What causes road rage?

[Smartcar]

Just wondering. When I'm driving on a two lane highway and someone wants to go faster than me I just slow down so they can pass. I know there are people who react by going faster or otherwise try to prevent people from passing - I'm wondering what their motivations are. This is not specifically related to Johnny Gaudreau but if I were the guy at the front I would have slowed down instead of moving to the middle of the road to give space to Johnny and his brother on bicycles. Apparently the drunk guy thought the guy in front did it to prevent him from passing.

Obviously not excusing what he did, just wondering why the guy in front didn't just slow down and let him pass and why the drunk guy thought the car in front did it deliberately (according to the news). Is this common?

[Titan2]

#######s in those smart cars. They think they are better than us. I'll showem!!

[Sliver]

Don't slow down. Just drive in a consistent and predictable way and people will pass you when it's safe.

You can't account for what drunk dudes behind you will do.

[DownInFlames]

Originally Posted by Smartcar

Just wondering. When I'm driving on a two lane highway and someone wants to go faster than me I just slow down so they can pass. I know there are people who react by going faster or otherwise try to prevent people from passing - I'm wondering what their motivations are. This is not specifically related to Johnny Gaudreau but if I were the guy at the front I would have slowed down instead of moving to the middle of the road to give space to Johnny and his brother on bicycles. Apparently the drunk guy thought the guy in front did it to prevent him from passing.

Obviously not excusing what he did, just wondering why the guy in front didn't just slow down and let him pass and why the drunk guy thought the car in front did it deliberately (according to the news). Is this common?

Moving to the left when passing a cyclist on a narrow shoulder is the safe, smart thing to do. You shouldn't do otherwise because the guy behind you might be an ####### roadrager.

[lazypucker]

I will try to box those #####ers who keep changing lanes and zig-zagging through on their beat up Infinitis....

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Smartcar

Just wondering. When I'm driving on a two lane highway and someone wants to go faster than me I just slow down so they can pass. I know there are people who react by going faster or otherwise try to prevent people from passing - I'm wondering what their motivations are. This is not specifically related to Johnny Gaudreau but if I were the guy at the front I would have slowed down instead of moving to the middle of the road to give space to Johnny and his brother on bicycles. Apparently the drunk guy thought the guy in front did it to prevent him from passing.

Obviously not excusing what he did, just wondering why the guy in front didn't just slow down and let him pass and why the drunk guy thought the car in front did it deliberately (according to the news). Is this common?

I suspect the guy pulling into the middle didn’t shoulder check.

Based on the police release the sequence of events was the drunk guy pulls out to pass, the other guy pulls into the middle to safely pass the Gaudreuas, the drunk dives and passes on the the right shoulder. If this was the sequence of events one of the things that could have stopped this sequence was a shoulder check before moving over. The guy in the middle contributed to the accident. He’s not at fault but I bet his decisions will haunt him for a long time going through what he did and didn’t due to prevent the accident.

[White Out 403]

My friend was involved with a road rage incident in Montreal that turned in to what I would call a hate crime, where the guy took out a hatchet and terrorized him and his young daughter. People seem to be on edge even more lately.

[Smartcar]

Originally Posted by DownInFlames

Moving to the left when passing a cyclist on a narrow shoulder is the safe, smart thing to do. You shouldn't do otherwise because the guy behind you might be an ####### roadrager.

Absolutely, I always do that (by law you have to give them a metre which isn’t very much), but I don’t think I would when someone is in the other lane trying to pass me. In that case I would just slow down and let them pass. But maybe he didn’t notice that someone was trying to pass him when he did that.

[Smartcar]

Originally Posted by lazypucker

I will try to box those #####ers who keep changing lanes and zig-zagging through on their beat up Infinitis....

Yeah that’s what I was wondering. Maybe drunk guy was speeding and acting like a a-h so guy in front pulled into the middle to pass the cyclists and to slow him down not realizing drunk guy would do something unthinkable like passing on the right on a two-lane highway. It’s so sad to think that things could have turned out differently.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by lazypucker

I will try to box those #####ers who keep changing lanes and zig-zagging through on their beat up Infinitis....

That type of thing contributes to accidents. Just let them go.

[Harry Lime]

A sense of entitlement, superiority, ownership and narcissistic behavior. When someone is alone behind the wheel, the worst part of their personal behavior comes out. I guess this applies to the people who rage seemingly without much reason. The tailgaters, the weavers and the revvers.

The rest are people who are stressed, and then feel as though they e been put in danger by someone else on the road. That stress comes out as anger. And the instances of poor drivers doing dangerous things are increasing, so this reaction is probably happening more.

These are probably 50/50 of rage incidents. The Johnny thing was vehicular homicide, so I don't think that it could be identified just as road rage. That's a cop out by the driver, but I think that it's likely he would fall into category one and not two. It takes narcissism to pass on the shoulder.

[ThisIsAnOutrage]

Oh man. Way back, somewhere, I recall that someone theorized road rage was a hang over from our ancient ancestors. The theory was that humans travelled in packs for safety. As usual, the old and the weak were slower and at the back of the pack and were targets for predators. So was anyone else at the back, which made it very important to atay in the front or middle. Travelling in cars is essentially travelling in a herd, so when people get cut off, slowed up, passed, sometimes that old survival instinct kicks in.

