Road Rage WWUD?

[Kanuk]

Hi all,

I guess living in Texas road rage is a common sight.

Recently I was involved in a situation where a driver was upset at my driving for whatever reason, and attempted to use their vehicle to run me off the road, and then proceeded to run in front of my vehicle only to slam on the brakes. At what point is the use of a 6000 lbs truck aggravated assault?

Do we need to be under the differential before the law is on our side?

If someone is trying to run you off the road, and then slams the brakes in front of you, what would you do?

thanks!~

[JALLEN]

Avoid the best you can while getting on 911 with description, license number, and location.

Usually when the idiot sees you on the phone, that discourages them from really serious nonsense. No guarantees.

At some point, if you really are endangered, you may have to consider your alternatives.

[strider67]

I'm pretty sure I would have known what they were up to had they moved in front of me. With that being said, I think JALLEN pretty much nailed it...911 and avoidance until avoidance is no longer an option.

Just out of curiosity, what was the 'for whatever reason' he was so upset about?

[The_Busy_Mom]

I had an act of road rage against me about a year or so ago. Some idiot turned from the left lane of a double left turn (I was next to him in the right lane of the double left turn) into the far right lane in front of me and nearly ran me into a car that was waiting to exit the corner gas station. This is a very common occurrence at this particular intersection. I laid on the horn, and the idiot driver, for whatever reason, didn't realize he was wrong and decided he needed to take it out on me. He got in front of me as we got going, proceeded to slam on his brakes and parked his truck in the middle of the lane (this is a 3 lane highway with a speed limit of 45). I moved to the center and barely bypassed him. I drove immediately to the police station, which just happened to be on the way to where I was going, and filed a complaint with his license plate. However, this intersection is where 3 cities meet, and I went to the wrong station. So I called Ft. Worth PD when I got home, filed another complaint, and the PD got in touch with me. The officer went to the guy's registered address, and issued the driver a citation. Evidently, this idiot has a habit of doing stuff like this, and has a criminal record that reflects some of these angry characteristics. Of course, this is all on the word of the LEO, but I have no reason to doubt what he said he did.

BTW, I have a commercial driver's license, have driven a school bus, and I am a very calm, attentive driver. I didn't make a mistake that day - the idiot driver did.

TBM

[Ericstac]

^^ some would say you instigated it by laying on the horn when it was really uncalled for. His actions were done so there was no need to alert him with a long annoying honk.

One night one a single lane country road I had this driver in front of me out of no where pull off the road in a hurry and slammed his breaks.. I was in shock and slowly went around seeing if he needed aid. As I passed he got back on the road and began tailgating hard and I ignored him just making a bankable comment to my wife. Then he proceeded to fly by me and cut me off and do the whole slamming of breaks thing in front of me so I passed him. He tailgates more so I pulled into a turn lane when I approached one and he rols by then slams on his breaks. At this point I was now in the mood so I took off and cut him off perpendicular so he couldn't move again except in reverse and I reached down to unbuckle so I could rush to this mans aid and realized my three kids were in the backseat. I lrealized at that point I'm endangering my family stupid and backed up and drove off the other direction and he waited then left.

I was shot at as a teenager for in a similar situation but but kids we got out and ran towards the car slamming the breaks in front of us and boy was that a mistake and it stays in my head every time something like this happens. It's best to just remove yourself from the situation even though you really feel like ramming this person.

[C-dub]

I had an act of road rage against me about a year or so ago. Some idiot turned from the left lane of a double left turn (I was next to him in the right lane of the double left turn) into the far right lane in front of me and nearly ran me into a car that was waiting to exit the corner gas station. This is a very common occurrence at this particular intersection. I laid on the horn, and the idiot driver, for whatever reason, didn't realize he was wrong and decided he needed to take it out on me. He got in front of me as we got going, proceeded to slam on his brakes and parked his truck in the middle of the lane (this is a 3 lane highway with a speed limit of 45). I moved to the center and barely bypassed him. I drove immediately to the police station, which just happened to be on the way to where I was going, and filed a complaint with his license plate. However, this intersection is where 3 cities meet, and I went to the wrong station. So I called Ft. Worth PD when I got home, filed another complaint, and the PD got in touch with me. The officer went to the guy's registered address, and issued the driver a citation. Evidently, this idiot has a habit of doing stuff like this, and has a criminal record that reflects some of these angry characteristics. Of course, this is all on the word of the LEO, but I have no reason to doubt what he said he did.

BTW, I have a commercial driver's license, have driven a school bus, and I am a very calm, attentive driver. I didn't make a mistake that day - the idiot driver did.

TBM

I would be very surprised if they issued a citation for something they did not witness.

[cw3van]

I had an act of road rage against me about a year or so ago. Some idiot turned from the left lane of a double left turn (I was next to him in the right lane of the double left turn) into the far right lane in front of me and nearly ran me into a car that was waiting to exit the corner gas station. This is a very common occurrence at this particular intersection. I laid on the horn, and the idiot driver, for whatever reason, didn't realize he was wrong and decided he needed to take it out on me. He got in front of me as we got going, proceeded to slam on his brakes and parked his truck in the middle of the lane (this is a 3 lane highway with a speed limit of 45). I moved to the center and barely bypassed him. I drove immediately to the police station, which just happened to be on the way to where I was going, and filed a complaint with his license plate. However, this intersection is where 3 cities meet, and I went to the wrong station. So I called Ft. Worth PD when I got home, filed another complaint, and the PD got in touch with me. The officer went to the guy's registered address, and issued the driver a citation. Evidently, this idiot has a habit of doing stuff like this, and has a criminal record that reflects some of these angry characteristics. Of course, this is all on the word of the LEO, but I have no reason to doubt what he said he did.

