Road Rage incident

[Pete]

So, my first few months back in Oklahoma have yielded more driving-related incidents than my previous 25 in California.

Yesterday morning, I was turning right onto NW 10th from Robinson. All the on-coming traffic was in the left lane, so I made my turn into the right lane.

Some idiot who was in the left hand lane either thought I was gong to pull out in front of him or quickly decided to change into the right hand lane as I pulled out. Either way, he blew his horn and continued to lean on it for a very long time (even though I had already pulled out into the roadway) and when I looked in my rearview he was right behind me frothing at the mouth and shooting me the finger.

Keep in mind the speed limit here is 30 MPH and everyone was slowing down for the red light at Broadway. Whatever the inconvenience to him (and I'm not sure I was even the slightest bit at fault here), it was very minor but he was losing it behind me and as soon as the light turned green he revved up and got right on my tail and almost hit me as I made the right turn onto Broadway.

I parked at the curb to hop into Coffee Slingers and he pulled up next to me -- stopping in the middle of traffic -- rolled down his window and went completely apesh!t. I didn't say a word, just went inside and he pealed off south, screeching away and still going completely mental.

What I should have done, of course, is pulled out my phone and recorded his tirade and threats, then filmed his license plate, etc.

Now, if I had done that would there be anything the police could or would do?

[dankrutka]

That's crazy. I've lived in this part of the country (Oklahoma-Kansas-Texas) and never experienced a road rage incident that serious in my life, but I've heard of others who've had similar experiences.

[Teo9969]

California has made you soft, Pete. The correct answer is to pull out your piece and solve the problem permanently

As an aside, I'd absolutely love to see that guy drive down here. He would literally have an aneurism within 10 minutes!!!

[TU 'cane]

Oklahoma drivers are stupid. It's not that they're bad drivers, per se, just that they're stupid.

Stuff like that is extremely upsetting, but being on the receiving and giving end of such actions (justified and not), I've learned that in almost 99% of the instances it's best to just keep your cool and shake it off. Don't let it ruin your day. Give a wave and be on with it.

Funny thing is though, is when I drove through Southern Cal, it was enough to make me never want to go back and I missed the traffic and drivers back home, of all things.

[OkiePoke]

People don't know the laws of the road. Mainly, staying in your lane through intersections. One should be able to make a right hand turn and stay in their lane as other traffic is making a left onto the same road as long as they stay in their lane. I'm not sure if this is a cultural thing, slow, easy-going, going with the flow, of driving or what.

[OKCRT]

So, my first few months back in Oklahoma have yielded more driving-related incidents than my previous 25 in California.

Yesterday morning, I was turning right onto NW 10th from Robinson. All the on-coming traffic was in the left lane, so I made my turn into the right lane.

Some idiot who was in the left hand lane either thought I was gong to pull out in front of him or quickly decided to change into the right hand lane as I pulled out. Either way, he blew his horn and continued to lean on it for a very long time (even though I had already pulled out into the roadway) and when I looked in my rearview he was right behind me frothing at the mouth and shooting me the finger.

Keep in mind the speed limit here is 30 MPH and everyone was slowing down for the red light at Broadway. Whatever the inconvenience to him (and I'm not sure I was even the slightest bit at fault here), it was very minor but he was losing it behind me and as soon as the light turned green he revved up and got right on my tail and almost hit me as I made the right turn onto Broadway.

I parked at the curb to hop into Coffee Slingers and he pulled up next to me -- stopping in the middle of traffic -- rolled down his window and went completely apesh!t. I didn't say a word, just went inside and he pealed off south, screeching away and still going completely mental.

What I should have done, of course, is pulled out my phone and recorded his tirade and threats, then filmed his license plate, etc.

Now, if I had done that would there be anything the police could or would do?

If you would have got out of your car and he had seen a big ole hog leg strapped to your side he might think about doing that next time. I have people pull out in front of me all the time and I hardly ever hit the horn. It's just city driving for the most part. Of course you never know when you might have some meth crazed person going ballistic for no reason. Can't be too careful IMO.

