Road rage experiences

BrianD3

I'm interested if anyone here has been involved in any road rage incidents where you and/or another road user stopped in the road, got out of your vehicle etc. to shout abuse at each other or even have a physical fight

I've had a few verbal ones. Two of them involved following drivers getting annoyed because I had the nerve to stop at a red light that they assumed I would break :rolleyes: I got out of my car in one of those to confront the guy behind after he started roaring abuse out of his window at me. In the other one it was the opposite way around, guy behind got out to berate me, we exchanged strong verbals through my half open window. Another time it was my fault, I baulked a pedestrian who had right of way (I turned from a major road into a minor road when he was walking staright along the footpath) Guy went bananas and we had a shouting match. The final one was when I was turning left out of a side road and nearly collided with a cyclist who was cycling the wrong way down a one way street. More shouting and abuse.

This might sound like I'm a hot tempered idiot on the road but these experiences are over 11 years and around 300k miles so i don't think its too bad. Of course it is never a good idea to get into any sort of confrontation (even verbal) as you never know what the other guy will do.

Obvioulsy I haven't included the countless times I have a) gotten rude gestures eg after blowing the horn at some dope to alert them of my presence b) had assholes speed up when I try to overtake Grrr. :mad: I regard this as one of the most confrontational things anyone can do on the road.

impr0v

With all due respect I'd say it's still an overly high incident rate, despite your high mileage.

The closest I've come is when I was late for a wedding and was edging out of a minor road, slowly, across a hatched box to join the opposite lane. The traffic on my side was stopped at a red light to my left, so I was inching out to see what was coming. I wasn't even half way across the box (i.e. no part of my bonnet was even close to protruding into the opposite lane) and moving very slowly, when a middle aged fatboy in a CLK stopped dead (after passing the box) and just sat there giving me the stare of death through his opened window.

I took off my seatbelt and opened the door, intending to get my 9 (iron, not millimetre) out of the boot when he took off.

DublinWriter

I've seen a few 'shape-throwing' incidents in the UK and Germany, but in Ireland we appear to take things to the next level.

One of the most disturbing thing's I've ever seen on an Irish road was about 10 years ago on rush hour on the junction between Westland Row and Pearse St.

Some one cut up a 'white man van' in fairly static traffic. White van man got out and proceeded to throw full punches through the open driver-side window of the car that cut him up. I remember seeing the guy's elbow rise quite high as he landed several on the driver of the car.

I would have kind of understood if white-van-man was a young male, but he appeared to be in his late 40's and seriously overweight.

BrianD3

On the subject of disturbing things, one day at the toll bridge an old man (looked in his 70s or maybe older) made a mistake. Found himself in the automated car lane, didn't have change, heard the horns blasting behind, got out of his car and was wandering around in a panic. OK he made a msiatke however he didn't deserve what happend next - some ****in scruffy beer bellied pig in his thirties gets out of his car and starts roaring at the old man and "throwing shapes". I actually thought he was goin to attack the old fella. Was going to get out to help the old fella out but before i did some woman came over an helped him. But what sort of a pig acts like that to an old man clearly in difficulty. I witnessed all of this from an adjacent lane BTW.

unkel

BrianD3 wrote:

I'm interested if anyone here has been involved in any road rage incidents where you and/or another road user stopped in the road, got out of your vehicle etc. to shout abuse at each other or even have a physical fight

None of the above. No "shape throwing" either. My worst is using horn / flashing / some muttering to myself

BrianD3 wrote:

Another time it was my fault, I baulked a pedestrian who had right of way (I turned from a major road into a minor road when he was walking staright along the footpath) Guy went bananas and we had a shouting match

I don't understand that one. I would have profusely apologised and I would have taken any verbal abuse he'd have thrown at me. I'm sure he would have calmed down after a bit

RobAMerc

I have done my fair share of shouting flashing and gesturing. Never been shouted at.
Thing is, the drivers here are so sh*te they are often too busy trying to drive (change gears etc) to have time to take notice what they are actually doing, or you telling them they are twa*s.

peasant

I usually just mutter at myself ...a good few swear words and the pressure is off, no need to go ant further.

