A justified telling off or Road Rage?

StompToWork · 12-11-2013 12:37AM #1

Here's a little story from my morning earlier today. I was travelling between Kerry and Cork this morning. All going okay, until we got past Ballyvourney, where the speed limit drops to 80, and then to 60kph a few miles outside Macroom (a ridiculous speed limit on a fine bit of road, but hey, that's for another thread!!)

So, I'm travelling along at 60, and because it's 8:30am in the morning, there is quite a line building up behind me. Now, there is not much of a hard shoulder to pull in to allow impatient ay-holes to pass, and there are not a lot of safe overtaking spots on that road.

When we came to a straight piece suitable for Overtaking, I noticed a small van, about 4 cars back, pull out, and start to overtake. Grand, whatever. However, when he got to me, he pulled right in on top of me!! I almost hit the ditch to avoid him. There was nothing coming against him, and there was load of straight road ahead, so it wasn't like he was trying to pull in to avoid a head-on. Seemed to me that he was expressing his anger at being held up.

Because I had my wife and child in the car, I was understandably angered and outraged by this utter piece of s**t trying to run me off the road, because I was holding him up.

As it happened, less than a mile down the road, traffic came to a stop for road works coming into Macroom. A couple of other cars had overtaken me, so he was about 4 cars ahead of me in the queue, so I decided to go and have a chat with him.

I got out, went up to him, knocked on his window and he rolled it down. I asked him what the problem was, and when I got a quizzical look back, I told him that he almost run me off the road. His response was "Well, you're still on the road, aren't you??". I said that it was no thanks to him, and that my family was in the car, and he could have killed us. I told him that he was a danger on the road. His response was that I was the danger travelling so slowly, at which point I started to see red, and explained to him that I was doing the speed limit. Despite there being numerous 60kph signs along that stretch of road, he tried to convince me that the limit was 100. At this stage, it took all of my restraint not to reach in and throttle this ignorant w**ker to within an inch of his life. I told him what I thought of him, that I would be ringing the Gaurds, AND the company he worked for, which was plastered all over the side of his van. He seemed to be taken back by this slightly, and tried to explain himself, at which point I had to walk away, or I would have been done for assault.

So, after that (thanks for continuing to read this, those of you who got this far down), my question is : Would you consider my actions road rage, or how many of you would have done the same thing?

foggy_lad · 12-11-2013 12:42AM

StompToWork wrote: »

Here's a little story from my morning earlier today. I was travelling between Kerry and Cork this morning. All going okay, until we got past Ballyvourney, where the speed limit drops to 80, and then to 60kph a few miles outside Macroom (a ridiculous speed limit on a fine bit of road, but hey, that's for another thread!!)

So, I'm travelling along at 60, and because it's 8:30am in the morning, there is quite a line building up behind me. Now, there is not much of a hard shoulder to pull in to allow impatient ay-holes to pass, and there are not a lot of safe overtaking spots on that road.

When we came to a straight piece suitable for Overtaking, I noticed a small van, about 4 cars back, pull out, and start to overtake. Grand, whatever. However, when he got to me, he pulled right in on top of me!! I almost hit the ditch to avoid him. There was nothing coming against him, and there was load of straight road ahead, so it wasn't like he was trying to pull in to avoid a head-on. Seemed to me that he was expressing his anger at being held up.

Because I had my wife and child in the car, I was understandably angered and outraged by this utter piece of s**t trying to run me off the road, because I was holding him up.

As it happened, less than a mile down the road, traffic came to a stop for road works coming into Macroom. A couple of other cars had overtaken me, so he was about 4 cars ahead of me in the queue, so I decided to go and have a chat with him.