People experiencing road rage are just having a little neanderthal revival moment.

[pseudoreality]

Originally Posted by ThisIsAnOutrage

Oh man. Way back, somewhere, I recall that someone theorized road rage was a hang over from our ancient ancestors. The theory was that humans travelled in packs for safety. As usual, the old and the weak were slower and at the back of the pack and were targets for predators. So was anyone else at the back, which made it very important to atay in the front or middle. Travelling in cars is essentially travelling in a herd, so when people get cut off, slowed up, passed, sometimes that old survival instinct kicks in.

People experiencing road rage are just having a little neanderthal revival moment.

I think the anonymity of being in a car can bring out the inner a-hole in people, similar to the anonymity of being online. I live in a small town and I would never cut someone off or use my horn in anger because the person in the other car could be my boss, my sister, or my neighbor. I've even been in that situation where I momentarily get upset at another car, but then I see its Bob, and I like Bod so I let it go. I think if everybody had their photo and real name projected in their rear window people might drive a bit more politely.

[Dynamic]

I'm going to say a huge portion of road rage is people who don't plan ahead. I bet you dollar to donuts the reason for many road rage incidents is people need to be somewhere at a certain time. They have not accounted for road conditions, looked ahead for traffic along the way, and have no built in buffer for unexpected delays.

So when they meet the consequences of their lack of planning they need drive like lunatics to get where they need to be. It baffles me how many people can't plan a simple trip to the supermarket. Or don't realize side trips are almost always round trip and you need to account for that. Its one thing to be late for a family get together or a sporting event. It is another when your late for work or need to meet a client somewhere and you are running late.

[flamesfever]

I think a lot of road rage comes from displaced anger. An argument with the wife, a demanding boss, late for an important meeting, etc. It can be exacerbated by alcohol.

I think one's attitude is one of the most important factors in avoiding road rage. You shouldn't do a lot of things when you are overly upset...especially driving.

Nowadays, with many anxious and semi-distracted people on an often very congested road, it demands a patient, levelheaded, and concentrated effort in order to drive safely.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by DownInFlames

Moving to the left when passing a cyclist on a narrow shoulder is the safe, smart thing to do. You shouldn't do otherwise because the guy behind you might be an ####### roadrager.

Yes.

Especially when it comes to highways, dont slow down, but maintain a consistent speed and predictable movements,.

It is safest to move left when passing cyclists and if someone has to slow down for the few seconds it takes to pass the cyclists then so goddamned be it.

People sometimes forget how much air cars move when travelling at that speed. Especially larger vehicles, you pass too close to a cyclist at those speeds?

I've always said, when you're highway driving, its a marathon not a race. You dont need to be going 160+ all the time, where the hell are you going in such a rush? Enjoy the drive.

Some of my favourite long-distance journeys were in my VW Westfalia and that thing weighed as much as a Tank and had like 80 horsepower...you were lucky if you could touch 120 and even then it took a while. No sudden moves with that thing.

You're on the Highway, wherever you're going you are unlikely to get there soon and unless you're either Smokey and/or The Bandit you've probably got plenty of time to get there.

[Galakanokis]

Selfish #######s. They are pretty much the cause of a lot transgressions. I’m more important than you and I’ll be damned if you will show me up. See it everywhere but road rage just happens to be more dangerous and prevalent.

[Sylvanfan]

Well if you drive 25 under the speed limit in the no passing zone and try to gun it to 20 over when its allowed, that's kind of ######y in my view. Especially since they tend to crank it up to 130 in passing lanes than as soon as it ends back to 75 when there's a double solid line.

But I'm sure many on this forum think that's perfectly acceptable. Now that I'm old...I really don't love trying to crank it up to 150 to pass these a-holes. I tend to find a spot to pull over and wait 10 minutes and hope to the next wave of traffic does not feature this type of driver.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

Well if you drive 25 under the speed limit in the no passing zone and try to gun it to 20 over when its allowed, that's kind of ######y in my view. Especially since they tend to crank it up to 130 in passing lanes than as soon as it ends back to 75 when there's a double solid line.

But I'm sure many on this forum think that's perfectly acceptable.

After doing some driving with a new driver this summer that behaviour on BC roads is not intentional. It’s because in the windy sections of roads the perceived safe speed is lower than on the straighter open sections where the passing lanes are. So a driver who isn’t as aware of their speed will tend to drive slower in windy sections and faster in the open sections. This isn’t the afront to being passed you think it is.

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by GGG

After doing some driving with a new driver this summer that behaviour on BC roads is not intentional. It’s because in the windy sections of roads the perceived safe speed is lower than on the straighter open sections where the passing lanes are. So a driver who isn’t as aware of their speed will tend to drive slower in windy sections and faster in the open sections. This isn’t the afront to being passed you think it is.

So you're a new driver who can't keep up with posted speeds in curvy sections but when it's safe to pass you can handle 20% over or more in a passing lane? No way if you are that inexperienced than the speed limit is your limit.

Sorry thats effing weak.