One time though ...

I was on the motorbike in city traffic, middle of my lane, doing the allowed 50 km/h.
Out of nowhere this flashy Beemer roared only centimeters past me, cutting me up in the process. I was too busy keeping everything together and not falling to roar or shout or anything like that.

So at the next traffic lights I decided to pull up to this guys window with the intention of having a few choice words. He must have been waiting for me though, because just as I was about to let rip, he just quietly reached to his side, pulled out a butterfly knife and snapped it open inches from my face (trough an open window)

I quickly decided to leave it at that ...and made off instead

prospect

Problem is that the person in the wrong, will never admit they are wrong.

Only 10 minutes ago I was coming into work on the Nangor road. Just as you approach the M50 bridge, the 'Out Of Operation' bus lane ends with a diagonal dashed white line.
No I was in the traffic lane moving along nicely (for a change), and a Blonde 'L' driver in a purple MKII micra comes flying up the 'Out Of Operation' bus lane, and without indicating, or slowing and obviously without stopping, she crosses the dashed white line and trys to merge into the side of my car.
So, I lashed on the horn. She panics for a second, and puts on her indicator, although she is now infront of me! So she knew what she did was wrong. I sat behind shaking my head, and pointing at my eyes, indicating to her that she should use hers. What do I get, The Finger !!!!

All I could do is applaude her, stupid tramp.

BrianD3

unkel wrote:

I don't understand that one. I would have profusely apologised and I would have taken any verbal abuse he'd have thrown at me. I'm sure he would have calmed down after a bit

I was actually intending to apologise but didn't get a chance. The instant I blocked his path he became hyper and did what can only be described as a "war dance" around the car. All the time shouting his head off. With hindsight maybe I should have tried to calm him down but at the time shouting back at him seemed like the best option

TheMonster

in NY a big guy(25 st+) got out of a truck with a baseball bat and started hitting a car that had blocked a yellow box - now thats road rage.

Litcagral

My only real experience of road rage actually occured in a filling station:


I was queuing at a diesel pump in the Texaco at Fosterstown North in Swords. (For some reason it's almost impossible to get diesel in north Dublin on a Monday morning - this was the fifth station I tried). There were about five vehicles in front of me.

When my turn arrived a chap pulled up from the other side in a 4x4 with horsebox. Both of us met bumper to bumper. Neither off us could access the pump. I got out and explained to him that the queue had formed from the other side. He responded "would you ever fúck off with yourself". I calmy walked back to my car and picked up the newspaper as I knew he couldn't reach the pump. After several minutes he got out and said that he was telephoning the "cops". I smiled and continued to read. Another five minutes passed and he approached again. He was giving me "one more minute or else". I blew him a kiss (I'm male) and began to nonchalantly clean the interior of my car. He went absolutely beserk and began to scream and roar abuse at me and proceeded to kick the shít out of his jeep and horsebox. I was begining to regret blowing the kiss when he jumped into his vehicle and drove off at high speed with frightened horse in tow. It was a great consolation knowing that he would have great trouble getting diesel else where locally as I had already tried most of the other places. He was obviously in the middle of a comlpete breakdown. (BTW he was wearing a DFB T-shirt).

Archeron

Not quite a road rage experience, but kind of strange nonetheless.

Driving through Summhill in Meath, the town has a 50 limit. On the outskirts of the town is a school and church in close proximity. Because most cars have sped back up to about 70 by the time they reach the school, there is another sign posted saying "school ahead 50kmph", fair enough, there's a crossing and all so perfectly valid speed limit.
I had this woman, quite young in a BMW 4x4 with a little child in the front seat tailgating me most of the way approaching the town, and through the town. Just as we got a to a hill in the 50 zone outside the school, on a double white line, she decides to overtake me and stare me out of it while amuttering something at me. I thought a young woman with a kid would respect the speed limit at a school (how naive I can be!!), but this idiot didnt even look at the road while she was overtaking dangerously outside a school, she was looking at me!! She missed an oncoming truck by not much and then shot off at about 100kmph. Sometimes I despair.