I got out, went up to him, knocked on his window and he rolled it down. I asked him what the problem was, and when I got a quizzical look back, I told him that he almost run me off the road. His response was "Well, your still on the road, aren't you??". I said that it was no thanks to him, and that my family was in the car, and he could have killed us. I told him that he was a danger on the road. His response was that I was the danger travelling so slowly, at which point I started to see red, and explained to him that I was doing the speed limit. Despite there being numerous 60kph signs along that stretch of road, he tried to convince me that the limit was 100. At this stage, it took all of my restraint not to reach in and throttle this ignorant w**ker to within an inch of his life. I told him what I thought of him, that I would be ringing the Gaurds, AND the company he worked for, which was plastered all over the side of his van. He seemed to be taken back by this slightly, and tried to explain himself, at which point I had to walk away, or I would have been done for assault.

So, after that (thanks for continuing to read this, those of you who got this far down), my question is : Would you consider my actions road rage, or how many of you would have done the same thing?

Fúck him and his dangerous speeding, report it to the Gardai and also make sure you report it to the company he works for as they don't want some dangerous cretin driving for them possibly killing a whole family.

Super-Rush · 12-11-2013 12:42AM

Oh yay a motoring thread.

Christmas has come early.

iverjohnston · 12-11-2013 12:43AM

Borderline roadrage, as you admit almost losing control and A) choking the w-nker and

Hitting him. Next time in the same circumstances, hold your ground and let him kill himself if he wants. Cause the next fellow you "have a chat with" might just get out and give you some of your own medicine!

Seachmall · 12-11-2013 12:43AM

Hearing only your side of the story it would be irresponsible of me to pass judgement on your actions or the actions of the other driver.

However, taking the above disclaimer into account, my preliminary judgement is that you should have urinated, with force, onto the gentleman driver in question.

Black cat banger · 12-11-2013 12:47AM

Yes road rage for sure.....but understandable in the circumstances.
You showed some restraint in my opinion!

dodderangler · 12-11-2013 12:50AM

You should find out where he lives, burn his van out, take him from the house, tie him up, break his legs, drive up mountains, cut out his tongue and leave him there with two broken legs and no tongue to scream for help........... Or just ring the the Garda.
Should prob ring the Garda

The Backwards Man · 12-11-2013 12:57AM

As Sylvester the Cat once said,

'Suckerin Suckertash'

The Bishop Basher · 12-11-2013 12:58AM

People like you on the roads drive me nuts. Pull over and let the line of traffic that you're holding up pass. You say there weren't many spots but there has to be some. Your not a Guard so it's not your job to control speeding drivers.

That said, his manouver was obviously done out of anger and endangered your life. He was a twat for doing that.

The final mistake here was getting out of your car to confront him. It's a threatening move and you don't know who your dealing with. This incident could have turned out very differently.

I think you both need to take some learnings away from this.

CB19Kevo · 12-11-2013 01:01AM

I know this road :rolleyes: Complete Joke that it is a 60 limit.
You are not at fault but wrongly on my behalf it is the one stretch of road that i ignore the limit.

Clearly he acted like an idiot but probably was not the wisest decision to confront him when you were that irritated.
Hopefully the driver may have been shocked enough to think twice before doing something so stupid.

NuckingFacker · 12-11-2013 01:01AM

Well, that's him told, anyway. I'd probably have done the same as you op, but then I'd also have been doing 70 in the 60 zone, so...

StompToWork · 12-11-2013 01:02AM

dodderangler wrote: »

You should find out where he lives, burn his van out, take him from the house, tie him up, break his legs, drive up mountains, cut out his tongue and leave him there with two broken legs and no tongue to scream for help........... Or just ring the the Garda.
Should prob ring the Garda

Gaurds have already been notified, as well as the company. I actually hope he loses his job. Normally, I would hate to see anyone fired, but I can safely say that I really hope he is thrown to the kerb. I don't really care about his circumstance (maybe he was having a bad day, maybe he was late for a job, maybe this maybe that, whatever). It may be an over-reaction, but with a sharp turn of his steering wheel, he almost killed me.

