity.

He was gutless and very appearance-oriented to his superiors however, he did a lot of "kicking the dog" (i.e. subordinates like myself). Raged over the phone or at us with his office door closed. If you have observed a group of dogs (or cats) and noticed the "pecking order", he clearly acted like one of them in his desire to be "top dog".

He obviously got pleasure dominating/raging over anyone he could.

I suspect many reckless drivers have the same issue.

I was a certain proportion of "left lane and pushing" when I
had the Subaru, but after getting the prius, researching the
60 - 65 mph sweet spot, and becoming even more mellow, I see
all the yupsters crammed up behind each other over there with their
stress levels *way* out of proportion with the price of getting
where they're going. It's especially funny in heavy traffic when
the whole left side hits a standstill "traffic wave" and meanwhile
I've been opening up my big gap and jam-busting ahead of me
and wind up cruising silently right by them again.
.
I think a lot of the frustration, even the small amount remaining
in me, comes from simply not being able to *communicate* one's
intentions, reactions, and reasons to other drivers. I tried
to start a thread (http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2724) about that, but it didn't seem
to go anywhere.
.
It's one thing when a bunch of people are pushing and sort of
agreeing that they all want to go fast; it's quite another thing
when someone's minding their own business and some yutz flies out of nowhere to bully them.
.
The local "patrolmens' benevolent association" cold-called today,
and I did not have the presence of mind to say "when I see actual
enforcement of laws and behavior out on the roads, I'll be happy
to contribute but not before" ...
.
_H*

After having driven an ambulance in the past, and having the local constabulary "look the other way" when I was speeding in my own car, I developed a "complex".

I was superior to all other drivers and they had to get out of my way. On the Interstate, if someone was hanging out in the passing lane, I'd either flash the brights and/or get right on their bumper until the moved. If they didn't, they got passed on the right, and got the "finger", followed by a prompt cut-off. One day it got bad enough that someone ran me off into the grassy median of the highway and he took off. I dropped it down into 3rd and floored it. Bumping around in the grass at 80, I made it back onto the highway, hit triple digits+ and caught back up to him just before my exit. I'd never shoot anyone but this guy looked like he would've shot me.

The Civic was fine, but I stewed about it for days. The breaking point came when I realized that my Wife is more important than any road principle, highway disrespect, or idiot driver.

So, I self-implemented a road-rage curtailment program, which included Hypermiling and just being as cool as Fonzy behind the wheel (heyyyyy). Little did I know that Hypermiling would become more than therapy, but a way of Life.

Just imagine that anyone in any car could have a gun. Is your life worth it? I was so oblivious, that it didn't even see that. Get someone you care about to SIT YOU DOWN if you can't see it yourself.

You can't change the world one driver at a time, with road rage, but you can change yourself.

Reverend RH77
Church of the Reformed Driver

Hi Rick:

___This may seem like an odd reply but thank you.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

I think it's humorous when drivers do this a couple of blocks before they have to stop anyway!

Amen!

Excellent sermon there Rev. Rick. :woot:

Randall

Rick, I think it is amazing what hypermiling has done to my driving disposition. My driving habits have been completely changed. Now I do not even want to drive 65 mph on the highway and 70 mph or more seems almost scary?

Hi Rick:

___This may seem like an odd reply but thank you.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

You're welcome -- I just want to get the message out that it's serious business (whether it takes humor or shock value).

RH77

Don't you just hate when somebody cuts you off you get so angry that you cut people off.

2 different cars cut me off within 10 seconds. I got so angry that I tried to chase one down and almost got t-boned by a pick up truck. The pickup person got so pissed off they cut me off and stopped in the middle of the road and blocked the road. The driver was about to get out but just drove away. I had my hand close to my weapon because I know how road rage easily turns to assult down here.

Also some people have a sick mentality. This one guy cut us off and when we caught up to him he was laughing and flipping us the bird. He got lucky we didn't go after him. Me and my dad were super pissed. The cop saw the whole thing and did nothing. We called the watch commander and he basically told us to **** off. Cops don't want to do anything unless somebody gets hurt or a car gets damaged.

