Grrr Road Rage

[MSTRS:Me]

I have been known to approach this sort of person after they stop & ask them how long they've had their cage. Cos it looks like they'll have to take it back to have the indicators repaired. Most have no idea what I'm on about. Lost in their own little world, they are.

[Eurygnomes]

the key held between your fingers in a fist will make a good punching weapon - to be used ONLY in self defence, try to use an uppercut or straight punch don't swing......... well that's what I read somewhere..... don't know if it works in real life.

The key also rips into your webbing between your fingers which hurts quite considerably, and takes ages to heal. Makes putting your motorcycle gloves on a huge effort in the morning. Apparently!

[Beemer]

I was in the car heading north along the Raumati Straights a few years ago when I came up behind a car towing a trailer. I pulled out and overtook him before the passing lanes ended, but the guy was obviously really irritated at being overtaken. Just past the first Raumati turn-off he pulled out on double yellow lines - TOWING A TRAILER! - and overtook me, pulling in sharply right in front of me, all the while waving his fist at me!

When we got to Coastlands the traffic was at a standstill and he got out of his car and came running back to my car. There were heaps of people around so I wound down the window and he yelled at me "don't you fucken overtake ME!" I said "you obviously have a problem with being overtaken by a woman" and he yelled "you got it, BITCH!" and ran back to his car!

I took down his number plate details and a description of the car and driver and reported it to the police. A few months later I got a letter saying that the driver had denied the incident and no further action would be taken.

So would I do a similar thing to pyrocam? You bet your arse! Not once has any complaint I've made to the police been actioned, so the only way to get through to these morons is to bring their deficiencies to their attention at the time. Yes, it is scary, and I don't do it to everyone who deserves it, but the feeling of satisfaction of making them aware they don't own the road is immense and very worthwhile!

[Lou Girardin]

I took down his number plate details and a description of the car and driver and reported it to the police. A few months later I got a letter saying that the driver had denied the incident and no further action would be taken.

!

This is why the *555 system is a waste of time. I had same the reaction to two complaints when I was driver testing, once I even had a witness present. Another time I even managed to get a cop to stop the moron, but still nothing was done.
In the MOT days, we investigated every complaint. There had to be serious mitigating factors to not charge the offender.
Funnily enough, I first met my ex-wife when I investigated a complaint she'd made.

[Beemer]

[QUOTE=Lou Girardin]This is why the *555 system is a waste of time. I had same the reaction to two complaints when I was driver testing, once I even had a witness present. Another time I even managed to get a cop to stop the moron, but still nothing was done.
In the MOT days, we investigated every complaint. There had to be serious mitigating factors to not charge the offender.QUOTE]

Precisely - we reported a guy in a BMW who was overtaking on double yellow lines in the path of oncoming traffic at 4.30pm (in some instances forcing oncoming drivers in passing lanes to pull back into the inside lane). I was on the phone to *555 for 15 minutes, still getting the "we're sorry we can't answer your call" shit, when we came up to the lights at Paraparaumu and saw the moron turning off. I told my husband to drive around to the police station and I reported it in person, filled out the complaint form and my husband said he'd be a witness too. Action? Spoke to driver, slapped him on wrist with wet bus ticket, promised he won't do it again, sorted. We passed a cop while I was on the phone waiting to be connected, but he was too busy ticketing some poor bastard for speeding at the end of passing lanes to even notice the moron flying past him at a rate of knots.

I think the system is a waste of time - I don't know a single person who has reported an incident like this where the offending driver has been charged. I realise it is open to abuse, but surely they can investigate and work out whether the complaint is genuine or not? The police even said they had received other complaints about this guy in the BMW but obviously none of us were perceived as being trustworthy enough to believe.