On real road rage, I had one funny one. The traffic lights to go under the rail bridge towards the IFSC, some fat sh*t in a Carina E pushed me off the road and almost made me crash, so I laid into my horn. Out gets the big dope and starts walking towards my car trying his best to look scary. So I picked up the steering lock I keep in the car and got out to kill him/defend myself. At which point he left a nice long trail of diarrhea all the way to the North Strand.

Hotwheels

I blew him a kiss (I'm male)

priceless

Idleater

Been a victim plenty of times in the days when I used to cycle more...

One time I was going around a sharp left turn (single lane both directions) with a metal barrier all around the inside of the corner. I was going at about 20kmph in a 50kmph.

Next thing I knew there was a taxi right beside my right shoulder. Now the bike was banked over to go around the corner so the car was "very" close to my tyres, and my head was "very" close to the metal barrier. The car was so close that I was able to knock on the passenger window. He turned into me and drove me off the road. Luckiky the barrier had just finished so I was forced onto the footpath.

Obviously quite shaken, I freewheeled up the path for about 50m pulled over and stopped. There was a traffic queue so he was making absolutely no progress. I got his number and went straight to the gardai...

L.

Blitzkrieger

I've had a few people "throwing shapes" at me lately but have never seen anything major.

I was driving down a typical Cork city road that wide enough for two way traffic but shouldn't have had a parking bay on one side. I stopped a couple of times to let traffic coming the other way proceed and eventually the road widened out enough that I could pass a parked car even though there was someone coming the other way. At first the dip**** sped up to try to get to the narrow point first, then when he realised I wasn't stopping, jammed on the brakes and jerked to the side of the road. There was room for me to pass even before he moved over but what did he think slowing down (and almost getting rear ended) was going to do? Make his car narrower? As I'm passing he shouts something at me and is shaking his fist. Shaking his fist - could there be any more impotent gesture? I think he saw me burst out laughing before we had passed.

Another time I pulled out to overtake from behind a van on a dual carraigeway, moments before he decides to do the same thing to the car miles in front of him. He saw me and jerked back into his own lane. This guy shook his fist at me too. Plonker.

Pherekydes

I've had a few, but one amusing one happened a few years back in Lucan village. The car in front stopped at a red light (so I did too ). Then the lights changed to a straight green, but yer woman refused to move, even when I beeped. She came back to tell me I was a rude b*****d, and she was waiting for a green arrow. The lights eventually changed back to red, and we waited, and straight green again. Again she refused to move, and this time I rested on my horn, and a bunch of guys behind did likewise. I think it eventually occurred to her that the green arrow for straight on only came on when the traffic could not turn right because of a pedestrian light, which was manually operated. On any previous trips through that junction, she had just coincidentally gotten an arrow when the lights turned green!

I think she was embarrassed, to say the least.

Litcagral

Slow coach wrote:

I've had a few, but one amusing one happened a few years back in Lucan village. The car in front stopped at a red light (so I did too ). Then the lights changed to a straight green, but yer woman refused to move, even when I beeped. She came back to tell me I was a rude b*****d, and she was waiting for a green arrow. The lights eventually changed back to red, and we waited, and straight green again. Again she refused to move, and this time I rested on my horn, and a bunch of guys behind did likewise. I think it eventually occurred to her that the green arrow for straight on only came on when the traffic could not turn right because of a pedestrian light, which was manually operated. On any previous trips through that junction, she had just coincidentally gotten an arrow when the lights turned green!

I think she was embarrassed, to say the least.

On a similar note Slow coach, when intending to make a right turn, many motorists wait unneccessarily for a green arrow (combined with a green light)despite the road being clear. If I give a quick polite tap on the horn they appear confused and do not appear to understand the situation.