Hi Compaq888:

___Your one time of chasing down anybody probably emitted more smog forming effluent then your previous hour in the same car let alone it would almost guarantee blow a tank for many of us here. It does no good to chase anyone down, get ticked off (I do too) other then to raise your blood pressure. Just let it go and enjoy your 40 - 50 mpg tank vs. the idiot paying for his stupidity at the pump on his next fill.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Dunno, it feels like the ones causing sufficient levels of
threat to life and limb should be paying much more than a
few cents, or even a few bucks, at their next fillup. If
drivers could communicate, I wonder how many "cutoffs" would
turn into "sorry, I really need to hit the next exit and
that's the only gap I could find"?? Like the internet, I
think that relative anonymity contributes a certain amount
to the ill will that blows itself into a maelstrom out there
and often for no good reason.
.
It's like mob hysteria or religious fervor. People create
it for themselves, out of almost nothing.
.
_H*

Good point, Hobbit. We're cruising along in our protective little shells and can "do what we want" because we don't know what's going in someone else's shell. It could very well be that it was an out-of-towner that desperately needed over to make a turn.

Also Xcel has a good point too. C-888, you probably spent hours of skilled driving to get your tank to where it was -- don't let others ruin your efforts. I know that repetitive "attacks" trigger the trip wire, but it takes some personal training, mentally, to get out of that state. It's hard -- I know, because I have to do it on a daily basis. I CONSTANTLY get tailgated, cut-off, etc. But I just growl and curse, and if my Wife's in the car, we laugh about it, and life goes on... :Banane17:

RH77

Dunno, it feels like the ones causing sufficient levels of
threat to life and limb should be paying much more than a
few cents, or even a few bucks, at their next fillup. If
drivers could communicate, I wonder how many "cutoffs" would
turn into "sorry, I really need to hit the next exit and
that's the only gap I could find"?? Like the internet, I
think that relative anonymity contributes a certain amount
to the ill will that blows itself into a maelstrom out there
and often for no good reason.
.
It's like mob hysteria or religious fervor. People create
it for themselves, out of almost nothing.
.
_H*

I hope none of you have thought I'm in disagreement with being cool on the freeway.

I'm in the middle of a 12-step program to deal with this. Laugh if you like, but I seriously struggle with this. That should be common knowlege with my many posts about the freeway jungle. The first couple of years of my 6-year old Insight I took it to the speed limiter (113mph:eek:) in response to some of the animals on the freeway. Hope you understood that last sentence: that was four or five years ago. I've snapped less, but still need to work on it. Said several times when and where I drive is sometimes influenced to encounter fewer bad drivers.

It's a good point that sometimes some of the other drivers were non-malicious. There are times I blush at something I just did and realize it could have been upsetting. :o

Even discounting unintentional bad driving, that still leaves a lot that is simply unacceptable. Number one on my list is the abrupt left lane jump by cell phone drivers. I know vehicles equiped with OBDII ports record abrupt braking and accelerarion - I hope they also record sharp turns too.

Of course there are even worse drivers - they guy that just beat up his wife/girlfriend - the drunk - the criminal. Last spring, a guy that must have been drunk nearly crashed (and wished he for the safety of others - see > PR: 98.9mpg and Fast & Furious Stunt Reject (http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1015&highlight=98.9mpg) )

I'm convinced that over the years the freeways have become worse. The solution is demand better driving or lose licence. I'm at a loss as to state and local governments not cracking down on agressive drivers. It would generate a lot of revenue and take a lot of criminals off the streets. With videocams and automotive blackboxes, this is an additional tool for law enforcement.

Final note: the www.cleanmpg.com (http://www.cleanmpg.com) sticker on my car is a definite inducement to drive well, but I suspect a few nutcases get more inclined to harass. I'm not removing it.