Road Rage

Why so angry?

Published on March 23, 2004 By fugmulch In Misc

I wish this was a rare occurrence, but it is not.

The road I travel to work is a 2-lane road running through 2 town centers. It winds its way through woods, small farms (horse mostly), and neighborhoods. The speed limit varies from 25-45, and would be a pleasant drive if it weren't for the idiots that drive it.

Weekday mornings and afternoons, this road carries a good amount of traffic. Especially around school opening and closing times (6 schools on the route). Traffic never moves "fast", you can occasionally hit empty stretches, but mostly share the road with a fair number of others.

This morning, driving through one of the town centers, at the speed limit I let one person pull out in front of me. One. This is always a busy section, and people are always pulling on and off the road. I let one person through. The ever gracious "human" behind me finds this offensive and honks, gesticulates wildly and yells at me. At the second town center, an even busier one, I also let people in front of me. Now, here, the road moves art 10-15 mps, tops. Traffic is always dense, and people are always waiting to pull in. Guess what Mr. Humanity thinks of this? I thought he was going to have a stroke....

Damn people, chill out! Relax, take a deep breath and calm down!

Comments

Suspeckted

on Mar 23, 2004

Hey fug I feel ya, you should check my "I'm a class bigot" post on a very similar issue.

KarmaGirl

on Mar 23, 2004

Hehe...I drive 55 miles each way to work. "Road rage" is everywhere. I like the people who get caught in a traffic jam. They look like their head will explode. I agree, people just need to chill out.

Sherye Hanson

on Mar 23, 2004

It would be interesting to find out what the people who have road rage do with their time. I think that some of them are just too busy. The traffic in Western Washington is to bad, that road rage would be more common here, but letting people in is common. We do have road rage, but the politeness of people here makes it easier to deal with.

fugmulch

on Mar 23, 2004

Sherye -

I think you hit something there. Being polite. The negative reactions to simple acts of kindness are frightening. I wonder how they treat their friends, spouses, significant others and family. Do they go off like a rocket when their girl/boy friends take 15 seconds too long to comb their hair? Am I truly depriving them of something so vitally important in their lives by being polite and letting someone in? Is that 15 seconds so precious that it justifies their rage? In a car, do you become immune to basic human compassion and empathy? I have had my share of over-the-top women drivers, so it is not just the males of our wonderful little world here..

MasonM

on Mar 23, 2004

As a professional driver, I see the road rage thing every day. It is mostly a result of impatience, but I think there is more to it than that.
Otherwise "nice polite" people become completely different when they get behind the wheel. They become very competitive, rude, and aggressive at times.
Then, of course, there are the ones who drive without engaging their brains. They talk on the cell phone, read a book or newspaper while driving (yes they do. I was rear-ended in morning Boston rush hour traffic by a guy who was reading the paper).
People just do not seem to realize that operating what amounts to a barely controlled missle along the roads at speeds the human body was not design to do is the most dangerous thing they will ever do.
People in general just need to slow down, relax, and get there alive and in one piece.

fugmulch

on Mar 23, 2004

another thread here: http://fugmulch.joeuser.com/index.asp?AID=11008

Crazy llama 96

on Mar 23, 2004

Wow you guys can reach up to 55 miles an hour!!! Amazing! I gotta get a new motor for my shopping cart, its not working well lately.

Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:

Richer content, access to many features that are disabled for guests like commenting on the forums.
Access to a great community, with a massive database of many, many areas of interest.
Access to contests & subscription offers like exclusive emails.
It's simple, and FREE!