I know this is very much a "what-if" scenario, but what if he turned in a split second earlier? What if I didn't react in time? What if I over-reacted and spun or hit the ditch?

No, IMO, this guy needs to be taken off the road, and he needs to face serious consequences.

suicide_circus · 12-11-2013 01:04AM

should have tazed fooker when he rolled down the window. people keep tazers in the glove compartment, right?

therandomguy · 12-11-2013 01:07AM

He should not have tried to run you off the road. This was inexcusable regardless of how annoyingly slow you were driving. However, I think that you were wrong to get out and confront him. Your family were in the car and would have been in a very awkward position if he had been a psycho and got out to punch you,

Verdict: You were guilty of road rage behaviour when you left your own vehicle.
(IMHO)

The Bishop Basher · 12-11-2013 01:08AM

StompToWork wrote: »

Gaurds have already been notified, as well as the company. I actually hope he loses his job. Normally, I would hate to see anyone fired, but I can safely say that I really hope he is thrown to the kerb. I don't really care about his circumstance (maybe he was having a bad day, maybe he was late for a job, maybe this maybe that, whatever). It may be an over-reaction, but with a sharp turn of his steering wheel, he almost killed me.

I know this is very much a "what-if" scenario, but what if he turned in a split second earlier? What if I didn't react in time? What if I over-reacted and spun or hit the ditch?

No, IMO, this guy needs to be taken off the road, and he needs to face serious consequences.

Ok. This post Is just plain vindictive and any sympathy I may have had is gone.

You were driving like an aul wan and annoying the ****e out of everyone behind you.

StompToWork · 12-11-2013 01:08AM

Swanner wrote: »

People like you on the roads drive me nuts. Pull over and let the line of traffic that you're holding up pass. You say there weren't many spots but there has to be some. Your not a Guard so it's not your job to control speeding drivers.

Attitudes like that drive ME nuts!! I'm not trying to control traffic! I'm trying to avoid points and fines! I was aware that traffic was building behind me, and I assumed there was impatience behind me, but that's not my fault OR problem.

That said, if I could have pulled in, I would have. You are going to have to take my word for it (unless you happen to know the road), that there is NOWHERE to pull in on that 60 kph stretch. There is a "hard-shoulder" but it is only about 3-4 wide, and a foot of that is unfinished. I'm not driving on that, even at 60kph. The car doesn't fit in it.

So, unless I magic somewhere to pull in out of my arse, I don't know what "people like you" expect me to do!

ardle1 · 12-11-2013 01:09AM

StompToWork wrote: »

Here's a little story from my morning earlier today. I was travelling between Kerry and Cork this morning. All going okay, until we got past Ballyvourney, where the speed limit drops to 80, and then to 60kph a few miles outside Macroom (a ridiculous speed limit on a fine bit of road, but hey, that's for another thread!!)

So, I'm travelling along at 60, and because it's 8:30am in the morning, there is quite a line building up behind me. Now, there is not much of a hard shoulder to pull in to allow impatient ay-holes to pass, and there are not a lot of safe overtaking spots on that road.

When we came to a straight piece suitable for Overtaking, I noticed a small van, about 4 cars back, pull out, and start to overtake. Grand, whatever. However, when he got to me, he pulled right in on top of me!! I almost hit the ditch to avoid him. There was nothing coming against him, and there was load of straight road ahead, so it wasn't like he was trying to pull in to avoid a head-on. Seemed to me that he was expressing his anger at being held up.

Because I had my wife and child in the car, I was understandably angered and outraged by this utter piece of s**t trying to run me off the road, because I was holding him up.

As it happened, less than a mile down the road, traffic came to a stop for road works coming into Macroom. A couple of other cars had overtaken me, so he was about 4 cars ahead of me in the queue, so I decided to go and have a chat with him.

