I was driving with my GF to go get some coffee and I needed to merge to get onto the highway. It was a simple center lane to right lane deal, but I was running short on room because a van in the other lane decided to speed up when he saw me signal to get over. I decided it would be close but since we were only going about 10mph at the time I forced my way over a little and cut him off. He was not even close to hitting me but he tailed me close and hit the horn. I decided the best thing to do would be to get away from this guy by speeding up, so I dropped into second and floored onto the highway and put him far behind. I dropped back to 80mph after a min or so because my GF didn't want me driving so fast (and I didn't want a ticket). Then out of nowhere I see the van approaching really fast so I start thinking "why can't he leave it alone, yeah I cut him off, but get on with your life" So I decide to get off at the next exit and hope he won't follow. I get to the bottom of the two lane off-ramp and there are two cars at a red light at the bottom - he pulls up next to me and I'm thinking "****, he'll try to cut me off now." So the guy jumps out of the van and I see his three little kids looking over at me and I have no clue what he is going to do. He gets next to my car and start talking about how his kids almost died etc.. (I'm thinking about how his driving over 100 didn't help them either) Then he hit my front window a few times and I'm about to get out but my I was afraid he may have a knife or some weapon. So I crack my window just a little (biggest mistake) and I attempt to yell at him about I sorry but this is a little too much... but he grabs my window and gets it down enough to get him fist inside and he swings at me a couple times just about making contact with my mouth but not hurting me at all. I nail the window up button and the light turns green.. he whips his fist out just before I nail the gas and I floor it out of there. I feel bad because I caused the whole thing and his kids were watching their dad be an idiot but I think he really took it too far and was just as wrong as me for taking a minor incident so serious. I'm not the biggest guy but he was smaller and I know I could have made a fool of him with ease, but I stayed in my car and just tried to get away from the situation. What would you have done?

 

Damn dude. What a loon. What a freakn loon! I can't believe you went through that, some people just don't know how to control themselves, and it's pathetic since they are grown adults..

You handled it perfectly. Just don't let idiots like that get to you, becuase people like you are what keep those idiots in check!

 

Had the gf call highway patrol and have his a$$ hauled in. Unbelievable. It's one thing to hit the horn or flip someone off, but to get out and go after someone is nuts. That guy has problems.

 

You probably did the right thing but if he connected, you should have gotten out and beaten him down.

 

that's gotta suck!

I would have done the same thing you did. Although I wouldn't have opened the window though. If you had a phone, I would have dialed 9-1 and showed the phone to him so he knows that you can call for back up. There could be more to him that road rage. If he tries to punch a complete stranger in front of his kids, well I dunno....imagine what he could do to his kids. Did you get his licene plate? Report that to the cops..

 

I think you did the right thing. When someone messes with my car I tend to get really heated, but I know if I do something it won't be worth it in the long run. You shouldn't feel bad, he approached and nearly attacked you, he should consider himself lucky that you're a nice guy and that things didn't escalate.

 

Dude, that is one scary scenario. Best is to avoid the close-contact encounter (the one where he approaches your car) altogether...even if you have to run a red. You were right to fear this dude. You never know who is packing heat these days. Worst part is these people get ****ed off at what is a minor incident, then subconsciously imagine that it threatened the safety of their kid(s) and then escalates from there.

Similar thing happened to me on the golf course. I hit an errant drive (who doesn't) which hit this dudes self-standing garage outside. Despite my apologies as soon as I see him, he is getting all tough-guy on me and his anger escalates as he says I could have hit his litter girl or elderly mother (hypothetically). The dude was ready to duke it out and may have--were it not for that 45" weapon I was slinging over my shoulder...

 

I think you did every thing right expect roll down the window. Never roll it down, like you said, you never know if he has a knife or something. I guess there was no way that you could tell him that you are sorry... what did you gf think of the incident.

 

Oh and if i do find myself cutting people off or whatever, I try to wave back to them as if to say "sorry bro!"

 

I could not shoot the light beacuse there was a car in front of me. I almost nailed it in reverse but a car was approaching. I'm glad you guys back me up with my choice becuase I was worried that because I started the whole thing you may take his side... but when it comes to physical contact its a whole new level. I got away unhurt and my GF is glad I didn't get out so I guess I did OK. I just hope that I don't run into this guy again.

 

That's the weird part--when you cut someone off, isn't it "my bad?" What's up with speeding up and backing it down to 80 mph???? Just remember, your GF was with you the whole time. Being the other half, she will be judging your actions at all times. You needn't ask us what we think, just ask her since she was there.