BTW, I have a commercial driver's license, have driven a school bus, and I am a very calm, attentive driver. I didn't make a mistake that day - the idiot driver did.

TBM

I would be very surprised if they issued a citation for something they did not witness.

The officer would have to lie as he must witness in order to issue a citation. Most LEOs I know would not risk their career over this.

[seamusTX]

Why do people feel like driving a motor vehicle is some life-or-death struggle for survival?

I know, that's a philosophical, rhetorical question.

You have to get from point A to point B. You have to share the road with other drivers. People make mistakes. Most of the time, they cause no damage. Deal with reality.

To answer the original question, if you shoot at an unarmed person because he is frothing at the mouth and cursing, you will spend your life savings on legal fees. If you display a weapon without shooting, he will suddenly become an offended upstanding citizen who was simply going to Bible study when you threatened him.

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Take care. Stay safe. Your most effective weapon is behind your eyeballs.

- Jim

[RPBrown]

I drive all over the DFW area and some in Houston and Austin when I have too. I try to be as courteous as possible. But there are always those that think they own the road no matter what. It is those people that are the problems. I have called 911 on several occasions. Some I have seeen the LEO's take care of and others I found an exit stratagy. Only once did I ever get into a situation where I thought I may have to pull my weapon and fortunatly the LEO arrived just before I had to. And that was after the guy blocked me in, got out of his car and was approaching me with a large piece of wood in his hand. i did have my hand on my gun but as I stated, LEO arrived in time.

All of this to say, it doesn't matter how couteous you are, there will always be some jerk that thinks they own the road. Just be prepared, look for an exit and keep your phone handy

[Purplehood]

I drive all over the DFW area and some in Houston and Austin when I have too. I try to be as courteous as possible. But there are always those that think they own the road no matter what. It is those people that are the problems. I have called 911 on several occasions. Some I have seeen the LEO's take care of and others I found an exit stratagy. Only once did I ever get into a situation where I thought I may have to pull my weapon and fortunatly the LEO arrived just before I had to. And that was after the guy blocked me in, got out of his car and was approaching me with a large piece of wood in his hand. i did have my hand on my gun but as I stated, LEO arrived in time.

All of this to say, it doesn't matter how couteous you are, there will always be some jerk that thinks they own the road. Just be prepared, look for an exit and keep your phone handy

I would be interested in knowing whether or not the Officer saw the guy approaching with a piece of wood in his hand and what happened at that point.

[RPBrown]

I drive all over the DFW area and some in Houston and Austin when I have too. I try to be as courteous as possible. But there are always those that think they own the road no matter what. It is those people that are the problems. I have called 911 on several occasions. Some I have seeen the LEO's take care of and others I found an exit stratagy. Only once did I ever get into a situation where I thought I may have to pull my weapon and fortunatly the LEO arrived just before I had to. And that was after the guy blocked me in, got out of his car and was approaching me with a large piece of wood in his hand. i did have my hand on my gun but as I stated, LEO arrived in time.

All of this to say, it doesn't matter how couteous you are, there will always be some jerk that thinks they own the road. Just be prepared, look for an exit and keep your phone handy

I would be interested in knowing whether or not the Officer saw the guy approaching with a piece of wood in his hand and what happened at that point.

Yes he did see him. The guy dropped it as soon as he saw the officer. The officer cuffed him, took my statement and had me to leave. Not sure what happened after that.

[RottenApple]

I guess living in Texas road rage is a common sight.

I take exception to this statement. As a professional driver, I've driven on every Interstate, 90% of the US highways, and the majority of state highways of the lower 48. I've been in every major city (and most medium sized ones) as well. In my experience, road rage is far less common n Texas (indeed, in most southern states) than it is on the east coast, west coast, and northern cities. By far the worst areas for road rage that I have ever seen are (in no particular order) New York, LA, San Francisco, Chicago, and Detroit. In OH, Cincinnati is real bad, but Columbus and Dayton.... Not so much.

[seamusTX]

By far the worst areas for road rage that I have ever seen are (in no particular order) ...Chicago, ...

I was born in Chicago and learned to drive there.

I experienced more violent road rage, including people trying to open my car doors and throwing beer cans at me (what IQ does that require?) in Chicago than in the entire rest of my life and travel on three continents.

They could save a lot of money if they stopped repainting the lane stripes, because no one pays attention to them. Ditto with the speed-limit signs.

- Jim

[RJGold]

Just thought I'd throw my two cents in to this topic...

I don't understand the all the causes behind road rage but I drive quite a bit and I see a lot of it in varying degrees.

I try hard not to get sucked into it as it can quickly escalate into a life changing event. I'm far from perfect in that regard and have thrown my fair share of half peace sign salutes.

All that said, if I do witness an incident (whether I'm involved or not) I call LEOs if it is safe to do so. I never pull over and stop or go home if someone is following me.

If I am carrying, I work extra hard not to engage or escalate these situations. No matter what the cause or who's fault it was, making the decision to use my weapon would be a life changing event (even if I was legally right).

I also ride a motorcycle and have found over the years that requires more defensive driving techniques than when I am in my pickup, along with the understanding that I would never win in a vehicle to vehicle confrontation. I have also seen folks blatantly take advantage of me on my motorcycle (i.e. look at me, make eye contact, pull in front of me anyway because they know I will stop or move).

Back to the original question posed, I work hard to stay out of the altercation (even if it means losing the ego battle). If the other driver insists on escalating, I call LEOs and try to get someplace safe (and populated) as quickly as I can.

My (long winded) two cents...