Pherekydes

Litcagral wrote:

On a similar note Slow coach, when intending to make a right turn, many motorists wait unneccessarily for a green arrow (combined with a green light)despite the road being clear. If I give a quick polite tap on the horn they appear confused and do not appear to understand the situation.

Yep, I've seen that lots. Some people don't know the rules.

TKK

Litcagral wrote:

On a similar note Slow coach, when intending to make a right turn, many motorists wait unneccessarily for a green arrow (combined with a green light)despite the road being clear. If I give a quick polite tap on the horn they appear confused and do not appear to understand the situation.

While others turn where there is a green arrow for straight without waiting for the right turn arrow to light up.

OMcGovern

If you know the N4 / M50 roundabout, then you'll know that a load of ignorant overtakers, use the right hand lane to skip the queues of drivers in the left and middle lanes. The right hand lane is strictly for the M50 exit, NOT going straight.

A couple of months ago, an "individual" in a white peogeot 206 overtook everyone, he accelerated and then broke hard, to cut badly into the middle lane which is the exit for the N4. I saw this but wasn't involved.

As we passed Liffey Valley, he cut into my middle lane of the N4, in front of me, without indicating.
I flashed my lights.
His immediate reaction was to slam on his brakes.
We exchanged hand gestures, ( he was in front of me )
He dropped behind me, then got into the bus lane on the left of me, and fired
something at my car...

At the Foxhunter slip road, he was turning right, and I was going left.
Both our windows were rolled down, and I said I was calling the guards.
I moved on, and got caught at the traffic lights.
He ran up to my window and was real aggressive, and after a bit of abuse, grabbed my glasses and threw them in front of my car. He also said he was going to follow me home.

( By the way, he was a traveller..... )

I drove straight to the nearest Garda station.. he broke away at the Penny Hill pub.

I could've sworn I got his full license number, but the Guards said it was for a green saloon, not a white peogeot. So the Guards done nothing....
He probably swapped his reg with another junk yard wreck...

I saw an advert for an anti-discrimination traveller march on in Mayo... had to laugh... On a completely separate note.... does anyone know the maximum speed of a combine harvester ?

Litcagral

OMcGovern wrote:

On a completely separate note.... does anyone know the maximum speed of a combine harvester ?

Do you mean maximum permissable speed or the maximum speed which they are capable of travelling?

I don't think they are subject to any specific limits other than the normal applicable speed limits. The speed that they are capable of would depend on the engine size probably but most would not be capable at travelling at more than 40 kph. if the header is attached this would need to be greatly reduced in the interests of safety. Strictly speaking, AFAIK if a vehicle is more than 10 feet wide, it requires a permit to travel on a public road and must be escorted. Many combines are wider than that even with the header removed.

PS Why do you want to know? (apologies for being nosey)

OMcGovern

Litcagral wrote:

Do you mean maximum permissable speed or the maximum speed which they are capable of travelling?

I don't think they are subject to any specific limits other than the normal applicable speed limits. The speed that they are capable of would depend on the engine size probably but most would not be capable at travelling at more than 40 kph. if the header is attached this would need to be greatly reduced in the interests of safety. Strictly speaking, AFAIK if a vehicle is more than 10 feet wide, it requires a permit to travel on a public road and must be escorted. Many combines are wider than that even with the header removed.

PS Why do you want to know? (apologies for being nosey)

Okay... when I said it was on a separate note... I was messing....
Travellers protest march + fast combine harvester = answer to many problems

RobAMerc

Passing in one lane then switching is not nice but given the terrible state of signage on our roads, people travelling a new route can often end up in the wrong lane, so people should show some courtesy and let them in, rather than deliberately trying to nose them out all of the time.

Töpher

It's generally obvious enough if someone is actually confused or just being an impatient git.

ocallagh

2 stories!

