Road Rage

[SLinKyjoe]

Have we done a road rage thread?

I was wondering why people suffer this phenomenom. I am a bit laid back so I dont really get out of shape with others while driving. But I notice a fair number getting out of shape with me.

Do you suffer it?
Do you keep on banging on about the incident to everyone?
if you recognise it, what do you do to calm yourself?
what do you feel when someone gets out of shape over your perfect driving they feel they need to critise?

Don't you think it better to vent on here than on the road?

I know I posted this but lets see if we can get some sensible answers please?

 

[Myros]

serious, moi....

actually, I can be. It's all down to those inherently reactive ecu', sorry, brains we have. and hormones. It's the men that are the worst, all that testosterone sloshing about, looking for an outlet, and whumpf, God lets us invent the car. It's everything a barely evolved ape needs to make him happy. Territory, cherished partner or child, sexual display apparatus, it's got the lot. So when we drive with our b*lls and not our brains, it's our b*alls that react. As the roads get more crowded, the less experienced drivers get faster, newer cars, and the get caught up in situations they can't handle, and cock it up. they can't handle the loss of face, so rage it is. Or they do it deliberately, and rage it is. Or we all just get to the final straw, and rage it is. It's one reason for having a Merc, as the car usually takes a lot of driving stress from you, and if someone does get ragey, I'd rather be in my Merc than his honda/toyota/nissan/peugeot/rover. The best way to avoid it, is avoid them. Give people plenty of room and time to do things. If they make mistakes, learn from them, and don't make them yourself. Don't make eye-contact with anyone pratting about, it only makes them worse. and lock your doors in town and always be ready for someone to stuff it up for you. and think deep, cool thoughts and turn up the whale song cd.

 

[shrekky]

I dont suffer road rage........normally just put my foot down and get away from these idiots.............theres only 2 things that make me mumble away to myself.................middle aged women in micra's who have joined the middle lane owners club...........and BMW drivers who think they get a certificate of road ownership when they buy the car........ :lol:

 

[angus falconer]

Since I got a Merc my temperament has improved. Something to do with wafting around in comfort with an auto box.

What cracks me up is other drivers doing stupid things and then getting angry at me. Today a BMW coming the other way turned across my bows into a driveway and then his reversing lights came on (ie he was starting a 3 point turn). He started to reverse, I kept going, he blasted his horn and got angry. As I passed him I looked across and he was mouthing all sorts then he noticed the two bikers behind me giving him the finger. That shut him up.

But why should I and two other users stop to let him do a three point turn? Why? I don't get it. If he's going the wrong direction he should either drive round the block or perform a maneovre when the road is clear. Surely?

Odd. But I notice the sort of people who do these sorts of turns seem to thing the wolrd somehow owes them a favour.

 

[blassberg]

the middle lane owners club

why don't they just build the middle lane on the left instead of in the middle? Seems obvious :roll:

 

[nicky]

why don't they just build the middle lane on the left instead of in the middle? Seems obvious :roll:

That would be too easy,they just like to be centre of attension,...

 

[mlc]

Uncle Slinky - how are you?

I have never had anyone complain about my driving - cos its clearly perfect

Worringly I find that my complaints about other peoples driving make me sound like my Father, but then he was a good driver as well.

I find the average incident of road rage can be dealt with by engaging warp and heading for the horizon! Nothing upsets the average teenage idiot more than to discover that his Saxo (regardless of the size of the exhaust) is left for dead by Mondeo Man / SL Man / SLK Man or whatever else I am driving.

However the item that gives me road rage is the idiots on the busy motorway
that weave from lane to lane as soon as you leave a safe gap between you and the car in front. I find that if I dont tailgate the car in front then Mr Sales Rep jumps in, only to move back as soon as he feels he can get another 10 yds forward. I really would love to know how many accidents are caused in this way. I could almost run in to them just for the fun!

Mark.

 

[OlafMaxwell]

As I discovered recently......drive a diesel very gently for many miles.......and then at some point floor the gas pedal......if Sales Rep is behind you then he stays there on the horizon......especially if its a CDI, ....of course he won't see you or the gap because after many miles driving gently you give him a nice black fog when the pedal hits the floor!!

I must admit I usually ignore the road rage prats and let them drive on because when you get to the next jam they are inevitably in the next lane having got nowhere quickly. For those that want to get closer you can hit the floor or visit the services for a well deserved break. I think anything is better [and safer] than engaging with them.

 

[shrekky]

you give him a nice black fog when the pedal hits the floor!!

........................hmmmmmmmmmmmmm am i missing something here ?.............black fog ?........cloud ?.............i have 20 year old 190D........and she runs cleaner than most petrol cars :razz: ..........in fact when i pass other cars........its only the "190D" badge.........that tells them they just got passed by a oil burner :lol:lol:

 

[pascal]

Keep on topic please

Em Guys,

This is the Road Rage thread.