[pyrocam]

If he did something that would definitely draw a cop's attention,like driving on the wrong side of the road as you said.Go to the nearest cop shop and fill out a complaint form (you might even be able to do it on-line).
The least that will happen is that the cops will pay him a visit.
I have done this several times and the reports I've got back from the cops of the perps reaction when they get a visit six weeks later when they think they've got off scot free has been very gratifying

yeah I was pondering this. I mean whats he gonna do 'oh oh oh he pulled the finger at me I had a right to drive on the wrong side of the road to get my daughter to do it back to him, roads are for cars'

I mean fuck! come on, It was quite obvious (I thought) what I was signalling, what a complete spaz.

but I didnt grab the guys rego, once I felt in danger I didnt look at him and sped off (If I cant see him hes not there)

[pyrocam]

Precisely - we reported a guy in a BMW who was overtaking on double yellow lines in the path of oncoming traffic at 4.30pm (in some instances forcing oncoming drivers in passing lanes to pull back into the inside lane). I was on the phone to *555 for 15 minutes, still getting the "we're sorry we can't answer your call" shit, when we came up to the lights at Paraparaumu and saw the moron turning off. I told my husband to drive around to the police station and I reported it in person, filled out the complaint form and my husband said he'd be a witness too. Action? Spoke to driver, slapped him on wrist with wet bus ticket, promised he won't do it again, sorted. We passed a cop while I was on the phone waiting to be connected, but he was too busy ticketing some poor bastard for speeding at the end of passing lanes to even notice the moron flying past him at a rate of knots.

I think the system is a waste of time - I don't know a single person who has reported an incident like this where the offending driver has been charged. I realise it is open to abuse, but surely they can investigate and work out whether the complaint is genuine or not? The police even said they had received other complaints about this guy in the BMW but obviously none of us were perceived as being trustworthy enough to believe.

Im not a big fan of the whole 'taking the law into your own hands' thing and im sure many of out fellow KB'rs in the force would dissaprove (although Cheif wiggam would be most pleased)

we have enough people on the site with free motochek's. why not make a forum where senior members can post and view offending drivers details. and lets say you see that cage who drives in your area and your in the right mood you can go vigilante on their arse.

just practice covering your numberplate with your foot or making something with some cardboard and string

[Wolf]

I generally belong to the school of the hit the horn, shake the fist, mime the five-knuckle-shuffle, flip the bird or, if it's only a mild annoyance, shake the forefinger at them in admonition.

A couple of times I've tried the "follow them wherever they go" routine and once I had to take evasive manoeuvres to avoid being run off the road by a gang member who took offence to me blasting him with my horn after he jammed on his brakes in front of me without warning.

When I was working at a previous place of employment, I took to having a cigarette break after work to give myself time to calm down before getting on the bike. This was because I left work after a particularly, shitty day, got on my bike, got cut off by some retarded cager and totally lost my rag. I was so busy shaking my fist and hurling imprecations and invective after him that I didn't pay attention to the road ahead and very nearly went up the arse of another car that was stopped at the lights.

I made a vow not to get on the bike in a shitty mood after that.

[Wolf]

One of dad's suggestions was come up alongside them, signal them frantically and point at their rear wheel and make a wobbling motion with your hand. Get really frantic until they pull over to check it then you just continue on your way leaving them to get all paranoid on the roadside...

[Beemer]

One of dad's suggestions was come up alongside them, signal them frantically and point at their rear wheel and make a wobbling motion with your hand. Get really frantic until they pull over to check it then you just continue on your way leaving them to get all paranoid on the roadside...

Me likes, me likes A LOT!!!

[Wolf]

Me likes, me likes A LOT!!!

Dad had a lot of "dirty tricks" like that. Don't know how many of them he ever put into practice. I must try this some day when I have a decent sized bike. Shit normally happens to me when I'm on a little bike that has piss-all acceleration and damn-all top end while the perpetrator has just rocketed past me and is accelerating up the road. Never happens when I'm on a decent motorcycle that actually has a chance of catching up.

[vifferman]

One of dad's suggestions was come up alongside them, signal them frantically and point at their rear wheel and make a wobbling motion with your hand. Get really frantic until they pull over to check it then you just continue on your way leaving them to get all paranoid on the roadside...

Hmmm... missed the "get really frantic" on the first skim through. But I like it! It's in the same class as the "open the back door of people who piss you off when lane-splitting" idea. Inventive, probably effective, amusing, and bloody annoying to the other party without being illegal.