I got out, went up to him, knocked on his window and he rolled it down. I asked him what the problem was, and when I got a quizzical look back, I told him that he almost run me off the road. His response was "Well, you're still on the road, aren't you??". I said that it was no thanks to him, and that my family was in the car, and he could have killed us. I told him that he was a danger on the road. His response was that I was the danger travelling so slowly, at which point I started to see red, and explained to him that I was doing the speed limit. Despite there being numerous 60kph signs along that stretch of road, he tried to convince me that the limit was 100. At this stage, it took all of my restraint not to reach in and throttle this ignorant w**ker to within an inch of his life. I told him what I thought of him, that I would be ringing the Gaurds, AND the company he worked for, which was plastered all over the side of his van. He seemed to be taken back by this slightly, and tried to explain himself, at which point I had to walk away, or I would have been done for assault.

So, after that (thanks for continuing to read this, those of you who got this far down), my question is : Would you consider my actions road rage, or how many of you would have done the same thing?

Total road rage, you need as much advice as he does, don't get mad, don't get even, don't engage, don't acknowledge.... And then you both WOULD have had a better day.....

moc moc a moc · 12-11-2013 01:11AM

Swanner wrote: »

Your not a Guard so it's not your job to control speeding drivers.

It's not his job to make way for those who want to break the law either; don't try to make OP sound like he's the one in the wrong because he stuck to the law. It sounds like the guy in the van could have overtaken and continued at his chosen speed (100kph?) rather than slamming on the brakes as soon as he passed to try to violently make a point.

If OP's account is accurate, van dickhead is 100% in the wrong here.

StompToWork · 12-11-2013 01:13AM

Swanner wrote: »

Ok. This post Is just plain vindictive and any sympathy I may have had is gone.

You were driving like an aul wan and annoying the ****e out of everyone behind you.

You're damn right it is vindictive! F**k him. Am I suppose to just go "aw well, maybe his dog died this morning, poor him".

As for driving like "an auk wan", well, there are enough threads on here about following speed limits, and I don't think it would be of any benefit to anyone to start that topic again!!! You're entitled to your opinion. I disagree.

Untouchable Peasant · 12-11-2013 01:14AM

Depends how old your kid is, whether you did the right thing or not.

Old enough to be scared that Daddy is getting out of the car to confront a man who nearly killed them, then you really should have just took his reg and explained that it's best not to confront idiots like that.

Too young to know what you were at / they were asleep - then no harm done but you're still better off just reporting such clowns. Could have turned nasty if nothing else. Seen some guy jump out and wheel brace another bloke one day in Rialto that had clearly been in the right.

In future just take a deep breath, count to ten and exhale - life's too short.

poundapunnet · 12-11-2013 01:18AM

You were justified in being annoyed and reporting him, probably wasn't a great idea to get out of the car but I can see how it'd happen, nobody's totally innocent here but if your account is right (and knowing that stretch of road I'm inclined to believe you) he was definitely more guilty.

It nearly always seems to be people in vans or big 4x4 thingies who drive that riskily as well, which makes it extra annoying

StompToWork · 12-11-2013 01:20AM

Untouchable Peasant wrote: »

Depends how old your kid is, whether you did the right thing or not.

Old enough to be scared that Daddy is getting out of the car to confront a man who nearly killed them, then you really should have just took his reg and explained that it's best not to confront idiots like that.

Too young to know what you were at / they were asleep - then no harm done but you're still better off just reporting such clowns. Could have turned nasty if nothing else. Seen some guy jump out and wheel brace another bloke one day in Rialto that had clearly been in the right.

In future just take a deep breath, count to ten and exhale - life's too short.

A few good points there. The young fella is only a baby, so was blissfully unaware of what was going on, but you do make a good point.

SV · 12-11-2013 01:29AM

Your vindictiveness has completely turned me off any kind of sympathy I had for you. Complete overreaction.
Sincerely hope the van driver has nothing happen to him even though he was in the wrong.

ardle1 · 12-11-2013 01:30AM

You should change your location(in your profile)to, In Front of You. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Janedoe10 · 12-11-2013 01:33AM

Kerry to cork . The road limit is a target for some to beat ..

