[DMCForum] The Angry Highway.

["therealdmcvegas" <dmcvegas@xxxxxxx>]

Road Rage is a very interesting subject. EVERYONE does it, yet no one
admits to it. Everyone says that it's a problem, yet refuses to admit
to it's causes. And while everyone agrees that it's demonstrated by
aggressive driving, no one will accept the fact that it also
encompasses the polar opposite of over-passive driving.

Part 1: The Accelerating Aggressor.

I've run people out of their lanes, and people have run me out of
mine. I've shaken people so bad that they've had to pull over and
stop, and I've had someone point a revolver in my face. I've raced
someone @ over 80-mph in sleet on a highway with no visibility, and
I've slammed my brakes for force the tailgating car behind me lose
control. I've been forced into the curb by a drunk driver, and I
shoved his truck over the sidewalk with his family inside on their way
to church when I saw them again. And I'll never forget that image of
when everything went silent at dusk. The concrete divider lit up, and
became brighter, and more focused like a flashlight as it shrank. And
then the shower of sparks as it collided at high speeds with an old
Buick, and the view of it's exhaust system as it flipped, and the
disappearance of it's tail lights as it pushed to the side from the
GMC delivery truck behind it that slammed into it's roof when it
landed in front of it.

I am that person who has zipped in and out of traffic. I'm also the
person in front of you who purposefully drove slow, so you couldn't
pass when you were in a hurry. I'm the person who honks when you don't
pull out when the traffic is clear, and I'll pass you in the emergency
lane on the onramp when you refuse to speed up to merge with traffic.
I gawk at you when you're battered and bleeding on the side of the
road. I'll cut you off, honk at you, flip you off, scream at you,
swerve into you, and generally terrorize you for reasons that only
make sense in my own mind at the time. And just like when you do that
to me, I'll be wondering what in the hell is wrong with you.

The most frightening part about this isn't that I'm still driving
around on the road. It's not that I was given a license, It's not that
I've lost allot of fear on the highway. And it doesn't matter if I get
caught, because I'll just worm my way out of it, because I learned to
work the system. No. The absolute most frightening thing here is that
I'm just like you, and neither of us will admit to it. Nor will we
ever sit down to erase this problem, because we refuse to take
responsibility in both our actions, and our admittance that we're
doing this to fellow human beings.

Picture it this way. You're coming up on traffic, be it on the
highway, surface street, or even at a stoplight. You're not in an
angry mood. He'll, you're not even late for anything. But you will
'shop' the cars in front of you. Like a bargain hunter in a store
who's looking for the best value in order to save money, you're gonna
examine the cars in front of you to see who's gonna help you get to
your destination faster, and thus save time. And it always starts like
this:
1. How many cars are in each lane?
Less cars means less delay.

2. What kind of vehicles are in each lane?
And this is a biggie. You don't want to get behind a bus that goes
slow, and consistently stops. And who the hell wants to follow a
lumbering tractor-trailer.

And if you are in a hurry, then question #3 is the beginning of road rage.

3. Which drivers in front of me will accelerate faster?
And so we begin to dehumanize other drivers on the road. We don't see
a young woman on her way to work who has prospects in life, we don't
see the father of two kids and a loving wife, we don't see grandpa who
fought polio and WW2, we don't see a student on their way to learn and
change the world with their soon to be acquired knowledge. And most
importantly, we don't see ourselves in these other people.

No we see Volvos that are typically slow drivers, VW's that sometimes
speed up, pickup trucks that are a 50-50 shot, Hondas that are
aggressive idiot drivers (remember that one that cut you off), asshat
Corvette owner, you know that he's gonna peel out just to show off.
SUVs that we know are driven by people who are oblivious to themselves
and everyone around them. God I hate SUVs. I doubt the person behind
the wheel even knows how to drive that thing. If they wreck, it's
their own fault...

And thus we have dehumanized our fellow human beings. We don't see
individuals with lives in these cars. We only see the machine. And
based upon what we figure "the average driver of one" is like, we
believe that all of these cars are that way. We don't share the road
with other drivers, we only see the cattle of motor vehicles on the
road, being herded mindlessly around. But we know where we're going,
we are an individual, we are better than these fools. We can drive, we
know our vehicles, we know where we're going, and we believe that all
this somehow makes us better.