I've given up pointing out to people when they've got flat tyres, after being ignored a few times, and on the one occasion I was taken notice of, it made no difference. I was behind an Asian lady in a BMW one morning, and to one side, and I pointed out to her that her rear tyre had no air in it. She nodded at me, said, "OK - thank you!", then carried on driving. I guess she went, "Hmm.... I've no idea what to do about this, so I'll just pretend everything is OK, and carry on driving...."

As it turned out, we were going the same way, so I saw her complete nearly the whole of her trip, down Onewa Rd, over the Harbour Bridge, down Fanshawe St., and into the CBD. I was quite disheartened that nothing happened - I was sure the car was going to crash, overturn, go over the railing into the tide, or summat, but the tyre didn't even come off the rim.

So after several incidents since then, where I've been worried about people driving cars with no air in the tyre, pointed it out to them, and had them ignore it, I'll probably give up trying to be helpful.

I've been a road-rager / road ragereee a few times, but I'm beginning to think that apart from creative yet harmless ideas like Wolf's, it's best to defuse the situation, or try to take the moral high ground. You have no idea how the thing could escalate, whether the other party is a psycopath, on P, armed with a deadly weapon or whatever, and if you're on your bike, apart from having manoueverability and speed on your side (except in bad weather, perhaps), you're at a distinct disadvantage. Particularly if the other party decides to use their vehicle as a weapon. And if you're on your own, and they're not, you are probably disadvantaged if it turns messy, as you have no witnesses whereas they do.

[placidfemme]

I've been a road-rager / road ragereee a few times, but I'm beginning to think that apart from creative yet harmless ideas like Wolf's, it's best to defuse the situation, or try to take the moral high ground. You have no idea how the thing could escalate, whether the other party is a psycopath, on P, armed with a deadly weapon or whatever, and if you're on your bike, apart from having manoueverability and speed on your side (except in bad weather, perhaps), you're at a distinct disadvantage. Particularly if the other party decides to use their vehicle as a weapon. And if you're on your own, and they're not, you are probably disadvantaged if it turns messy, as you have no witnesses whereas they do.

Good words there!!

[Wolf]

You have no idea how the thing could escalate, whether the other party is a psycopath, on P, armed with a deadly weapon or whatever, and if you're on your bike, apart from having manoueverability and speed on your side (except in bad weather, perhaps), you're at a distinct disadvantage. Particularly if the other party decides to use their vehicle as a weapon. And if you're on your own, and they're not, you are probably disadvantaged if it turns messy, as you have no witnesses whereas they do.

True. Having had a real life game of "Car Wars" (TM) on a 50cc motorbike vs an enraged gang member in a car, I have no real desire for a repeat performance. I was just fortunate to have had two parents who were professional drivers who could tear apart those "action sequences" in movies and say "no, that's not what you do when someone tries to ram you", so I knew the correct response and got out of it but I was still terrified and there was still a lot of risk.

And that was a while back - people seem to be even more aggro these days and more inclined to take it out on you.

Edit: And if the other person is in a car, they are already armed with a deadly weapon - around one tonne of it...

[Beemer]

- people seem to be even more aggro these days and more inclined to take it out on you.

So true, in the past if someone did something wrong like pull out without indicating or cut you off at a roundabout, if you tooted at them, they would more than likely look chastised and give a small wave of apology. Nowadays, even if they are in the wrong and their move is potentially dangerous, you are likely to get a shaken fist, angry tooting and a torrent of abuse. I was crossing with the lights one day and nearly got wiped out by a guy who hadn't given way - when I shook my finger at him, he revved the car, wound down his window and abused the shit out of ME! I got a guy in Wellington a beauty though - I was on a pedestrian crossing and he'd decided he wasn't stopping for me. Shouldn't have done that. I had a folded up umbrella, a big one. Made a very satisfying thwack on his bonnet as he went past!

I'm surprised at the age of people who respond aggressively too - it's not always the young hoons, it's often the middle-aged or retired drivers who should have some respect for other road users. I got stuck behind a guy doing 60kph on the open road once, and when I finally got past him he flashed his lights, blasted on the horn and shook his fist at me! I'm sorry, but when does travelling at 40kph less than the speed limit and holding up a stream of traffic give YOU the right to abuse ME!