Road Rage - have you ever got out of your car?

[irocfan]

Wildcat45 said:

austinsmirk said:

alternatively- cycling rage. Purely as a cyclist, when people have nearly killed you.

I have, kicked wing mirrors off (metal cleated shoes make a right mess)

punched several windows through

tried putting my bike through a blokes windscreen- turns out having yr chain on the top ring, brought down hard on the windscreen A post is enough to fold the A post

ripped several sets of keys out of mopeds,/motorbike ignitions who have been flying up bus/cycle lanes, or illegally off road.

booted the rear qtr in of some car (metal cleated shoes make a right mess)- i'm in a cycle lane- lad doesn't want to queue in traffic so mounts pavement in front of me causing me to bunny hop sideways- I boot his car to warn of my presence. turns out looking back, I've folded his enter rear quarter in.


and only the other night, waiting patiently at the side of the road, for the 5 cars in front to move, not pushing, not trying to creep up the nearside, just stationary- the bloke behind me purposely rammed me- and then started gesturing to get out of his way. where he thought he was even going to drive to, given 5 stationary cars were in front, I don't know. we'd had no confrontation, I'd never been in his way on the road previously........... goodness knows what his issue was.

turns out he was a lot less hard after I started punching his bonnet to stop him moving- he locked himself in his car- as I'll admit it, I lost the plot and tried opening his doors to drag him out. Like a nutter I punched his window endlessly- it was flexing like plastic but wouldn't go through- till he drove off. I still chased him on my bike- but in fairness on 60 mph remote moor roads, he had the advantage re: escaping.


so there you go, seemingly over the last 30 years, there have been occasions where I have utterly lost the plot- purely because some bell end came near to ending my life in fairness.

Am I right in thinking your react or overreact to your vulnerability as a cyclist?
What is going through your mind when you go into these rages? Are you at any point thinking of the consequence of your action? What about when you get home, sleep on it? Do you still feel justified or do you recognise your reaction as being OTT?

I'm looking forward to a post where he complains about some gorilla with no impulse control beating the snot out of him for no reason....

[LCarter93]

I had a guy jump out on me once, it was in Liverpool city centre and 2 lanes were merging in to one. I was in the right hand lane and he obviously thought I was merging in to his lane, he was so close to the car in front you could have held a piece of paper between the bumpers. When it merged in to mine he was unbelievably unhappy and jumped out at the next set of red lights where he told me multiple times how clever I thought I was and threatend to put the window through. Cannot help but feel it was partly related to the fact I was driving a car that he thought I shouldn't have been at my age

[popeyewhite]

irocfan said:

I'm looking forward to a post where he complains about some gorilla with no impulse control beating the snot out of him for no reason....

Where has the term 'gorilla' appeared from? Is this the pejorative for those that stand up for themselves rather than locking their doors and hiding in their cars soiling themselves (sorry, read that as 'laughing at the other driver') when confronted with their bad driving? Or does it just apply to cyclists when the red mist descends?

[irocfan]

popeyewhite said:

irocfan said:

I'm looking forward to a post where he complains about some gorilla with no impulse control beating the snot out of him for no reason....

Where has the term 'gorilla' appeared from? Is this the pejorative for those that stand up for themselves rather than locking their doors and hiding in their cars soiling themselves (sorry, read that as 'laughing at the other driver') when confronted with their bad driving? Or does it just apply to cyclists when the red mist descends?

gorilla in this context meaning a person with rage issues... just look at a gorilla getting pissed off (that's my take on it at any rate)

[Parsnip]

No - I have had proper flashes of red when cycling, but they pass quite quickly and I feel like a proper div afterwards - no point in being the most right person in the graveyard.

Have always thought getting out seems a bit of a stupid thing to do - even if you are the best fighter in the UK (and I am not...), a driver's right toe will be all they need to defend themselves - 1 meathead thug will lose in a fight with 350 horses.