[Anonymous.]

He probably figured you would turn right into the left-hand lane. Like most drivers here tend to do. Even people making left turns, turn into the far right lane. It is frustrating.

It sounds like this guy was just looking for a fight. Some people are having a bad day/week/month/year/life and you are the unlucky one to set them off. Definitely record them if safe to do so.

[Pete]

If I had filmed this, would the police done anything about it?

[rezman]

^ Probably not Pete, if an actual crime wasn't committed. It's not illegal to scream and shout obscenities, and he never got out of his car and came at you. Now if a police officer witnessed all of this first hand, it might be a different story. Maybe disorderly conduct, or some traffic charges, etc.

[u50254082]

For what it's worth, I've always had bad luck with road rage type problems in the "inner city". Never really an issue out here in the "dreaded suburban sprawl".

<shrug>

[jerrywall]

Both road rage, and obscenities in public are illegal. In fact, the driver's manual says:

If you are harassed on the road, get the offender’s license-tag number and report the incident to the authorities.

[rezman]

People don't know the laws of the road. Mainly, staying in your lane through intersections. One should be able to make a right hand turn and stay in their lane as other traffic is making a left onto the same road as long as they stay in their lane. I'm not sure if this is a cultural thing, slow, easy-going, going with the flow, of driving or what.

This is a big problem here. Every day I see people make turns and immediately pull in to the far lane. Even if people did stay in the their lane after a right hand turn, it's still not safe for another car to make a left turn at the same time. A good approach is for the left turning vehicle to follow the right turning vehicle, maybe 1 or 2 seconds behind, because of the very reason that turning vehicles may not stay in their lane.

[AP]

Either way, he blew his horn and continued to lean on it for a very long time (even though I had already pulled out into the roadway) and when I looked in my rearview he was right behind me frothing at the mouth and shooting me the finger.

Keep in mind the speed limit here is 30 MPH and everyone was slowing down for the red light at Broadway. Whatever the inconvenience to him (and I'm not sure I was even the slightest bit at fault here), it was very minor but he was losing it behind me and as soon as the light turned green he revved up and got right on my tail and almost hit me as I made the right turn onto Broadway.

I parked at the curb to hop into Coffee Slingers and he pulled up next to me -- stopping in the middle of traffic -- rolled down his window and went completely apesh!t.

Sorry about that. I just hate when people pull out in front of me.

[Hondo1]

Same thing happened to me recently. I was "punished" by a young lady in a Honda Civic who did not like the way I made a proper left hand turn and gradual maneuver to the outside lane. Seems her middle finger had a severe case of rigor mortis. She cursed and honked. It is disturbing to be the recipient of such vitriol for simply doing the right thing.

[jerrywall]

I had an incident the other day, where someone cut in front of me right as I was lowering my sun visor on my helmet. I'm pretty sure they thought I was flipping them the bird, because they sure got aggressive and angry. Personally, I prefer the zen method of driving... keep it cool... unless they try to move onto me while I'm riding, and then I'll kick the side of their car with steeltoe boots.

[onthestrip]

Funny nsfw bit from Louis CK regarding this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8062QEFk5g

[stile99]

I try (this is not to say I always succeed) to try to take a more relaxed attitude towards driving. I've certainly not always been this way, in fact, it is really a fairly recent development, I think I finally learned it when I lived in Austin for awhile. The thing with getting mad at someone driving like a jackass is...you're going to get mad every time you get behind the wheel. Every single time. The dude frothing at the mouth at you? The problem is on his end, he's going to be frothing at someone else tomorrow. He was frothing at someone else yesterday. Why let someone like that ruin your day? I tend to allow enough driving time to get to my destination early whenever possible, this helps build in a buffer to just slow down when Frothface Fingerflipper shows up. Just slow down, let him get ahead of you, cause you sure don't want someone like that behind you.