Part 2: The Decelerating Aggressor.

Now, just because a driver is going faster than a driver in another
car, that does not make them more dangerous. Nor especially does that
make the faster driver more aggressive.

Yes, people that drive too slow are as great a danger as those who
drive too fast. Moreso, dependent upon the situation. A group of
drivers can typically slow down simultaneously, with no problem. Such
as when everyone suddenly sees a police officer. However, a slower
driver can throw a money wrench into this situation, when faster
drivers are not prepared for them.

Slower, impeding drivers can be broker down into two distinct
categories of both passive, and aggressive.

When someone who drives too slow for current conditions, such as
inclimate weather, or even in an unfamiliar city can greatly put
everyone at risk with their actions. Yes, this is illegal, but it
doesn't just apply to a scared grandma out on the interstate doing
30-mph. No. Some states have a posted speed limit, BUT also include
regulations that state that you must also maintain a safe speed,
dependent upon traffic conditions. So if you're out in the sticks
sharing an empty highway with triple trailer freight semis doing
80-mph on flat highway, you're a danger if you go slower than they do.
A 54' trailer can weight up to 80,000 pounds fully loaded, and isn't
easy to stop. So how do you think it's gonna be for a tractor pulling
3 30' trailers? Or any other vehicle hauling messy cargo from liquid,
to perishables, to live animals?

This type of driver that I speak of is a passive hazard. The root
problem that we have with this person here, is a quite selfish
attitude. For whatever reason that they have, be it intimidation of
the road, lack of urgency in reaching their destination, etc, these
are VERY dangerous drivers. These drivers care nothing about other
people on the road. They place their own safety and comfort above
everyone else's. Why? They typically figure that since THEY are
traveling at a safe speed, that it's EVERYONE ELSE who is causing
problems! And it's the same dehumanization factor. If someone else
wrecks, it's their fault because of the way they're driving. And NEVER
would they be figured into the factor of being a danger to anyone
else. After all, they believe that they themselves are operating their
cars in a condition that they deem *safe*. So obviously, it's everyone
else that's at fault.

And of course, there is the aggressive decelerating driver. The one
that causes the most problems, places the most people in danger,
angers the most people, and is the one that EVERYONE is guilty of being.

A sadistic driver that chooses to actually anger other people, and
inspire rage. Their actions can be as passive as gently decelerating,
to hard braking, to actually changing lanes & cutting other drivers
off, just to prevent them from getting ahead. And this is what causes
"Road Rage" as we know it, in the overwhelming majority of instances.
Yes, someone who cuts you off to get ahead of you is aggressive, yes.
But the fact remains that they're not sticking around to try and piss
you off. You were simply in the way, they wanted to get ahead, and now
they're gone. While this is rude and dangerous, yes, they didn't have
anything personally against you. You just happened to be there, and
they're gone as quickly as they came.

However, it's these aggressive decelerators that are causing allot of
the real problems. Where as someone whose speeding just passes you,
and doesn't think twice, these are people who are actually going after
you. Why? They're gonna teach you a lesson. That's right. The idea of
retribution, fueled by some twisted spur of the moment logic that
justifies this act in their mind. Maybe you did something a ways back
down the highway, and they're now just catching up? Maybe they saw you
coming, and wanted to stop you from speeding by them? Maybe they're
fed up, and now have the chance to exert their aggression onto you.
"Fucking rice rockets. Think they own the road, cutting people off."
And so the goal is to teach these people a lesson. These people whom
we generalize as "bad", or "unsafe drivers". "They're putting my life
at risk, just so they can show off. Think they're so good. Moron
doesn't know a thing about cars." And that's all they justification
needed, to pull out and cut someone off. Or to swerve into them. Or
worse yet, sneak up on them, and then do whatever.



Part 3: The Duel.

It's on. Two people are going to have it out at high speeds. Let's say
that you are on the receiving end of things. Let me now explain to you
what's going to happen. But keep in mind that the aggressor's idea
here is simply to try and intimidate/hurt you WITHOUT damaging their
own vehicle. This is an important idea to keep in mind.

