Why you should keep your cool.....

Mike-in-Orange · 03-09-06, 06:53

....even when the other driver almost takes you out.

I was stopped at a light today and witnessed a couple of vehicles on the cross street make a mad dash to beat the light and make their left turn. There are two left turn lanes on the street and the vehicle in the outside lane was a single rider on a large motorcycle (older Honda Goldwing perhaps) and the vehicle in the inside lane was an old, totally beat to crap Honda Civic (duct tape holding the tail lights in, more dents than straight panels, you know the type). Problem was, the Honda could barely hold the turn at the speed it was going and almost took the motocycle out as it went wide in the turn. Fortunately for the motorcyclist he was able to avoid getting tagged. Unfortunately for the motocyclist, he dismounted and approached the offender at the next stoplight, which was just a few yards up the road (freeway underpass with multiple intersections was the setting for this incident).

I proceeded when my light turned green and ended up being the second car behind the bike and saw the guy approach the drivers door, gesticulate a bit, and walk away. He wore a full face hemlet so I couldn't read his lips, so to speak. A young woman exited the Honda and ran after the guy obviously yelling and screaming, and took a swipe at the guy. He defended himself by pushing her away, and she came back at him with a vengeance. He never appeared to fully strike her, but rather appeared to make defensive moves against her blows. They were about the same height, maybe 5'10", but she was quite thin and he was a large framed man, so he did seem to be keeping himself in check.

Until the woman's two male companions exited the passenger side of the Honda, one brandishing a tire iron, and came at the biker, who somehow managed to relieve the tire iron wielding lunatic of his weapon. At this point the Honda group got back into their car, threw it into reverse and nailed the gas pedal. The Honda lurched toward bike and rider, who threw himself out of the way and into a car stopped in the next lane. The Honda didn't stop until it had slammed into the bike and pushed it a few feet up the road, scattering glass, plastic and duct tape all over. With a little chirp of the tires they drove around the stopped cars in front of them and took off.

Holey crap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Apparently I wasn't the only one who called 911 and the police showed up pretty quickly. The biker was fine, but the bike a bit messed up. I gave the police a description of the Honda and what I saw of the plate number, they took my info in case they had any other questions.

Moral of the story: if someone does something stupid on the road but otherwise does no harm to you, let it slide. There are far too many unstable nutjobs out there and you just don't want to find out what they're really capable of.

nighttraingirl · 03-09-06, 10:16

what a dumb move on the motorcyclists part. I have had plenty of people cut me off or pull out in front of my while riding. You just gotta be ready to avoid careless drivers and let it go... hopefully he learned his lesson. He's lucky they didn't pull a gun on him. People are crazy I tell ya!

KevinA · 03-10-06, 06:09

That is one lucky motorcyclist. He should know he's a target for every other vehicle out there. Gotta let it go.

klnyc · 03-10-06, 06:40

Crazy sh!t I tell you. I encoutnered few times where a jerk cut front of me....like everyone say, if nothing happened to you, just let it slide. Aint worth a dime to do a road rage.

Arved · 03-10-06, 09:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by klnyc

Crazy sh!t I tell you. I encoutnered few times where a jerk cut front of me....like everyone say, if nothing happened to you, just let it slide. Aint worth a dime to do a road rage.

It's easy to sit back behind your monitor, enjoying the photon breeze, and pontificate about how others should or shouldn't behave. It's quite another to be caught up in the heat of the moment, dealing with a mortal threat of someone elses stupidity, self centeredness, and incompetence behind the wheel.

A guy jumps out of a car brandishing a tire iron, and you guys concentrate on how the motorcyclist misbehaved? Unbelievable! What a bunch of P-C malarky.

Rolla · 03-10-06, 09:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arved

It's easy to sit back behind your monitor, enjoying the photon breeze, and pontificate about how others should or shouldn't behave. It's quite another to be caught up in the heat of the moment, dealing with a mortal threat of someone elses stupidity, self centeredness, and incompetence behind the wheel.

A guy jumps out of a car brandishing a tire iron, and you guys concentrate on how the motorcyclist misbehaved? Unbelievable! What a bunch of P-C malarky.