The bonus on this is definitely not always, not even often, but sometimes...just sometimes...you get the joy of seeing Frothface Fingerflipper pulled over at the side of the road having a nice discussion with the boys in blue. Cause after he passed you, he kept on driving like a jackass and got caught.

Now, this is not to say it doesn't bother me. I can't understand what is going through some of these peoples' tiny little minds. You realize traffic was backed up for two miles BECAUSE people like you were illegally waiting until the very last inch to merge, right? And now here you are, trying to edge in and cut someone off and boom. You hit them. Now there's an accident RIGHT where traffic was narrowing to one lane and traffic is messed up for hours, all because of one peabrain. That does bug me, but the same peabrain is going to do it again, and again, and again, and there will also be other peabrains who do it, so if I let it get to me I'd be in a permanent state of apoplexy.

[Uptowner]

If you'd filmed him you might have ended up dead. People go stark raving mad when you film them being an idiot. It's a bit of a catch 22. But don't forget, people are packing around here and their magazines are not limited to 10 bullets like Cali.

It mostly derives from ignorance and stupidity. And unfortunately our state is rife with ignorance and stupidity. People aren't educated on the rules of the road...they got their drivers license decades ago. And then there's the vigilante "you must be punished" sentiment from people who actually believe life is fair. But unfortunately they're ignorant so it goes into futile acts of rage.

I've been road raged on a lot while riding motorcycles and scooters. I ride the centerline in dead stopped traffic. I take the space on the right lane to pass cars to make right turns on a red light. This sometimes INFURIATES people. Why should he get to go ahead of me?! That's not FAIR!! I've been followed, threatened, people will swerve to the left or right to cut my lane of traffic. Open doors in a feigned effort to cause a crash. I've been slapped on the helmet visor through open windows. The very worst is the "frothmouth" who follows a motorcycle until which time he will bump the bike, causing a wreck. I've been bumped once on the interstate, but stayed upright. Avoided 2 bumps and multiple attempts to swerve ahead of me.

I'm not a deviant rider or a speeder. These are just psychotic people. And this isn't every day, just a list of incidents over the last 20 years riding in OKC. I get so angry and pessimistic when discussing this topic. And every time I hear of a motorcyclist dying on the freeway. I wonder in the back of my mind if they were bumped

I doubt the cops would do anything. But a dash cam that has dual lenses that record front and back would t be a bad idea. They just loop through their memory until which time you want to pull the recording like security cams. I've been considering one for years. And some day soon I'm going to start riding with a go-pro on my motorcycle for security purposes.

The craziest thing is %99 of rage is unjustified. We've got a horn culture here like NYC "oh you made me tap my brakes while I was speeding because you merged into MY lane?" Hooooooooooooooooorn.

PS the worst driving I've ever seen is in the Orlando area. Everyone's doing 80 and people are crossing 3 lanes to the slow lane, then 3 lanes back to the passing lane through heavy traffic in their family trucksters. I think it has something to do with the proximity to Daytona intl Speedway.

[jerrywall]

It mostly derives from ignorance and stupidity. And unfortunately our state is rife with ignorance and stupidity. People aren't educated on the rules of the road...they got their drivers license decades ago.

This is amusing coupled with this...

I ride the centerline in dead stopped traffic. I take the space on the right lane to pass cars to make right turns on a red light.

Both of which are illegal in Oklahoma, and you shouldn't do (especially the space on the right, since that car may not realize you're there and decide to make a right turn). This is up there with popping wheelies on the interstate.

[Uptowner]

I'm not disputing the legality. If I'm caught I'll take the ticket. It's a habit I picked up riding in California. I'm not splitting the lane on a street glide sir. It's usually on a small frame Vespa. And I've never come close to contact with a vehicle. But does that give a motorist the right to punish me by trying to kill me???

http://youtu.be/LreWfR_p__M Here's a perfect example. Skip to 20 seconds in. The guy makes an illegal pass on a double yellow line. And is dished vigilante justice in the form of attempted murder.