I used to live in Sutton.. and drove to work every morning. I left at about 8.30am every day and I got to know a few of the other cars that left at the same time... I know sad git and all.. but I love looking at other cars! One lady drove an old silver Volkswagon beetle (1970s). I remember the car well. I was coming from Howth Village past Corr Castle apartments and down to Burrow National school. The lollipop lady was out at the school (as she was every morning), and a lot of children & parents were crossing. There was a long queue of about 10 cars waiting for the kids to cross. I look in my rear view mirror and there is the silver beetle about 30 metres behind me doing about 40mph. She swerved out to my right onto the wrong side of the road and overtook all 10 cars, increasing her speed to about 50 mph I'd say. She went straight past the lollipop lady and unbelievably found a gap in the kids crossing the road... I tried to catch up and grab her number plate but I never saw her again and moved out from Sutton a few weeks later.

I really should have followed this up with the police..


2nd story.

Was on Bath Road In D4 (near Rinsgend) approaching the one lane bridge with traffic lights. I was going very slow because the lights at the bridge were red... so kinda coasting up to the lights doing about 20mph. A lady ina saloon behind me sped up and bumped into the back of me. I'd say she was doing about 25mph so it ony felt like a nudge. I'm quite laid back and actually thought nothing of it. So I slowe down and decided I'd get out at the lights to see what happend.. Anyway.. she sped up again and this time really gave me a good knock!! Two pedestrians saw this happen.. We were at the red lights now and I got out. I walked to the back of the car to see what damage had been done. I couldn't see anything.. I looked over at the offending car and it was a lady (in her 40's in a suit). I expected her to get out of her car and apologise with some sort of excuse.. But she just had a large smile on her face. I put my hands up as if to say "what the ***???" but she contnued to smile. I walked up to her window and asked her what she was up to. She was laughing. I swear on my life... She told me "I only did it because I'm inlove with you!!!"??????.. She was clearly nuts and I could picture her going for my car again.. so I legged it and hopped back in. I put the foot down and took the next left into the ringsend recylcing centre. I was genuinely scared. She sped past me and continued up Bath road to the junction. I pulled a 360 and was back on the road behind her within 20 seconds ready to get her number plate. There were a few cars at the junction, but she overtook them and went through a red light and turned right up Sandymount!! Absolute lunatic.. I know this sounds far fetched but it honestly happened!

BobTheBeat

Never was inolved in any road rage incidents, but had a funny one in a petrol station a month or so ago.

Anyways,I had just pulled in off the main road and find my path blocked by a huge lexes jeep.He was kinda going nowhere, not even queued up for a pump or anything and in front of him there were two free pumps. So I waited for another couple of minutes to see what the deal was. As expected, jeep stays parked in no mans land, with no intention of moving. At this stage I was actually blocking the entrance to the petrol station, so I decided 'what the hell, this guy obviously doesnt know where he wants to go'. I pull past him, see that the first set of pumps are out of order and arrive alongside the working set. I hop out of my car, to see the guy speeding up directly behind me. I just continued about my business, when I hear
"Ah, hello?, I think you'll find I was wayshing for that pump". I looked up, to see sneachta and his girlfriend summer throwing daggers. I wasnt too sure what the guy was on about, so I just walked up to the window, and he says 'ah ya, we were like, waiting in line for the pump?' I was a bit annoyed by his tone, and was unsure what claim he was staking on a 'position' in his imaginary queue, so I replied 'Sorry mate I think you'll find you were waiting way over there', and walked back to my car. The guy starts roaring and shouting, hops out of his car and storms into the shop. I was like 'Fúck it, the guy is talking ****e'.
Anyways, I walk in to pay for the petrol and the guy is standing with the manager going 'Yah, this goy here, skipped the queue and I want to know what your going to do about it'. The manager is standing there with a box of skips in his hand and says 'Amm, Im not sure there is much I can do...' (kind of half laughing).
It was a complete misunderstanding, and fair enough - I was indirectly to blame, but the guy blew it completely out of proportion. Spoke to the manager late and he was on my side, as he saw the whole thing unfold. He told me that the guy had wanted him to call the guards to get my car towed!