Don't know what the legal ramifications would be? If someone gets out and is coming towards you, is driving off (even if it means collecting them as a bonnet ornament) a legitimate self defence?

[swagmeister]

LCarter93 said:

I had a guy jump out on me once, it was in Liverpool city centre and 2 lanes were merging in to one. I was in the right hand lane and he obviously thought I was merging in to his lane, he was so close to the car in front you could have held a piece of paper between the bumpers. When it merged in to mine he was unbelievably unhappy and jumped out at the next set of red lights where he told me multiple times how clever I thought I was and threatend to put the window through. Cannot help but feel it was partly related to the fact I was driving a car that he thought I shouldn't have been at my age

Seriously !?!

[Scabutz]

Never got out the car. Not a confrontational or violent person myself. Someone got out the car to me once though. I was young had only been driving a short time. Some nob was inches from my bumper at 60mph. I brake tested him. Only light enough to just put the lights on. That enraged Im. You could see him shouting and waving his fist. Then traffic lights change red. he got banged on the window and said something abut killing me next time.

Only time I properly lost it was cycling. Coming down a hill there was a junction to my right. Driver looks me dead in the eyes then pulls out at the last minute. Missing me by inches, so close, first and only time I properly thought its curtains. Then he continues to come at me and nearly forces me into a parked car. I shouted and he drove off. Chased him and round the corner the level crossing was down. I cycled up and started banging on the roof and shouting madly. I am 6'5', 100kg powerfully build etc. Gentle giant but must look scary. He looked dead ahead, as did all his passengers. Eventually he turned and tried to blame me for cycling to fast. That was a red rag to a bull I banged some more, then the gates went up and he sped off. I through my water bottle at his car, which bounced off and got run over by another car. I struggled to cycle home because of the adrenaline was now causing my legs to shake.

[Shakermaker]

No, but I had someone jump out on me as well. Very unpleasant experience. I had only recently passed my test and was driving some mates home one evening, following directions from one of the passengers when we took a wrong turn down what he thought was a lane to get to where we were going, but was in fact a single track road up to a farm. Nowhere to turn around so just got near the end, an old Range Rover comes right at us, full beam blazing directly at me, horn blaring etc, wouldn't give me an inch to either apologise for my honest mistake or to go and turn around to make my exit, so then had to reverse quite a way back down this road.

Clearly I wasn't going fast enough, the driver then stopped and ran towards me with bloody great set of bolt cutters that he was about to launch through the windscreen of my little old Polo, fortunately someone in the car with him saw a bit of sense and managed to hold him back. "Apparently" he was a bit unwell. Clearly some major anger issues.

[reglard]

I had a particularly nasty type in Liverpool a few years ago who decided to push in where the lanes merge which I did not relinquish my space. I carried on the Southport Road after a blind bend overtake he gets out of his Astra Van bat in hand. Lucky for me he had left his door open and being an old Saab 900 I folded it flat against the wing and headed off in the distance. He tried to follow but could not shut his door and I left him on the coast road most likely still fuming somewhere.

[prand]

aclivity said:

30 odd years ago I took my mums metro to the car wash for her. It being a metro if failed as I tried to leave, so I ended up ringing - from a payphone - my dad.

He came to get me, ended up getting it started, and we drove the couple of miles home.

We got there as traffic was building up for the rugby league match, dad was in front trying to turn right into his drive. Driver coming the other way decided to drive to my dad's right hand side, then started shouting at my dad to let him out.

I got out and he was being quite an idiot, to be honest. I let him finish then said "that's my dad's car, this is his house, that car is my mum's, and the car it is next to is mine. Where do you want to go - because I can't see anywhere?"

He pulled back but his wife was giving him lots of grief!

I have a rugby (Union) related rage incident too. I also got out the car.

We were driving to watch a game in Reading, and it was getting close to kickoff. Two gents, one from a van, one from a taxi, had cut each other up and were having a scuffle at the lights. This annoyed me as they were holding up traffic and we were running late.