Sometimes when it's your bad just fuggetiboudit.

 

I cut him off enough that he did have to break so I wanted to just get away from him and remove my GF from the situation. She is just happy that I didn't get out of the car.

 

You should have showed him your Dyno graph from Saturday!

Ok seriously, you did the right thing, if he sped up to block you then he's the ****. A knife is the least of your worries, what if he had a gun? And oh you didn't put his kids in danger he did.

I like the 911 idea....

 

You should have bitten his hand while it was inside the car. j/k

I think you did the right thing, as long as he didn't hurt you or the car, no need to get out, and possibly be arrested.

 

Depending on the circumstances, I would probably have not taken the exit, but just taken off, but with another person in the car, i don't know what I would have done.

good thing you didn't get hurt though. I have had slightly similar experiences, but with someone passing me for slowing down in a school zone, me speeding up/flicking them off etc, them cutting me off and pulling over to the side right as I was trying to take a right hand turn out of a light. I just peeled out and got the F outta there

 

blue-that sucks.
did he do any damage to your window motor?
or u could have done something like a burnout-- smoke screen.

if I were u I would have find some way to get out of there no matter what the second any one touches my window, maybe back out very quickly even if theres a car approaching & keep the horns on.

 

You did the right thing by avoiding the secondary confrontation, but you did the WRONG thing by causing the primary confrontation in the first place when you cut him off and endangered his life and his kid's lives (the real reason why he was upset - because you endangered him)

To avoid further incidents, don't cut people off and drive safely!!!

Don't be a riceboy and cut people off

 

If I had someone with me, I would have told them to call the police as well.

And as for running a red just to get away from a guy, that would have been a bad idea for a number of reasons. Incoming traffic, the fact that the guy followed him going 100 then off the highway, he probably would have ran the red too.

 

I agree with you completely, I'm not trying to make myself a saint here.

 

I would have grabbed his arm, floored it, and dragged his a$$ a few blocks down the road...but thats just me.

I had a guy get out once...my old car, a 97 Grand Am, had auto headlights, and we were on a hilly road...well, when we went down, my lights came on, and when we went up, my lights went off, so he thought I was flashing him...when we got to the stop sign, him and his wife jumped out, so I started going around him...as I was passing him, he kicked my car, so I hit the ebrake, got out with my baseball bat, I didn't say a word, I just broke out his headlights on his new blazer, then I calmly got in my car, and drove off.

 

sorry to hear about your run in theblue, i dont know what this world is coming to, everyone is in a hurry and on the edge of their pants lately. you did the right thing, next time dont open the window though...

I would SERIOUSLY NOT do that if I were you...they might take it as a "HAHA YOU LOSER, I GOT IN FRONT OF YOU, COME AND GET ME!"

I've been in an incident like this before, I merged in front of this guy who thought he has hot **** in his 1993 for Taurus SuperHOe, then I waved my hand as if to say Im sorry for getting in front of you, then I sped up to make some room and to not slow him down, I accelarated to 90 and THIS ******* WAS TAILING ME SECONDS LATER! (too him some time to catch up, but he did). SO I keep accelarating just a little look back, and he is Holding up his middle finger at me right up to the point untill the road split into two lanes. He switches lanes, STILL HOLDING HIS MIDDLE FINGER at me, and drives away.
WHAT THE HELL? what did I do? should I have run off the road just to make some guy happy?

What is going on these days, everyone seems to be so freaking edgy.

 

I would have just opened my glove box so he could see this in there:

 

i really hope that youre not serious. If you are, THIS is a prime example of people going CRAZY!

DPW

 

what were you thinking if someone disrespecting my max like that id beat the sh*t out of him. i get ****ed off if my friends eat in my car but some f*ck molesting my window id go nuts and pipe him in the head.

 

wow ... glad u r ok Aaron ... that's some crazy as$ $hit!

I would've done exactly what you did ... acknowledge that u were in the wrong .. but if he connected .. i would've blown a gasket ...

it's sad that someone with 3 kids would behave that way .. esp in front of his kids ... what're they going 2 learn from this ...

what a crazy as$ world this is ...

c u around bud!