The Bishop Basher · 12-11-2013 01:34AM

moc moc a moc wrote: »

It's not his job to make way for those who want to break the law either; don't try to make OP sound like he's the one in the wrong because he stuck to the law. It sounds like the guy in the van could have overtaken and continued at his chosen speed (100kph?) rather than slamming on the brakes as soon as he passed to try to violently make a point.

If OP's account is accurate, van dickhead is 100% in the wrong here.

Ok. So trundle along at Granny speed irrespective of how many cars are backing up behind you and regardless of how frustrated other drivers are getting ? Grand so. Good luck with that tactic. Seems to be common practice by the Yaris brigade on our roads anyway.

And where does OPention that the van driver slammed on his brakes. I can't see it written anywhere ?? Are we just embellishing the story now for good measure ?

And if van man was 100% wrong you obviously agree with op getting out if the car to confront him ? Good luck with that tactic too. Sooner or later you will meet a head case and regret that decision.

StompToWork · 12-11-2013 01:35AM

SV wrote: »

Your vindictiveness has completely turned me off any kind of sympathy I had for you. Complete overreaction.
Sincerely hope the van driver has nothing happen to him even though he was in the wrong.

These type of opinions always make me laugh! Somebody says something slightly un-PC, and all of a sudden, the "bad-guy" is given a pardon.

SV · 12-11-2013 01:36AM

btw if I'm reading the OP correctly then he's stating that the van driver tried to ram him off the road?
if not then he's just saying that the van driver just pulled in ahead of him a little too close for comfort.

So which is it?
because if you're trying to claim it's the first one then I'm going to claim it's bullshít.

TINA1984 · 12-11-2013 01:39AM

Swanner wrote: »

Ok. So trundle along at Granny speed irrespective of how many cars are backing up behind you and regardless of how frustrated other drivers are getting ? Grand so. Good luck with that tactic. Seems to be common practice by the Yaris brigade on our roads anyway.

And where does OPention that the van driver slammed on his brakes. I can't see it written anywhere ?? Are we just embellishing the story now for good measure ?

And if van man was 100% wrong you obviously agree with op getting out if the car to confront him ? Good luck with that tactic too. Sooner or later you will meet a head case and regret that decision.

Sounds like you're projecting your dislike of 'the Yaris brigade' onto this chap, despite him saying he was following the signposted speed limit.

Are we to take it you're one of these drivers who thinks they can go at whatever speed they deem appropriate? to hell with the law?

Seachmall · 12-11-2013 01:39AM

SV wrote: »

btw if I'm reading the OP correctly then he's stating that the van driver tried to ram him off the road?
if not then he's just saying that the van driver just pulled in ahead of him a little too close for comfort.

So which is it?
because if you're trying to claim it's the first one then I'm going to claim it's bullshít.

I don't think he's claiming that the van driver intended to actually run him off the road but just vent his frustration by pulling in closer than he should have to give the OP a scare.

weekaizer · 12-11-2013 01:40AM

If someone else on the road forced me into taking dangerous evasive action I would (and have done in the past) have reported them to Gaurds..

If the van driver was pissed off at you it's not your problem, i say this as a person who constantly drives 10mph over the speed limit I have to admit. so when I get stuck behind someone for a period of distance I would NEVER swipe in front of another car no matter how annoyed I was...

IMO you did the right thing reporting him to Gaurds and employer, I hope he doesn't lose his job over it but he definitely deserves a severe reprimand by the Stewards (in f1 terms!)
I wouldn't have got out to approach him though, I mean what did you expect he was going to do or say that could make up for what he did?! Hardly an apology like?!:p

Op did you make a formal statement to the gardai when reporting his driving?.

A justified telling off or Road Rage?

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