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Sun 22 Oct, 2006 05:11 pm
Mrs. edgarblythe and I decided to be out farting around this afternoon. As soon as I pulled out of the neighborhood, this white car, possibly an Altima, barrelled up the street, as beliggerently as possible. I kicked it up to my top speed for that stretch of road, which is 55. The other car inched up very nearly to my bumper, ducking left signalling preparedness to pass us up. The oncoming traffic cleared away and the car surged forward, just enough that the driver could take a look at my face.
"Mm; old guy," he apparently noted.
The car swerved back in behind me and clung, inches away from my Ranger. This went on about a quarter of a mile. We neared a light, and the car took the turning lane. I held to the regular one. We stopped, neck and neck. Then, I did the dumb thing.
I opened my door, without having gotten a glimpse of the occupants of the other vehicle. There was a momentary glimpse of three laughing and giggling kids, about 16 to 18 years of age. The mirth turned instantly to grave concern as I poked my head out.
"You god damned little bastards," I said.
Then it occurred to me that the kids could drive through the light to get away from the irate old man. They might have ran into another car, possibly causing injury or death. I got back in the truck and the light turned at the same time.
We went our seperate ways.
Got to get a hold on myself in these situations. Not good at all how I handled it.
YOu should have been carrying a loaded gun.
dyslexia wrote:YOu should have been carrying a loaded gun.
they could have been, one must be careful mr. blythe
If you've got a cellphone, a call to the cops with their license plate, vehicle & occupant description, last definite location and direction of travel, complaining the other vehicle operator's reckless driving caused you to take abrupt and vigorous evasive action, endangering yourself, your passengers, others, and 3rd-party property, often has amusing results.
timberlandko wrote:If you've got a cellphone, a call to the cops with their license plate, vehicle & occupant description, last definite location and direction of travel, complaining the other vehicle operator's reckless driving caused you to take abrupt and vigorous evasive action, endangering yourself, your passengers, others, and 3rd-party property, often has amusing results.
You are right, of course. Hindsight; ain't it lovely?
You should call OmSigDAVID.
young kids should be able to protect themselves against old farts out for a sunday drive
they should all get ak47's with their drivers permits
I feel you, man. I have a problem with road rage that I usually don't like to admit to myself. I like to think that I'm this totally cool, laid back kind of guy. Usually, I forget that I even have a temper.......... until some idiot driver does something stupid to piss me off. And then it's like this power just takes over and I can't control it. I don't know what it is. I'm like the Highway Hulk. (I'm so ashamed.)
Yeah, hindsight is like that. The "report the bastard" approach is something I do use from time to time, with variation appropriate to circumstances. A favorite entertainment in wintertime is based on the "report" approach - quite often some genious in a beat up, rusted-out rear-wheel drive clunker with bad tires will figure its a good idea to pass my traction-tired, all-axle-drive, 10-wheeled, 15 ton, strobelight-bedecked, sand-spewing, snow-plow-pushing dumptruck on a rural road in a blinding snowstorm. All but invariably, the clown will wind up within a very short distance in the ditch. I always stop to make sure the occupants are OK, which they always are, then I call the sheriff and tell the dispatcher where the stranded vehicle is ... and how it got there.
One time, a car passed me on a feeder street. The driver was so wasted, his tires kept bumping the curb and he veered from lane to lane, now driving fast, now slow. When I got on the freeway, there he was, doning the same thing in four lanes of traffic. I called the police. The person on the phone sounded very put off. "Yeah, yeah." I said what I had to say, even gave the location, but I knew my report was DOA. I hoped the driver of that car was not also DOA that night.
Anyway, that's possibly part of the reason I did not think to call the police today; maybe not; I don't know.
I don't see the problem with the actual response. It worked.
That it did, roger. They looked a bit frightened when they saw me poke my head out there.
edgarblythe wrote:That it did, roger. They looked a bit frightened when they saw me poke my head out there.
Good thing that the car didn't contain an 8 year old with a 38.
I know I need to work on my anger a bit when I'm on the road, which is why I stay off the road as much as possible.
I normally have it under control. This day was a bit of an abberation for me.
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