They are not defending the Honda, rather saying it is not worth to mouth off to someone as you never know what they do.

These guys had a tire iron, others can have guns...

jnmttu · 03-10-06, 09:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arved

It's easy to sit back behind your monitor, enjoying the photon breeze, and pontificate about how others should or shouldn't behave. It's quite another to be caught up in the heat of the moment, dealing with a mortal threat of someone elses stupidity, self centeredness, and incompetence behind the wheel.

A guy jumps out of a car brandishing a tire iron, and you guys concentrate on how the motorcyclist misbehaved? Unbelievable! What a bunch of P-C malarky.

I agree that sitting at my computer at work, I can say that the motorcyclist made a very stupid move. However, even being of relatively high intelligence and having a decent amount of common sense, I can honestly admit that when caught up in moment such as this where I could have potentially been killed or injured I have either yelled or commited acts I shouldn't have. Every time I felt like a moron afterwards, but it just angers me so much when people are so inconsiderate. The part about the whole thing that is the most frustrating is that the driver of the Honda clearly felt she did no wrong. She will go on driving like that without really caring that she could have taken someone's life just so she could make a light. The thought of people with guns in the car has made me learn to suck it up and just go on with my life. It is just not worth my life to deal with these kind of things. By the way, what kind of people keep a tire iron in the floorboard.

Mike-in-Orange · 03-10-06, 09:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rolla

They are not defending the Honda, rather saying it is not worth to mouth off to someone as you never know what they do.

These guys had a tire iron, others can have guns...

My point exactly. While I believe the motorcyclist had every right to point out the stupid, careless and downright dangerous driving habits of the Honda driver, you just never know what sort of nutjob is behind the wheel of a car these days. I'll say again that the motorcyclist did not appear to be violent in any way before the Honda driver came at him, and even then he really appeared to be defending himself more than anything. He got off his bike carefully, and approached the Honda slowly - he didn't run up to it. Yes, he may have pointed his finger (index finger that is) at the driver, apparently to make his point, but that's about it. I don't think he did anything "wrong", just not all that bright in this case. It's one thing to hear about these stories, but it's something else to witness it happening 20 feet away from you and see how incredibly quickly it unfolds.

Arved · 03-10-06, 10:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rolla

These guys had a tire iron, others can have guns...

Florida is a "right to carry" state. It's be completely legal here for a rider to have one, and in this case, to have used it to protect himself from the idiot with the tire iron.

I really don't like these "lessons" that we should just let these miscreants go, and accept the behaviour. It's not acceptable behaviour, and silence only enables this behaviour by removing the consequences.

Trying to ignore the problem hasn't made it any better. A working definition of "insanity" is to do the same thing over and over, expecting different results. So if we want change, we need to change. Sitting idly by is no longer an option.

Unless you're insane.

Arved · 03-10-06, 10:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by jnmttu

... it just angers me so much when people are so inconsiderate.

I'm sorry, but the lady comming out of her car to physically attack, her passenger comming out of the vehicle with a tire iron, the attempted murder trying to run over the motorcyclist and his bike, and then leaving the scene of an accident are so far beyond "inconsiderate," I'm at a loss of words. Being a victim of a minor traffic infraction is one thing. Being the victim of several felonies is quite another here.

Super · 03-10-06, 10:23

I don't know about other states but Calif has a bad problem /w road rage, its like hurry up and go home and watch Tv

I got a big engine in my truck and when I go up a steep hill I just cruse up it but some might think that I'm racing them up?

Scottwax · 03-10-06, 04:08

I had a verbal altercation today with a cab driver. I was heading north in the left lane with a Yellow Cab in front of me. He suddenly stops and puts on his left turn signal, which meant I had to stop and so did everyone behind me. I hit the horn and he cuts another driver off and gets in the left lane. We both then have to stop at the light because he was too inconsiderate to plan his lane change in advance. I kind of glared at him and he rolled his window down and started cussing me out. I yelled back it wasn't my fault he was a crappy driver and told him I had his cab number and was calling him in. He continued swearing, while I was dialing.

The supervisor was very interested in what I had to say. I hope he gets fired. He is a crappy, inconsiderate driver and obviously has anger issues. He definitely shouldn't be entrusted with passengers.