My dad was driving, so while we were stationary watching this unfold, I hopped out of the car, and from a safe distance shouted at the gents
to pack it in because they were holding up the rest of us. Waving my arms while wearing a bright yellow jacket probably helped as well to distract them. I think that was the prompt for them to realise they were being a bit daft and they both sheepishly got back in their vehicles and drove off.

All good, except my mum sitting in the back gave me an awful earful saying that I could have been stabbed or worse. Perhaps I could have, and I totally agree that to get out of the car is the wrong thing to do on a 1-2-1 confrontation, but I had no desire to go near either of them to get into anything physical, and in the end it stopped us all from being delayed further and the ragers didn't end up doing anything they regretted. My mum still doesn't agree

[Simon-k41v9]

Some good reads here! Ive not got out in a negative rage, all for the greater good - sort of....

Ive got 2 stories;

I got out to go to the aid of an elderly couple who were being attacked, Young guy swerving all over place, old couple pulled in front of him (they probably shouldn't have been driving anyway) he jammed on, jumped out and started trying to smash their drivers window, which he achieved. I couldn't just sit there and watch it.

At 6'5" theres not many bigger than me, so I thought Id be alright, but he turned on me. After I had knocked him down twice, he got the message and drove off. Someone else had already called the police, someone else had been filming it...…….but I wasn't aware of this at the time.
I made sure the old couple were alright, they said they would wait for a family member to come and get them as they were quite shaken, and as there were other people there I left and thought nothing more of it.
a couple of weeks later I got a letter in the post from the family thanking me for helping, someone took my reg details by all accounts and they must have got help to find me. the guy in a rage got prosecuted as well. nice to know it was appreciated.

other time I got out was after I nearly killed a young kid who was f**king about on his bike in the middle of the road and swerved infront of me without looking over his shoulder.
how I missed him at 40mph I will never know, I went up the verge and brushed a hedge and came back on the road again in my little 306gti. him and his mates then rode past me as I was still shaking from the near miss, giving me the w**ker sign and shouting abuse, so I jumped out and chased him down the road, grabbed him off his bike and threw him in the ditch. stupid at the time, but I was so angry. how I didn't hit him and kill him is a miracle, I still have dreams about :-o

[popeyewhite]

irocfan said:

popeyewhite said:

irocfan said:

I'm looking forward to a post where he complains about some gorilla with no impulse control beating the snot out of him for no reason....

Where has the term 'gorilla' appeared from? Is this the pejorative for those that stand up for themselves rather than locking their doors and hiding in their cars soiling themselves (sorry, read that as 'laughing at the other driver') when confronted with their bad driving? Or does it just apply to cyclists when the red mist descends?

gorilla in this context meaning a person with rage issues... just look at a gorilla getting pissed off (that's my take on it at any rate)

Ah OK, so a measured response, ie getting out of the car and merely defending yourself without going bonkers (see austinsmirk), isn't liable to get you labelled a gorilla?

[CharlieH89]

BobSaunders said:

Sometimes there is always someone bigger and harder than you, with a lot less to lose than you.

You need to watch this one first to suggest the type of person this person is - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1II3vxrWDA&t=...

Then you need to watch this - https://youtu.be/lCKuunkWvu0?t=412

"Bonkers Londoner".

fk me!

[washingitagain]

CharlieH89 said:

fk me!

Shocking, unnacceptable behaviour although I often find with these clips you don't see what lead to the driver's rage. I couldn't see what made the Audi so angry so presumably it happened on footage the dashcammer hasn't shared.

[TurboHatchback]

popeyewhite said:

irocfan said:

popeyewhite said:

irocfan said:

I'm looking forward to a post where he complains about some gorilla with no impulse control beating the snot out of him for no reason....