 

dude... that's some F*(*& up ****.... you did the right thing by staying in the car.. cuz your gf is in the car... last time I encounter road rage.. the dude was trying to run me off the road.. and I just pick up the phone... dial 911.. show him the phone, and he speed away... so I told the cop that what's his license plate is.. what highway mark we are at and what speed he is doing... hee hee!!!

it's people like that makes me keep my big touque wrench under my seat.. I would have got out and smack him on the head.. but that's just me..

 

You did the right thing, good job keeping your temper in check. I probably would have flipped on the guy if he started hitting my car. Which would be not good because I'd have gotten out and who knows what a psycho like that is packing...

 

I don't know what i would do knowing me i'd act first and think later.
I'd really feel bad if i got out of the car and knocked him out in front of hi kids . That would be horrible however if he was by himself. he'd be looking like this

 

I would have called the police for sure... He just went to far...

 

I think you did the right thing as well. Whenever i am on the freeway and i am on the slow lane, if a car is merging on the freeway, I usually merge in the middle lane. Or i time it so that a car can merge safely. Usually i try to show some courtesy and let the incoming traffic merge just to avoid situations like this. If you ment to cut the guy off then you were wrong, but you know that. Like most people here have said you should not have rolled down your window. Even though the guy was "smaller" than you doesn't mean he can't deal a fatal blow just because your bigger than him. And for that, I for one admire your reserve and calm actions there because i probably would have grabbed his hand if i could and pulled him in and hit the pedal to see how long he could possibly hang. You never know what you are capable of doing. He put everyones lifes in danger that he was around but then again so did i by driving 80 to almost a hundred this morning on the freeway. All because I was in a hurry to get somewhere. Thanks for sharing because you put things in perspective for me. Drive safely everyone and take care.

 

Yeah I think he definitely took it too far. People get cut off all the time, he should've gotten over it. And not like he was alone, he had his kids with him so coming after you for a little thing like that is just stupid. Also you didn't have to take that exit, if he was acting too hard you could've just lost him on the highway (what's the point of driving a max if you can't lose a minivan on the highway ). But itz all good, sh*t happens. I think you did the right thing by not getting out and making a scene in front of your girlfriend.

 

did I mention that I pack a 6D cell Maglite in the pocket of the pasenger seat? I just reach back there and grab it....makes a nice bat, and doubles up as a flashlight....

 

Like I said, I would just let him see it in there and leave it at that.

 

His kids would have been watching their father get a good a$$ whoopin'. Don't feel bad though because the dude shouldn't have sped up to not let you in. Your girl was there and you really didn't need to involved in a fight in front of her. Thats why I keep a few weapons in the car just in case things get a little uneven.

 

Only in America ... land of the free .. home of the brave ... sheesh ...

 

Where was this?

You're having all kinds of luck in your car lately.

 

As far as you cutting him off, it happens all the time. You don't see me go chasing after everyone that cuts me off. He should have just let it go, especially with his kids in there with him. He was worried about his kids, yet he speed up and probably cut other people off to chase you down? Stupid. If I had kids with me, I would be upset someone cut me off, but I would be sane enough to realize my kids were with me, and it's just not worth it. He's more of a fool to put his kids in even further endangerment.

 

people suck.. i was at dunkin donuts with a friend and we were in his pathfinder, we came from right down the road from my house, went in, got fat, and came out and sat in the car for a second..

a lexus es FLIES into the parking lot and this guy gets out and runs up to the door and tries to open it!!! my friend grabbed the door and shut it and hit the lock.. the guy started to scream about how he wanted us to get out of the car and we just made a huge mistake cutting him off and he was gonna beat the **** out of us..

the whole time I am laughing in the passenger seat because this guy is about 5'2 110.. and my friend and i are both about 6'4 200+.. we told him it wasnt our car and we hadnt even been on that road, and we hadnt even come from that side of town.. he walked around to my side of the car and started trying to open my door and hitting the window, i stared at the guy.. i thought it was funny.. he eventually gave up and got in his car and sped off.. (proud parent of honor roll kid bumper sticker on the back with a #1 dad license plate)..

if it would have been my car..

 

Sorry to hear about this happening.

There was a show on TLC or some channel about how to deal with road rage:

1) Don't ignore him if he confronts you

2) Don't get out of the car or open your window

3) Don't get escalate the thing any further and get mad back at him. Instead just sincerly gesture "whoops sorry" (DON'T SMILE ) and make a kind of motion like this -->

Even if you're right or he's being a total idiot (which he was), it's better to just suck it up and look apologetic rather than create a potentially dangerous situation. Now is NOT the time to see who's is bigger!

 

mine's bigger