Diesel v. Petrol is here: http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=11111

 

[shrekky]

but pascal it leads to road rage...............coz when my old oil burner goes steaming past a nice new s-class or BMW...........they dont like and try to prove a point.......and get rather annoyed when they can't.............lmao !...................what is it about that ?..........just coz a older car passes them,they feel the need to try and belittle you......lol............and while we're here,another thing i hate,when you go to overtake someone especially on a dual or single carraigeway road,they accellerate,trying not to let you past...............nearly came to blows with that once,coz i was 3/4 way past him and turned in,he got out of his car at the next set of traffic lights in the next town,15 mile away....lol.........he had a problem with what i had done.....lol............only when he saw i was 6'3" and build like a outhouse,he changed his mind......lmao...............and b4 you say it,i couldn't just brake and pull back in behind him coz the car behind me had pulled upto his bumper and wouldn't let me back in,and i was rapidly running out of space as i could see oncoming traffic.

 

[Myros]

a lot of the

speeding up while being overtaken on Mways and dual carriageways is subconcsious. The brain picks up this "thing" (you or me or any other Merc-type making progress) in the peripheral vision, perceives it as a threat (natch, driving a nice car) and subconsciously, the foot goes down just a little bit more in order to get away from the threat. It's not drag-racing, as even the most humble of cars can pick their feet up better than the slight increase of speed you notice when pulling past someone.Even the nicest people do it, without even noticing. Just another good reason for getting past as quickly as you can, conditions and speed limits permitting.

 

[shrekky]

speeding up while being overtaken on Mways and dual carriageways is subconcsious. The brain picks up this "thing" (you or me or any other Merc-type making progress) in the peripheral vision, perceives it as a threat (natch, driving a nice car) and subconsciously, the foot goes down just a little bit more in order to get away from the threat. It's not drag-racing, as even the most humble of cars can pick their feet up better than the slight increase of speed you notice when pulling past someone.Even the nicest people do it, without even noticing. Just another good reason for getting past as quickly as you can, conditions and speed limits permitting.

I agree with you mainly,on motorways and dual carraigeways this does happen,............but for the best part i was on about on single carraigeways.......and them accellerating from 45mph upto 80 mph with you is not subconcsious.......lol

 

[ash-h]

I`ve noticed that the AMG badge and gardenroller wheels have cured the tailgaitor problem :grin:

I`m on a 'be nice to everyone' mission at the moment on my 1.5 hour commute each way. I leave a gap big enough for people to jump into without me feeling that ive been cut up. When I get cut up i breath deeply and ignore them. I am trying NOT to make eye contact with any of these nasty people........I`ve kept this up for 2 days so far :-|

 

[pascal]

You've got the right idea Ash. Have been like that for a few years now.

Your stress levels will reduce, and you will arrive at your destination in better condition.

I seldom make eye contact, and if I do, its with a smile, and I usually get an 'I'm sorry' signal from the offender.

Regarding leaving enough room to let people in in front of you. Yea, thats fine, as long as it donesn't cause tou to have to keep altering your speed to accomidate this, and depends on the road situation. Don't take this too far, or the driver behind you will be peed off cause you are letting the bargers tear up through traffic on the wrong lane, and then skip the queue to the left slip road.

 

[ivegotcclass]

I know that I'm resurrecting an old thread but I wanted to say my piece.

I had a serious road rage incident about 5 years ago where myself and another motorist punched each others faces off in a 10 minute scuffle at a set of traffic lights. It was a result of a motorway 'cutting-up situation', we both regretted it, the other person was proven to be the blame and lost his job and was fined over £1000 for causing the incident.

Anyway, to my point, my last car was an Alfa Romeo and I felt that I had a rather hot head when driving this car, I would always be up and down the gear box, racing to lights, tailgating and generally very stressful when driving whether I was in motorway or city situations. I spend about 4-5 hours a day on the road.

Since I got my MB, I have felt more relaxed about my driving, the automatic box helps and I enjoy the pride I have in my luxury car. I have been 'behaving' myself on the road and certainly not been in my old habits.

Yesterday was strange, I overtook someone on a 30MPH road as they were doing about 15-20MPH, about 2 minutes later, the car I overtook was sitting up my bumper flashing the lights and giving the the V signs, the driver was holding up a pen and a bit of paper, as if to symbolise that they were taking down my registration and waving a mobile phone at me. I'm totally unaware as to what my crime was, apart from to overtake but the road was clear and there were no restrictions. What shocked me even more was that the car who was behind me was being driven by a women!! I expect that if I had pulled over that she would've wanted to fight me!! I was tailed for about 2 miles and I eventually pulled into another side road, not on my intended route, just to avoid a confrontation. This was yesterday and now has dented my confidence slightly, did I do something wrong that I didn't notice, why was the women SO angry?

Anyway, there is nothing more I can say about the situation, I'm proud I didn't get hot-headed myself as the situation could have got out of control, I have also shown that my MB has changed my temperament behind the wheel as in my younger days I would be keen to have a shout with someone who acted like this towards me, and in the past the situation has become more than just a shout.

 

[littlebrooklyn]

Maybe she had PMS

 

[mercmonkey]

Maybe she had PMS

well why didnt she say home and read them?

 

[panason1c]

No road rage problems for me in future.......i'm gonna get me one of these......might be an idea to call him mercmonkey (-:

http://www.classic-mustang.net/Funny/roadrageremedy.asf

 

[mercmonkey]

www.trunkmonkey.com theres loads of them

my personal favorite is the theft retrieval system