I tailgate you. Resist the urge to tap on your brakes. Instead drive
as you normally would and ignore me. Don't be a dipshit and do the
speed limit. That just tells me that I'm intimidating you, and thus
winning. drive normal, even if I flash my highbeams. And If I turn
them on, ignore them. I'll get bored and eventually leave, when I see
this shit is pointless. I'll think you're a moron, but I'll leave. If
not, keep an eye on me, and let's move on.

Two people are in the car, and are creeping up on the driver's side.
This means that they are getting ready to throw something at you. Wait
until the car is a little past half way on you. Then quickly, but
gently swerve into it. They'll over react. At this point change lanes
further into them, but go no more than halfway into their lane, and
then retract back into yours. The drive will be scared, and will most
likely be so shaken that they'll enter into a state of shock, and will
not be able to keep up with you. A brush with mortality can to
wonders, and with just a couple of gentle moves, you'll remain safe.

Now let's say that this doesn't work, or perhaps this opportunity
never presents itself, and the other driver is now tailgating you, and
will not let you go. You change lanes, they change lanes, and will
never pass you. You can try going to your local police station, that
is an option. But if you're not, there is another option. When someone
follows you that closely, they have tunnel vision. Use this to your
advantage. And if boredom doesn't work, there is an alternative. Find
an semi truck. With the aggressor in tow, cut the truck off. When the
car pulls up, swerve into it's front end. That should accomplish the
previous of sending the driver into shock, or getting them to crash.
(Note: use a semi for this cause, because regular cars/trucks slow
down too fast, and will just open up a gap for the aggressor)

Finally, trying to run a tailgater into a barrier, or an abandoned car
by swerving at the last second is a dangerous proposition. Unless you
REALLY know your vehicle, and can successfully duck out of the way in
time, the risk for you is actually greater, and isn't as successful.
BUT, if you're in a car with great handling like the DeLorean, tight
turns on interchange ramps can be your friend. People don't realize
that your car can handle things that theirs cannot. So if you whip
around a tight turn that they cannot negotiate, let they wreck.



Part 4: The Cause and Solution.

Part of the problem with road rage is our highway infrastructure. And
you can see this with new roads that are built. For high traffic areas
where speeding is a concern, engineers will purposefully build
narrower lanes. The idea behind this is if other cars are in a closer
proximity of other traveling vehicles, this will psychologically place
fear into the drivers, thus they will slow down. However, this logic
is SEVERELY flawed, as they highways themselves become overburdened by
increased traffic flow.

Take rats, and place them into a box. If you cram more rodents into
that box than it was designed to handle, the rats will become
aggressive. So much so to the point where they will bite their own
tails off just to make more room, and to vent their frustrations. And
it's the same with the highways.

Plus there is the frustrations of people in life, and how they vent
themselves out. You take a person who is angry on the inside, and put
them into a situation where they have anonymity towards other people,
and don't see whom the other person is, and they will be complete
assholes, if not monsters. Just look at internet message boards like
this one. We view everyone as humans, because most of us have a face
to put with whom we interact with. No one here is anonymous, because
we all have an identity of some sort that we've created for each
other. Now, look at the DML with people like "checksix" who remain
anonymous, and are total aggressors, because none of us know each
other. When you don't view another human being as an individual, you
loose MANY inhibitions when it comes to how you act out towards them.

We cut a Chevy off, forced an SUV to slow down, we got ahead of that
rock hauler. We never realize nor say, "I got ahead of that car by
putting that person's life in danger." Or the flip side, that Camaro
is driving like maniac, that Honda has been weaving in and out of
traffic! We don't like to say the driver of said vehicle did this.
After all, it's not the cars' "fault". It's just a machine that
demonstrates the actions of the person in control of it. As a result,
we treat vehicles as if they were living entities. We simply endanger
and damage them, and not the people inside, since we refuse to
acknowledge their existence during these split-second decisions. Go
out for a drive now, and question yourself about how you view other
cars on the road. The cars almost always come first, before other
drivers. And if you don't quite get what I'm saying, read this
paragraph over again, and compare the statements above to ones that
you yourself have made in traffic.

-Robert

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