Where has the term 'gorilla' appeared from? Is this the pejorative for those that stand up for themselves rather than locking their doors and hiding in their cars soiling themselves (sorry, read that as 'laughing at the other driver') when confronted with their bad driving? Or does it just apply to cyclists when the red mist descends?

gorilla in this context meaning a person with rage issues... just look at a gorilla getting pissed off (that's my take on it at any rate)

Ah OK, so a measured response, ie getting out of the car and merely defending yourself without going bonkers (see austinsmirk), isn't liable to get you labelled a gorilla?

Getting out of the car to engage in hand to hand combat with an angry moron over driving is definitively the mark of someone with more aggression than cognitive reasoning ability. I think Gorilla is quite apt, if a tad harsh on gorillas.

[Court_S]

V8RX7 said:

Yes a few times when I was younger - it's always turned out ok but I'm aware that it really isn't the best idea.

I've seen people who seemed quite normal remove their personal belongings from their car, including bats, machetes, pepper spray...

I've also been pushed through a red light after a driver objected to me beating him away from the previous set - who knew that people took such things so seriously

You never know what nutter is in the other car.

I had a friend when I lived in Sheffield who was a bit short tempered to say the least. He used to drive around with an extendable baton like the police use in his car.

A guy refused to give way to him one when he should have and the started mouthing off. My mate hoped aloud if his van, flicked the baton and asked the chap if he had a problem (whisky dropping the c bomb). Chap blocking the road reversed pretty sharpish.

Would he have done anything? I don’t know but the other guy didn’t want to find out which was pretty sensible.

[popeyewhite]

TurboHatchback said:

popeyewhite said:

irocfan said:

popeyewhite said:

irocfan said:

I'm looking forward to a post where he complains about some gorilla with no impulse control beating the snot out of him for no reason....

Where has the term 'gorilla' appeared from? Is this the pejorative for those that stand up for themselves rather than locking their doors and hiding in their cars soiling themselves (sorry, read that as 'laughing at the other driver') when confronted with their bad driving? Or does it just apply to cyclists when the red mist descends?

gorilla in this context meaning a person with rage issues... just look at a gorilla getting pissed off (that's my take on it at any rate)

Ah OK, so a measured response, ie getting out of the car and merely defending yourself without going bonkers (see austinsmirk), isn't liable to get you labelled a gorilla?

Getting out of the car to engage in hand to hand combat with an angry moron over driving is definitively the mark of someone with more aggression than cognitive reasoning ability. I think Gorilla is quite apt, if a tad harsh on gorillas.

And at what point would you be prepared to defend yourself? Y'know - stop cowering, stand up and stop being bullied/have your family in the car terrorised etc? Does 'cognitive reasoning ability' trump the need to protect you and your loved ones every time?

[carlove]

washingitagain said:

Shocking, unnacceptable behaviour although I often find with these clips you don't see what lead to the driver's rage. I couldn't see what made the Audi so angry so presumably it happened on footage the dashcammer hasn't shared.

It looks like the cam car swerved towards the Audi when it tried to pass him. Unacceptable behaviour but that was probably the trigger.

[Alex_225]

I have never gone out looking for road rage but back in my younger days of driving there were a few incidents where I refused to just let someone off with being a d!ck which resulted in the odd occasion of getting out of the car. I just that bit more trigger happy on the horn than I am now, whereby I let things go far more than I used to.

Had some funny incidents, people often lose their nerve when outside their big metal box. Only ever had one incident become physical but the guy was a mid 50s pick up driver who just absolutely lost his sh!t, all because I dared to beep him for pulling out of a turning straight in front of me. Never seen anything quite as ridiculous as this guys ferocity.

I would probably say from my late 20s until now, I've just learned to let things go. You'll never teach the world to drive better one cretin at a time so I rarely react nowadays.

[washingitagain]

carlove said:

It looks like the cam car swerved towards the Audi when it tried to pass him. Unacceptable behaviour but that was probably the trigger.

Dunno. The Audi in the opening part (from rear cam) was already trying to get next to him and when the lights went green stayed put for a second to suggest words were already being had.