[jerrywall]

Nope, they don't have a right to try to kill you. It's just absurd to go on a long rant which starts out about people not knowing the laws, and then talking about you breaking the laws. And there are absolutely consequences for the driver if they end up accidentally killing you due to your own illegal actions. Plus, it makes cage drivers dislike bikers more than they seem to do.

[TheTravellers]

Yep, people around here drive like idiots and a**holes, and they get *soooo* pissed off when you call them on it. Had multiple things like that happen since I came back in 2009, but I call people on their sh*t (lay on the horn, nothing more than that) all the time instead of just letting them do it (which I believe tons of people here do because they either don't know better or they do it themselves all the time and don't want to be the pot calling the kettle black).

One of the things that is epidemic here is the "turn right/left into the far lane" and I actually force people into the correct lane if I'm turning into my correct lane and they turn into the wrong (my) lane, I don't just sit and wait to turn right until all the dumbass left-turners empty out into my lane. I have a POS car and don't really care if they run into me, not my fault since I turned into the correct lane, and they'd get the ticket and have to pay for damages, but so far everybody's suddenly changed back into their lane when they realize that I'm not giving way. I just cannot understand why people can't turn that steering wheel just a few more inches to stay in the correct lane when turning, I see this at probably 90% of the intersections I go through every single time I drive anywhere.

[jerrywall]

Speaking of road rage and cameras.... I watch the helmet cam videos on youtube and it seems like a huge amount of the road rage videos are from London. And I'm not talking about honking and yelling. Ramming the bike, running them off the road, chasing them, all sorts of stuff. It seem like open war between bikers and car drivers.

[Martin]

One of the things that is epidemic here is the "turn right/left into the far lane" and I actually force people into the correct lane if I'm turning into my correct lane and they turn into the wrong (my) lane, I don't just sit and wait to turn right until all the dumbass left-turners empty out into my lane. I have a POS car and don't really care if they run into me, not my fault since I turned into the correct lane, and they'd get the ticket and have to pay for damages, but so far everybody's suddenly changed back into their lane when they realize that I'm not giving way. I just cannot understand why people can't turn that steering wheel just a few more inches to stay in the correct lane when turning, I see this at probably 90% of the intersections I go through every single time I drive anywhere.

waaait a second... i'm trying to picture the scenario you're describing here.

so if i'm understanding you right... you're sitting at a red light waiting to turn right. oncoming traffic is making a left in front of you but must have a green arrow because otherwise they would have to yield. instead of turning left into the inside lane, some of these cars turn wide into the outside lane. while these cars are turning and while you still have a red light, you make a right on red into the inside lane forcing some of these cars to correct and turn into the inside lane for them.

do i have this right? -M

[stile99]

Nope, they don't have a right to try to kill you. It's just absurd to go on a long rant which starts out about people not knowing the laws, and then talking about you breaking the laws. And there are absolutely consequences for the driver if they end up accidentally killing you due to your own illegal actions. Plus, it makes cage drivers dislike bikers more than they seem to do.

I feel like we've discussed this before on here (I may be wrong and in no sense am I attempting to discourage discussion), so I may be repeating myself with this, but yes, there are consequences for the driver if they end up killing the biker. There are consequences for the biker as well. Like...being dead.

The last time we had this discussion, it was littered with people saying "Eff you, they're aiming for me, so I'm going to break the law". See, the whole way a motorcycle (or for that matter, any vehicle) works is you are literally taking your life into your own hands. Why throw it away so recklessly?

Nobody is going to say the person in the white car had the right to do that. Nobody. And had he killed the person on the bike, his life is basically over. But for the biker, there's no 'basically' about it. He's worm food. We can incarcerate the guy in the white car, we can sue him, we can create a legal fiction where he's 'at fault', but at the end of the day, there's one question. Just one. Would the biker be dead if he had followed the law? Is it REALLY worth it?

I agree with you, it's a little absurd, not to mention more than a little hypocritical, to decry everyone else as ignorant of the law while ignoring one's own habitual violation of it. And when the day comes that that habitual violation ends badly, it's "the other guy's fault". No, what it is is a gamble, and the house always wins.