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Home > Morning spoiled by road rage

Morning spoiled by road rage

January 25th, 2008 at 02:08 pm

Ahh, nothing like waking up on a freezing cold morning with a sore throat, and then to top that off to be a victim of road rage. How is it that in all my years of commuting, it is during my current shortest commute (10 minutes) that I have witnessed the most incidents of road rage and careless driving?

I take mostly back roads to work. Many of them go through housing developments so the speed limit on the same road may change from 45 to 25 then back up to 45. Call me pokey but I tend to drive right at teh speed limits. Especially considering these roads go through residential, it is no surprise to see people biking or crossing the road. Better safe than sorry, right.

Well, apparantly to some people in my town, GETTING THERE is more important than being a safe driver.

I was just slowing down while entering a 25mph zone when I noticed the driver behind me (minivan mom w/ cell phone glued to ear) was zooming up at a scary speed. She came right up to my bumper and then began tailgating me. Argh. At the very end of the slower speed zone, she backed off (wow, I could see her front bumper finally) but when the speed went back up to 45, she was right on my ass.

Rather than put the pedal to the metal, I gradually sped up to 45, with minivan mom right on my tail. Well, that lasted about 5 seconds because she got fed up and decided to pass me. In no-pass zone (double yellow lines). When there were cars coming! Those guys honked and bless them, there was no collision. Minivan mom passed me... then hit her brakes because she found herself behind the line of cars that was in front of me. SO, that meant she'd managed to hop ahead of one car (me) in the line of cars on the road. Good for you, woman!

I watched her tailgate the poor car that was now in front of her. Then that car made a right turn. And guess what, minivan mom swerved into the left lane to get around the car as it slowed down to turn. And yes, there were some cars in the left lane. No collisions, though. Thank goodness for wide roads.

Despite her "get ahead" tactics, minivan mom ended up a big loser anyway. She'd passed me, but we ended up reaching the same destination at roughly the same time. She managed to pass ONE car but did that gain her any precious time? Nope. But she did manage to piss me off and put me in a bad mood! Thanks, lady!

7 Responses to “Morning spoiled by road rage”

  1. littlemama Says:
    1201271664

    I've learned from my DH when that happens to slow down even more and act oblivious! Smile That really makes them happy! LOL!

    Smile & wave, smile & wave.

  2. just me Says:
    1201272902

    I live in Houston and that experience is my everday commute. There is no such thing as yielding right of way and speed limits are just a joke. At a four way stop, don't wait your turn, just enter the intersection whenever you want to. Tailgating is required, thats the only way to get anywhere. And the speed limit is as fast as your car can go. And ironically I have noticed the crazy drivers are soccer mom types, just like your story.

  3. monkeymama Says:
    1201274515

    Yeah unfortunately that sounds like a day in the life in Sacramento. I have come so accustomed to my van, now when I drive dh's subcompact car (1/2 the time) I see my life flash before my eyes many times. The tailgaters look 10 times as menacing when I am so low to the ground.

    I see exactly why the insurance rates are INSANE here. People just drive crazy. Tailgating is a favorite past time.

    Oh it is so frustrating! Glad you made it safe though. stupid mom!

    I actually saw 2 people driving on the wrong side of the street yesterday. (Yes, 2! At 2 different times. There should be no confusion, these were not one way streets). Anyway, then I saw a dark car with no lights on at dusk (I almost hit them because I didn't see them when I changed lanes - it was getting pretty dark). & I saw another one with no lights well into night. I was wondering if it was a full moon or something. Extra crazy yesterday!

  4. Caoineag Says:
    1201275536

    Honestly, I slow to a crawl for tailgaters. Generally they get the point to back off or pass because those are the only two options I leave them...

  5. denisentexas Says:
    1201276123

    I slow to a crawl, too. I don't know why people are in such a rush. Acting like a fool doesn't gain you much time or speed in the long run so it's just plain silly. When someone is on my rear end, I might brake, release... brake, brake, release. They usually get the point. Grrrr

  6. george Says:
    1201285310

    I'm going to play devil's advocate and speak from the other side:

    Traffic is caused by the slowest person in a line of cars. That means, if you're traveling slower than the person in front of you, you're causing traffic to back up behind you. It's simple assembly line theory.

    Now, of course, I'm not encouraging wild speeding way over the speed limit.

    All I'm saying is, if you're on the highway and you're going 45mph, I have no sympathy for you getting tailgated. This may be just a general rule here in Atlanta, but if you're going speed limit (especially on the highway), you're not going the speed of the flow of traffic.

    I also read one time that the #1 cause of automobile accidents is speed (no surprise). Out of these, over 70% were caused by someone driving slower than the flow of traffic, where less than 30% were caused by speeds exceeding the flow of traffic. Interesting statistic.

  7. baselle Says:
    1201582441

    When the person is tailgating/passing/tailgating/passing each and every car along the road, well, it meant that she thought that everyone else but her was the slowpoke. Prime candidate for being one of the "less than 30%" Big Grin

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